Jackie’s Journaling: Day 72 – Lenny’s Podcast feat. Matt Mochary

Over the last few weeks, the sentiment around jobs and workplaces haven’t been terribly positive. News of layoffs are commonplace – with the likes of Stripe, Twitter, Meta, et al asking several of their employees to pack bags and go home. The Indian domestic scene reflects a similar sentiment; the number of resumes floating around on alumni mail groups have increased manifold. With the likes of Byjus, Unacademy, Udaan, etc. cutting flab to remain a going concern. Enough and more has been written on whether these layoffs are an outcome of reckless expansion, or a consequence of natural ebbs and flows in any business cycle. The arguments on all sides are being strongly made, and the jury on this is yet to be out.

This post is not about whether the layoffs were right or wrong. Instead, it’s a reflection on how to go about asking people to leave. We all agree that letting go of people is an undesirable outcome from the vantage point of impacted employees. However, assuming this as a fait accompli for the business to continue to exist, I spent the last few weeks attempting to understand what would make for a comparatively humane, empathy led and genuine way of letting people go. While I’ve experienced this in small pockets of my experience in the past, this scale of letting go of people is a first time for me in my working career. It helps that I am watching this as a third person, sufficiently far to have perspective, yet close to people impacted to feel the sensitivity.

As pure happenstance, I came across this fascinating episode on Lenny’s Podcast – a conversation with Matt Mochary, in which he shares some views on letting people go humanely and with empathy. I have borrowed from this conversation extensively to refine my thoughts on this subject. This writing is more for me to clear my thoughts and create a playbook that can be referenced should I have to take such a decision at later stages in my career.

Whatever I write cannot make good the scars caused on people who have been laid off; I remain deeply appreciative and humble about this reality. And hence what follows, is probably mere pontification, which some may feel is ill timed in the current scheme of things. Aware of this potential allegation, I take the leap of faith to scribe my thoughts on the issues of how to let people who with sensitivity and care.

1.??????When letting go of a person, keep his/her respect intact

The process of letting go is painful, for both the communicator of the decision and the recipient of the bad news. Being respectful and courteous in the conversation ensures that both sides realize that sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. And, to the extent possible, it cushions the fall in self confidence that invariably accompanies the person who is laid off. ?A way to keep respect intact is to share the bad news one on one, and not in public.

2.??????Be Clinical in taking the decision; be sensitive in implementing it

While a business may have multiple stakeholders, the most important one is customers. A business exists to deliver value to its customers. When deciding on whether to rationalize manpower, view it from what is right for the customer. If costs are bloating and letting go of people is the only way to reign this in, then the decision to layoff is probably in the best interest of customers. Once this decision is taken, identify the people who need to be asked to go. Once identified, inform them with sensitivity and patience. Separate the decision from the execution

3.??????Cut deep, but cut once. Multiple cuts lead to PTSD

This is super critical. I cannot underscore the critical importance of strong HR leadership and planning in arriving at the list. If people have to be laid off, it is imperative to do it in one go. The planning should be accurate enough to achieve the desired outcome in a single shot. If layoffs keep repeating, it leads to build up of organization anxiety. And even the folks who stay back constantly fear the sword of uncertainty over their heads.

4.??????Communicate the rationale behind decision and assure the Stay Team that their jobs are intact.

Once those who need to be asked to go have been communicated, which must be done in one-on-one sessions, have a townhall with the stay team. During layoffs, the psychological scar is as much on people who are staying as on those who have been asked to leave. Those staying remain anxious on if they would move from stay team to go team in the future. A townhall explaining the issue transparently and reassuring that the activity of letting go is complete may help soothe the nerves.

After the town hall, ensure managers of stay team have deep one on one conversations. People who have stayed back have lost their colleagues and friends in the job cut activity. They will be grieving. Allowing people, a space to grieve and vent out their emotions helps empty the emotional reservoir. And then allows for a fresh start with psychological safety.

5.??????Genuinely Champion who have been laid off

All it takes is a couple of hours in a week to share resumes of your team members who have been asked to go in your professional networks. Performance is always an outcome of context and environment; there are numerous instances of people not working well in a certain environment but doing exceedingly well in another setup. There are several factors, outside of individual talent and skill, that contribute to performance. As managers, you know your teammate’s strengths and weaknesses. Using this information to genuinely champion the outplacement goes a long way.

6.??????Absorb the Anger of the Afflicted; its fear masquerading as Anger at that moment.

Vulnerable and honest managers carry out the task of letting go most effectively. They understand that it is natural for the laid off to be angry, pissed-off, and at times go into rage. Each of these however are surface emotions. At the core is the feeling of fear; fear of the unknown that has suddenly come upon the impacted. Being aware of this reality, and not retaliating but patiently co-absorbing the pain allows for the layoff to be humane.

Employee churn is an inevitable part of running any business. On most occasions, the churn will be employee initiated (resignations and attrition). On few occasions, it will be organization initiated (layoffs). In either scenario, developing the ability to let go of people with grace and equanimity goes a long way in making workplaces safe and sensitive.

Do let me know your thoughts on this! Will be happy to hear back from you.?

Post Script: I have been writing this dispatch - Jackie's Journal - for a little over the last 14 months. I used to write on Medium, have put out 71 dispatches before this on Medium. Here's my handle : https://medium.com/@rohanjaikishen Basis comments from well wishers and friends, I'm moving my writing to Linkedin. It was a call between Substack and Linkedin. Since I don't have an organic audience yet, choose the latter. Please do share your feedback and comments on what I write. As my introductory post on Medium mentioned, writing for me is a form of self discovery; the journey of putting out content declutters my mind and clarifies my thinking. I look forward to your partnership on this journey