My Layoff Lessons Learned

With a number of government and private companies announcing layoffs over the past few days, I thought it might be helpful to publish the lessons I learned from the time I was "impacted."

It’s not personal, it’s just business: Although it may feel personal to you, layoffs are nothing more than a business technique to lower base costs and improve financial performance. It’s not about you or your performance; it’s just about the bottom line (or a government mandate, in this case).

We all take pride in doing our best at work, so we may see being laid off as an indication that we didn’t do a good enough job. Keep in mind that if performance issues were at stake, they would have just fired you.

Some people may feel there is a stigma associated with being laid off, but in today’s global market, layoffs are a common occurrence in someone’s career. When I shared that I was let go, nearly everyone I spoke to responded this way: “I’m sorry, that happens to everyone, how can I help.”

Always be networking: It's generally a good idea to be networking all the time, but keeping up with one's colleagues can be tough while working full-time. Layoffs can be an opportunity to make up for lost networking opportunities.

Networking is not only one of the best ways to find your next role, it’s also one of the best ways to improve your knowledge of industry trends and therefore, find new opportunities and directions to take your career.

I found this lesson to be not only helpful, but also inspiring because it forced me to connect with old friends and colleagues I hadn't talked to for a while. I found myself in awe of what they had accomplished in their careers.

Practice empathy all around: In the movie Moneyball, Jonah Hill’s character has to tell one of the players he’s been traded. He’s never done that before and when he asks his boss for advice, he says “just tell them, they’re professionals.”?When he breaks the news to the player, he responds with “OK, is that it?" "Yep.”? My advice is to handle a layoff the same way, with directness and empathy all around, to include the person who has to give the news.

The ones givng the news also deserve empathy. It might not have been their decision to let you go, or maybe they were told they had to cut costs or else. Either way, they are human and they’re most likely not enjoying this interaction either. So, just assume good intentions, offer them empathy and let karma sort it out.

Use this an opportunity on many levels: One off the best pieces of advice I got from mentors and others in my network was to take my layoff as an opportunity not just to find a new job but to spend time with my family and deeply consider what I enjoyed and didn’t enjoy about previous roles I’ve had.

Most people I know work way more than 40 hours per week, and have let their boundaries fall by the wayside. I?definitely?let this happen to me.?A layoff is an opportunity to reset that balance and reestablish boundaries.

Do the things that you couldn’t normally get to professionally, like networking, attending conferences, or taking a class or two. These things not only may lead to your next job, they will help make you more effective at that next job.