When Layoffs Don't Have to Suck - Completely.

At a time when feeds everywhere are all about layoffs - mostly about the shock and pain of it - we cant just sit back and scroll. These are humans.

Most of what we hear or certainly what I hear is how organizations have taken the human out of this very human impacted time but I wanted to let everyone know it doesn't have to be that way.

I want to share my story about the very first time I was laid off.

AVEO Oncology 2013.

I LOVED and I do mean I LOVED my job. I loved the work I was doing. I loved my team I got to work with. My leadership was great. My boss at the time Jerry Nadeau was and still is one of the most impactful humans in my professional life - I learned so much from my time working for him and with this incredible organization.

I was pregnant and AMA (the stupid term the medical community gives older women who decided to grow humans: Advanced Maternal Age - god I hated that stupid term) - not great.

I was HUGE, I was sick all the time and I do mean all the time. My boss had several trash bins next to my desk - and I am so sorry to anyone who sat around me those days because the bathroom was simply too far.

AND I was juggling 3 other kiddos.

I was commuting over 3 hours (or more depending on the dreaded Mass Pike) to get to this job that I LOVED.

I was getting a Masters Degree and finalizing my thesis WHILE working full time.

We were building a BRAND NEW headquarters - Construction was insane. As a woman; a pregnant woman during that time - this wasn't great. I was overlooked, I was ignored and I fought every single day to make sure I was heard and taken serious - it was nothing short of exhausting.

Needless to say I was stressed.

The days long and exhausting and did nothing for my AMA pregnancy or the chronic hypertension I had as a result.

I was physically and emotionally EXHAUSTED - I mean I WAS growing a human during all this insanity.

BUT

We were all so focused. We and I do mean the collective WE - Leadership, Operations, Scientists etc... all of us together working for something we believed in.

A shared mission. A shared purpose.

It was truly magical.

Then it happened.

I will NEVER forget getting that less than desirable news from the FDA in a company wide all hands that our drug would not be moved forward.

Heartbreaking.

The collective pain we all felt. It was like all the air was taken out of the room.

I looked at my boss. I looked over at the leadership in the room - some which hung their heads. I looked at scientist who let out audible gasps and had tears. It was so painful. We had worked so hard and it evaporated just like that.

But that was not the worst of it.

We left that day, defeated, bloodied, bruised.

We walked in the next day to the worst of it. 67% of our family, our co-workers, our friends. 67% of the people we stood shoulder to shoulder with building something together - GONE.

67% of us laid off - just like that.

BUT what it wasn't - just like that. We didn't get:

- a collective meeting - where we were told get out.

- shut off email access and no cell phone.

- badge cut off.

No, we were individually brought into rooms with our leaders and HR. Knowing what happened we all cried. We shared the loss - loss of a dream, loss of jobs, loss of identity.

I sat in this room - I knew it was coming.

My boss sat NEXT to me, not opposite me. He turned to me, faced me with NO desk or table between us and gave me the news. He held my hand, he passed me a tissue. He said he was sorry (that was a HUGE part) and wished it was different.

I was 6 months pregnant.

He helped me pack up my stuff, helped me take my box to my car. Gave me a hug and said he would stay in touch and reminded me of all the ways I excelled in my role and how much he and the company would miss my talents.

I left with my head held high. I left feeling supported. I left feeling seen and valued despite being heartbroken.

THEN over the next few months as I "cooked said little human" I had countless check-ins by leadership, former co-workers and the like. Recommendations & connections made on my behalf. The head of HR continued to reach out - she offered to edit my resume and cover letter and even gave me interview advice.

When the news of my new little one arrived at my former place of employment - I got an invitation to come back for a luncheon (on my behalf) to celebrate with me the birth of my daughter - even though I was no longer an employee.

The CEO came. The CFO came. The CMO came. The same leadership team who months earlier had to make hard decisions that impacted most of their workforce showed up and reminded me of all the reasons I loved the work I did and hoped to do in the future.

That time will forever be marked with incredible lessons but most importantly I learned how one can and should act when there are times of crisis. How even when decisions must be made to let go of staff you can STILL do so leading from the heart vs the bottom line.

I have had other layoffs since then not nearly handled as well as that one but I will always and forever use that experience as the benchmark of how it can and should be done.

I use this example in every business class I teach - so maybe the next generation of leaders will remember and provide the same experience to their employees.

To this day I still stay in touch with the company and many of my former co-workers albeit moved on to other roles. I will forever be greatful for that time, for the lessons learned and the reminders that at the heart of EVERY. SINGLE. COMPANY are its employees - past and current and that even in times of crisis they can and should be your highest regard.

Layoffs happen - they are painful for everyone but my layoff from AVEO in 2013 proves it can be done in a way that makes it sting a little less.?