Articles With Just Good Information

The Next Worst Thing to Being Laid Off: Delivering the Bad News -JRS Consulting Offers Guidelines for Announcing Lay-Offs

WILMETTE, Ill. (Business Wire EON) July 17, 2008 -- Is there a right and a wrong way to handle staff reductions? "Absolutely," according to Jennifer Schade, president of JRS Consulting, who counsels management and has interviewed more than 1,000 employees of Fortune 500 organizations in the process of restructuring and laying off employees. "I don't care how necessary and strategic the decision was to eliminate employees. If you demoralize your workforce through poor communication, you're going to be left with the 'working wounded.'"

"The next worst thing to being laid off is being the one to deliver the bad news," says Schade. "No one wants to do that, and as a result, sometimes companies really botch communication about this difficult subject and productivity plummets."

Following are five key guidelines Schade suggests for announcing staff reductions:

Tell employees first, working in collaboration with your legal department to insure regulatory compliance. Out of respect for employees, Starbucks is not releasing the locations of store closings until after it has informed its employees in the stores targeted for closure. Employees at another company learned of lay-offs while watching Cable News Network in the company health club. A staffperson at that firm noted, "I guess this company just doesn't care about 'the working man.'" Communicate on an ongoing basis, focusing on two kinds of information: 1.) Have senior management provide information about the organization's "big picture." It's important to tell the whole story ? why is this happening now? 2.) Direct supervisors to give employees more personal information about what the announcement means for their jobs. Take responsibility for the underperforming business. "A letter posted on Starbucks' website attributes the current difficulties to 'poor real estate decisions that were made, coupled with a very troubled economy.'" noted Schade. "Bravo to Starbucks for acknowledging that its quest for expansion clouded its judgement in site selection." Listen to employees and honestly respond to issues. Ask for their input regarding information needs and how they're feeling about the changes. Ask for ideas relating to working efficiently with a leaner staff. Then summarize key findings and address concerns. "Show your human side," said Schade. She recalled a management team member of a struggling organization announcing after hearing about findings from employee interviews, "I'm ashamed. How did we get here?"               Schade said, "When I heard him, I knew he was going to triumph over the situation. He was willing to deal honestly with the issues to make improvements." Put some leadership skin in the game. When there are problems with the business, employees are the first to go. Demonstrate that "the buck stops here" by announcing how company leadership is also sacrificing. General Motors announced that its top executive officers will receive a reduction in their cash compensation opportunity of 75 to 84 percent. "Cutting costs by laying off employees isn't going to fix a troubled organization," said Schade. "It's critical to motivate employees to get the business on track. Effective communication about the reorganization is the first step in that direction."

Jenny Schade is president of JRS Consulting, Inc., a firm that helps organizations build leading brands and efficiently attract and motivate employees and customers. Get free tips from the JRS newsletter at http://www.jrsconsulting.net/newsletter.html

Other Article Sites

findabook.com  moneycd.info  a-mortgage.info   about-lemon-laws.info  aboutstudentloans.info
all-about-publishing.info  auctions-articles.info  bestcollege-university.com  bestispconnection.com
biblefolder.com  blogger-website.com  books-used.info  brokers-guide.info  buywindows.info  cable-dsl.info
career-miner.com  carpel-tunnel.info  cashinaflash.info  cashloanreviews.info  casinobell.com  chat-house.info
clearmycredit.info  collegeloantips.info  crones.info  depression-articles.info   dirnic.net  dishguides.info
divers-below.com  expodog.info   financewizz.com  fire-insurance.info  getgood.info  handleit.net   it-idea.info
health-supplies.info  hosting-right.com  insidealert.com  insurance-facts.info  jobs-employment.info
justgood.info  lookgold.net   lowcost-travel.info  money-source.info  myhostzone.info  numisblog.com
peoplesearchfinder.info  pr-articles.info  realeas.com   refinancing-guides.info  spyware-remove.info
telelot.info  the-law.info   toppaid.info  travel-deals.info  travelcorrect.com  wedding-guide-site.com
your-blog.info  your-credit.info

MORE ARTICLES:

New Book On Children's Health Provides Real Solutions For Parents
New children's health book provides valuable and practical information for parents on keeping their children healthy.

New Book: Rogue Drug Chemist Slays Big Pharma with Weapon of Mass Destruction
Organic chemist Shane Ellison releases "Health Myths Exposed 2nd Edition."

US Insurance Online Helps Consumers Weather the Recession -- Insurance Review Can Ease Family Budget
US Insurance Online today announced a new Web site that helps consumers save money on insurance costs.

RSS. An Efficient Way To Broadcast Your News Over Internet
If you want an easy way to distribute your news and get more traffic to your store  RSS Export Module is what you are looking for.

Success Book; How to know the best is yours and putting a sold sign on your property!
Each person is actually the author of their own Success Book whether they write it with intention or not.? We all have an internal book of what personally represents success to us. The content of the book is determined by what a person is believing defines success for them.? Sometimes people have an idea of what success means and when they achieve their desired outcome they find they feel empty inside.? At the end of the day they find themselves still yearning for more, and feel they have not accomplished what they set out to do. Why does this occur? One of the main reasons this happens is because they are using other people's definition of success to define what success means to them.? When they are using external factors to define what su...

Article Submission Software - Killer Weapon Of The Affiliate Marketer
The role of article submission software is intertwined with the affiliate marketer?s marketing efforts. Affiliate marketers invest a lot of time and effort to build traffic for their websites. This is done using PPC, SEO, blogging, forum marketing, Web 2.0, list building and article submission. Article submission has been the oldest powerhouse of marketing and probably one of those traffic techniques that has endured the test of time. Without article submission software, the power of article submission is limited and we will see why.

A Family Project: Building A Cornhole Set
Many families today look for things that they can do together This is especially true of father-son projects, but this is certainly not the only family grouping that people are interested in when it comes to building or doing something together

Famous Baltimore B&B Owner Turns Guest Stories into Inspiring Book
John L Herman Jr., owner/innkeeper of the Abacrombie Bed & Breakfast, recounts the long stormy day when fourteen guests were stranded at the Inn, and to pass the time, share their incredible life stories.

WheelMan Press Launches Website for Upcoming Book, "Into the Every"
WheelMan Press announces the launch of IntotheEvery.com to promote its latest release, due out in December (url: www.IntotheEvery.com).

Best Selling Online eBook, "No More MS, My Journey Back To Life" Gains Media Recognition As News of Sue Ellen Dickinsons' Defeat Of Her MS Symptoms G
Sue Ellen Dickinson, former sufferer of Multiple Sclerosis and author of best selling book " No More MS, My Journey Back To Life" is interviewed by Margie Rudolph of Birmingham, Alabama, host of renowned TV show The Promised Land. Videos clips of that interview are now available on Dickinsons' website www.NoMoreMS.com.

Family Counseling Can Bring Families Back Together
If you look at any number of different families, chances are good that you will find the same number of conflicts While one family may be struggling with marriage infidelity, another may be facing a complete lack of together time based on the way the kids' schedules and the parents' schedules work out

On the Brink of Risk - A Book You Wont Put Down
On the Brink of Risk is a fiction novel inspired in true events; it has a love story turned evil, hate and vengeance, intents to kill, negligence and malpractice at more than one hospital that almost lead to death, harassment and persecution by the political organizations and government officials as well as comments on everything the average citizen has to go through to endure everyday life in that Caribbean country.It was written under the pseudonym of Nancy Cruz and writing was at first an intent to make a catharsis and finally put to rest everything that had been a load in the author's mind and life for too many years, she thought that was the only way to really start anew.

Good News About Bexxar and Follicular Lymphoma
Until three or four years ago, there weren't a lot of treatment choices for lymphoma patients who relapsed or had their cancer transform into a more aggressive form of the disease. Fortunately, these patients have many more options today due to targeted therapies such as Rituxan (rituximab), vaccines, stem cell transplants and the radioimmunotherapies, Zevalin (ibritumomab) and Bexxar (tositumomab).

Corporate Executives Praise New Book on Leadership and Coaching as it Races Up Amazon.com Bestseller List
'Your Survival Strategies Are Killing You!,' the new book on leadership and coaching by renowned business coach Martha Borst, has reached the number three spot on Amazon.com?s bestseller list.