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Those Who Are About to Be RIF'd, We Salute You
Oct 20
[Photo credit: jnb24]
Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for –in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.
–Ellen Goodman
Yesterday, I went to a gathering of philanthropists where my wife is on the board of trustees. Guess what we talked about mostly? The economy. House prices. And people losing their jobs.
There are going to be a lot of people we know out of work in the next year. In HR, our job is to make that transition as smooth and dignified as it can be. We need to work extra hard for those those who are leaving and pay special attention to those left behind. After all, we still have a business to run.
I thought the Ellen Goodman quote was especially pointed in this difficult time. Sometimes people end up finding their bliss once all the mess is over. There’s something good to be said about that.
About the Author
Frank Roche
Frank started IFRACTAL over 7 years ago with Sarah Chambers. Together, they've created HR communications and HR software for some of the world's leading companies. Frank is also studying Flamenco guitar and origami.
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There is definitely something good to be said about that. Sometimes, we have to be pushed off the wheel in our hamster cage to find out what we really should be doing in life.
However, I do wish that Ellen's comment wasn't “normal.” I would prefer this one: “Normal is jumping out of bed in the morning so we can get to the job that we love and we even get paid for it too!”
That last bit really makes me curious:
We need to work extra hard for those those who are leaving and pay special attention to those left behind.
exactly how hard does HR work, in general, on the psychological well-being of its workforce? It's been my understanding over the years that there isn't even a concept of how “healthy” a workforce is; rather, the question is one of adherence, team-playership, and so on.
I'd love to see extra attention paid to those who don't get laid off, but I've yet to see it actually happen. Maybe this time around the hit is hard enough that it will shake some of the lint out of the heads of these people. Hopefully it doesn't take people losing it in the workplace (I suspect this will happen in the next 18 mos or so).