Layoffs are horrendous. But post-2020 they’ve become an increasingly likely addition to the journey of any founder growing their business, as we’ve seen more turbulent economic times.

There are no ‘great’ ways for handling layoffs in your team. And I should point out the below is not by any means going to give you legal advice or coverage of how to execute redundancies and layoffs, but instead aims to give you some guidance on the best possible way to approach them when it comes to honesty, transparency and communication and cultural integrity.

You can’t control the layoffs that have to be made, but how you handle them can hugely impact how the employees that remain react, and how culture is affected. Get this right and you recover quicker. Get it wrong and it can cause lasting damage.

🗣 Communicate Early

As soon as you think there could be possibilities of Layoffs in your company, you should prepare your team. This might seem scary to you. Many founders will want to avoid unnecessarily scaring employees, and even encouraging some who might stay into searching for other roles.

I can tell you this though… People are not stupid. They will already have a hunch, and gut feeling that something is happening if they are connected enough to your business and the wider economy. Talk early, communicate often, and be vulnerable - it will keep trust high during what is a very anxious period of time for everyone.

❤ Honesty

Your team aren’t looking for reassurance or false hope from you here; they’re looking for honesty and openness. Treat them like adults, and be honest about the possibilities that lie ahead. You may not immediately know what the extent of the casualties might be, but thats fine. Regular, honest updates, whatever those updates may be will be helpful in some way to them.

📝 Plan Ahead

When you do know what is happening take time to plan ahead, and not just from a legal perspective, or personal perspective. Think careful about what the after-care plan might be for these people who you’ve been responsible for up until now. You might not be able to control whether they stay or go, but you absolutely can control how you act and what you do for them after they have to leave; there are no excuses here.

After-care could come in all sorts of forms, depending on what you’re able to achieve from a resource point of view… some ideas:

• Enhanced exit package - anything you can do to help them financially when they depart.
• Continued access to wellbeing platforms. Some businesses continue to pay for laid off employees to have access to mental wellbeing platforms for example for 3-6 months following layoffs.
• Actively supporting job searches post-exit
• CV / Job searching support
• Using your networks - If VC-backed, can you share details with VCs or other portfolio companies who may still be hiring? You’re more connected as a Founder than you might think. It’s your duty of care to do what you can to help everyone who you have to let go.
• Write a recommendation - Giving that kudos and public nod of appreciation can be super helpful. Small touch, but it can make a difference so take time to write a recommendation for every employee that wants one.
• Check-ins - There’s a chance that people might not want to engage with you after this, but make a proactive, concerted effort to check in with them from time to time. Show them you still care and that you haven’t simply cut them loose.
• Can you pay for access to something like LinkedIn Premium for a few months so they can have better access to job searches
• Set up a public spreadsheet or similar resource detailing information on the employees who have been laid off that can be shared around (with their consent).

😫Delivering the news - Don’t be a D*ck

How you actually deliver the news to your team will stick in everyone’s minds for a long time, including the remaining team members. So think very carefully about the best way to deliver the news.

Again, I won’t tell you how you need to do it from a legal standpoint, it may differ for each business, but companies have been hung out to dry on social media for how they have handled some layoffs, from shutting employees out of laptops without any prior warning, to out-of-the-blue emails informing them they no longer work for the business.

My advice, where possible:

• When you know exactly what you need to do, inform the entire business ahead of time
• Don’t leave it to long between informing and having to deliver the news, people will be anxious. I would suggest 24-48 hours max. Don’t forget, they should already know that something is likely to happen if you have been communicating to them regularly, so this shouldn’t be a big shock to them, it’s just confirming what absolutely has to happen.
• Be clear, and compassionate about how those who are affected will find out. Think carefully about the best possible way you can make it known to them that they are one of the unlucky ones. Put yourself in their shoes when trying to play through scenarios. Just don’t be a d*ck.

📅 No Fridays - Think about timing

Try to avoid Fridays. There’s always a temptation to do this on a weekend so people can go and have a couple of days to absorb, but the reality is they will be doing that regardless. Do it during the week when they will have the opportunity and time to connect with your People team or other relevant people during working hours. Doing it just before a weekend means they have 2 whole days of anxiety before being able to talk to someone.