In 2022, due to macroeconomic factors, organizations have laid off in excess of 25,000 employees in India. This has begun to take a toll psychologically on those planning and handling the lay-offs. Here is ABC Consultants’ note to managers with 5 tips to sail through these challenging times.

Dear Managers,

1.   It’s Not Your Fault

Reductions in workforce are business decisions that you are rarely involved in making. Your responsibility is to carry them out effectively.

 It is probably your first or second time too. Lay-offs aren’t a frequently recurring part of a manager’s role. However, they are part and parcel of corporate life.

2.   Stay Empathetic Yet Objective

Empathy is the key to constructive lay-offs. Listening to your employees and putting yourself in their shoes helps you humanize an otherwise scripted experience.

3.   Prepare Well For Employee Reactions

Employees can have varied reactions – emotional outbursts, aggression and violence, denial or going into a catatonic state, having a medical breakdown, threatening legal action or worse, suicide.

 Preparing yourself on how to deal with these will not only save you time and energy but will also help avoid dire consequences for the employee as well as your employer.

4.   Switch Off

You may realize you are carrying the baggage of residual emotions from dealing with lay-offs at work back in to your home. This is likely to affect your personal relationships and family life.

Switching off is hard but imperative. The count to five method has worked well for several managers to help them snap out of their work headspace.

5.   Seek Help

It is perfectly okay not to be okay while handling lay-offs. Grief, guilt, regret, helplessness and several other emotions are likely to take a psychological toll on you.

Seeking the help of a counsellor, psychologist or psychiatrist is absolutely normal and definitely helps during challenging times such as these. You must feel no shame in reaching out to mental health experts for help to deal with emotions arising out of handling lay-offs.

 Career Transition and Outplacement Services by ABC Consultants

ABC Consultants helps organizations support impacted employees by re-orienting them back into the job market. The moral support, career guidance and placement offered significantly helps stabilize laid-off employees during the sensitive time of transition.

Solutions are tailor-made for clients and comprise:

• A Sensitivity Workshop for announcement teams
• An introduction call to the employee followed by a deep discussion on skills and career guidance
• A dedicated Transition Advisor and Services Manager      
• Resume development
• Social media representation
• 360 degree job search guidance
• Interview tips
• Promoting profiles to relevant organizations
• Scheduling interviews
• Handholding on offer negotiation and closure

Our knowledge garnered over five decades, coupled with our strong relationships and market expertise, puts us in a strong position to help impacted employees.

Our services have helped organizations live up to their values and brand promise. For more information on ABC’s company sponsored Outplacement services, please write to advisory@abcconsultants.in

#abcconsultants

#outplacement #outplacementservices #careertransition #layoffs