People are not beans
Layoffs are a signal of management failure and, in particular, of the people planning and management processes of the company
Most layoffs follow a LIFO order which deprives the organization of its youngest and most energetic talent while leaving the most expensive and exhausted people behind
The HR should generate retraining and redeployment capabilities for avoiding retrenchments
How many CEOs have you heard comparing their employees to a large, happy family? How many families do you know that turn their children out of the door when times are bad? I know the step-mother of Hansel and Gretel did precisely that but I suspect she is not the rolemodel for most contemporary CEOs. Yet sacking (let’s not use doublespeak like 'rightsizing' for it) large numbers of employees is considered a major qualification for CEOs.
Some CEOs think the family analogy is misleading (see "Your Company Is Not a Family" by Hoffman, Casnocha and Yeh in the June 17, 2014, issue of HBR) yet rare is the CEO or CHRO who doesn’t proclaim, through glossy brochures and glossier web-sites, that employees are the firm’s most precious assets. Isn’t it a bit wrong-headed – if not an outright betrayal of these claims – to be lopping off and discarding huge chunks of the corporation’s most valuable asset, even if it is to the applause of the stock markets?&...
