Strategic Management - How to Handle Layoffs by Robbins - Essay Example

The issue in the article that is taken for the study is “How to Handle Layoffs” taken from Harvard Business Review. Layoff refers to the temporary or permanent termination of the employees. This usually happens when the organization is not in a position to manage the human resources or due to the worse business condition or depression in the economy. The termination of the employees from the organization is an emotional event for all the employees who are thrown out of the organization and who are still working in the organization. This is a major problem faced by the people in the economy due to the worse economic recession. Many reputed firms were forced to put their talented employees due to this reason. This made the employees lose their trust in the organization and this lead to low productivity in the organization. This also led to a decrease in employee morale. The important measure that has to be taken for this is to make employees aware of the reason for what they are being moved out of the organization.

Guidelines to handle Layoff:

The “guidelines will help companies handle layoffs in a way that affords dignity to those let go and reassures survivors that the downsizing decision wasn't made arbitrarily” (Robbins, 2009, para.2). This will help in creating a positive attitude among the employees towards the organization. This will create an optimistic approach among the employees and will increase the overall productivity of the employees. Special care has to be given to those employees who still have a fear in their minds that they might lose their job. This fear will decrease the productivity of the employees. It is the responsibility of the organization to remove the fear and make the employees be productive at their best. The manager should often communicate with the employees regarding the work performance and necessary instructions have to be given for increasing their productivity. “Discussing and acknowledging the company's position is the first step to keeping people involved — and committed to solving problems they understand” (Robbins, 2009, para.3).

When the company realizes that the layoff is important then prior information has to be given. One of the important things that have to be considered is that the faith once lost will not be able to regain. The managers have to conduct a to one conversations between their subordinates to maintain the performance level of the employees. When the information is passed to the employees it should be conveyed in such a manner that it must be able for the employees to accept the fact, because the behavior of the employees differs from person to person. The most important thing that has to be considered is the instructions, guidance, and support given by the CEO of an organization.