One of the hardest things about being a manager is that sometimes you have to take on the very difficult task of telling an employee they’ve lost their job.  While at this time last year, managers couldn’t hire fast enough in many industries, this year, their focus is much different.

At work, many times colleagues become friends and as a manager, you often aware of employees’ personal circumstances.  When you have no other choice but to let an employee go, it can be a very emotional experience.

In these times, more companies are electing to hire career transition specialists to help with employee layoffs. While managers need to have that first tough conversation, it often helps to then bring in a professional who can help the employee deal with “what next?”.

Career transition specialists can help guide employees through the process of updating their resumes, developing a career plan, give advice on moving forward and provide that all-important support as employees begin to think ahead.

As we know from our experience working with clients at BOWEN, the most important thing in handling layoffs is to treat employees with dignity and respect. Providing career transition support sends a message to all employees, whether current or former, that they are important and valued, and that your company will “walk the talk” in living out its values.

Layoffs and cutbacks are part of our current reality but as we know, everything is cyclical, and when the market improves, do you want your company to have a reputation as an employer of choice when it’s an employees’ market again?

This entry was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 2:15 pm and is filed under HR Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.