Earlier this year Paul was interviewed for a story in Inside Business magazine about how to respectfully lay off employees.
His latest article as a featured expert on respectful layoffs appeared in the business section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Sunday, June 21, 2009.
The Difficult and Delicate Job of Laying Off Employees: Though Workers are Most Affected, Managers, Company Feel Impact
By Marcia Pledger
When Lloyd Buckwell accepted a new job last year, he knew he would have to lay people off.
Knowing it didn’t make it any easier.
“You’re trying to build and right-size an organization so it will survive, but at the same time, you’re dealing with people’s lives,” said Buckwell, who was involved in about 1,000 layoffs as director of human resources for Wastequip Inc., in Beachwood.
“It’s always personal,” Buckwell said. “I’ve had to be in the room as people are calling their spouses saying, I just lost my job. I’m coming home.’ ”
As the recession has lingered, hundreds of bosses like Buckwell have found themselves in the uncomfortable position of telling employees they’re losing their jobs.
How they handle the task could be one of the most important decisions they make in their working lives. It obviously has the most effect on the laid-off employee, but it also carries implications for remaining workers, the company’s reputation and the manager’s own emotional well-being.
And there’s no good way to do it. But some ways are better than others.
