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It must suck to have to write these emails. But please, the last thing you should do is bury the bad news behind a bunch of gobbledygook about ARR, SMB, "reset
by kafkaesq 10y ago
It must suck to have to write these emails. But please, the last thing you should do is bury the bad news behind a bunch of gobbledygook about ARR, SMB, "reseting relationships with key stakeholders" and whatnot.
Better to cut to the chase with the blood and gore -- being careful to take the time to acknowledge that this decision is painful for others, not just "painful to make" -- and then rebound with the potential upside.
- danvoell 10y agoAgree. The content of the email isn't so bad. The optional severance part is actually pretty cool. Just don't start the email talking about how everything is going well, exactly how you thought it would...
- WillPostForFood 10y agoI agree that the wording was way too corporate, but he has to make a positive pitch. The legitimately want people who are still bought in to stay, and not take "The Offer"tm.
- pbreit 10y agoWhat if things are going well? They're shutting down a remote office that sold to customers they are no longer focused on. They have plenty of money so the headcount reduction is totally unnecessary from financial perspective.
- leothekim 10y agoHe could have phrased things better, but it sounds like he's trying to make convey to the employees who are staying that the company has a viable future and is doing things to improve itself. I'd personally prefer to have as big a picture as possible when layoffs like this occur.
- jsprogrammer 10y agoIt must suck to read the email, about how great the work you have been doing is: Relationships are reset, all our work is about to pay off, customers are sticking with us, revenue is as predicted, and oh, by the way, 10% of you won't get to see it. As for the rest of you, please purge your self as desired. Seems like the company should be handing out shares, instead.
- maxxxxx 10y agoReading these corporate E-mails always makes me feel numb. "We have a great future, we will realign priorities to make things even greater. You are fired. We wish you all the best for your bright future, wherever it is as long as it's not here." Reminds me of another E-mail from a while ago. "Thank your for your great work on this project. We will have a great thank you dinner in a great restaurant. (3 more paragraphs of the same). For cost saving reasons only directors and higher are invited, not you. It will be a fantastic dinner with a lot of fun". Are they all psychopaths who don't understand what they are writing?
- kafkaesq 10y agoPyscho- or sociopaths, no. However I've come to theorize that it's a common defensive reaction in many people to go slightly (or majorly) "numb" when they find themselves involved in actions in which others are also likely to be hurt in some significant way -- even if their role is entirely passive, and/or the action is necessary and basically unavoidable. Which would explain a lot of the vapid e-mail announcements about layoffs / firings, as well as the tone of most rejection letters these days ("We think you suck, basically, and/or we didn't really bother to read your resume before contacting you and gobbling up all your time with our dorky interview process. Or if we did read your resume, we didn't really think about what we read or whether you'd fit the position. But either way, we hope you have a great weekend!")
- fapjacks 10y agoYes of course they are, but they know what they're writing.
- arachnids 10y agoThe target audience of these kind of emails is not the people who are fired, it's the people who are staying.