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As a founder who has laid people off in the past, I think the kindest thing you can do (for everyone involved) is give them as much notice as you possibly can.
by MalcolmDiggs 11y ago
As a founder who has laid people off in the past, I think the kindest thing you can do (for everyone involved) is give them as much notice as you possibly can. No matter what pay-rate the employees are at, assume they're living paycheck to paycheck, and that a sudden loss of their income will be much worse than a loss 2-3 months from now.
My second suggestion is to go out of your way to be the best reference these people have ever had. Write letters of rec, tell them to list you personally as a reference (with your cell #), etc. And if you can, use your network to help them find new opportunities.
For those who remain, just try to be as honest as you can. If their jobs are possibly insecure, let them know as well.
Best of luck, I know this is hard.
- cookiecaper 11y agoAnd by "notice", I'm sure you mean "severance". Do not, I repeat, do NOT give employees advance notice of the termination. Convert any would-be notice period into severance and sever ASAP.
- MalcolmDiggs 11y agoI think it's a bit case specific. Ideally, yes I agree with you. But assuming you're on a shoestring budget and these employees (through their work) are generating a portion of the revenue that you'd need to keep paying them at all, then I'm not sure severing ASAP is feasible. But hopefully it is.
- bjourne 11y agoBut when paired with the other advice given out in this thread "layoff your biggest underperformers first", why would you be a reference to them? Other employers would call you and you would lie and say that they were awesome when you really thought that they sucked?
- cperciva 11y agoLayoffs are the easiest time to give an employee a reference: "We really wanted to hold on to Bjorn, but we hit a hard patch and had to lay people off. We'd hire him back in a heartbeat if we had more money."
- rbobby 11y agoIt's a layoff... not even close to a firing for cause.
- vonmoltke 11y agoJust because the laid-off employees were your lowest performers does not mean they suck. No matter how good a group of people is, someone has to be at the bottom.