At Work with The Ready

Brave New Work: Making Layoffs More Human [Rebroadcast]


Listen Later

Rebroadcast note: With everything happening in the world right now, we're taking a quick break from our miniseries to reshare this episode about layoffs. Because sometimes large layoffs are necessary, but they shouldn't be the norm and those being let go should still be treated like humans, rather than a line on a spreadsheet. If you listened the first time around, share this episode with someone in your network who might need it (especially if they're a government employee 😬). We'll be back in two weeks with a brand new episode.


--------------------------------


We won’t mince words: Layoffs suck. They heap very real stress and chaos onto very real people’s lives. And as we’ve seen reported lately, big waves of layoffs are hitting several companies—and thousands of people—hard right now. This pile of not-good news sparked some questions for us, like: Why are layoffs a go-to cost-cutting lever? What pre-layoff org design decisions put employers and employees in this gnarly position? And why does every CEO letter announcing mass layoffs sound like it was written by the same robot?


In today’s episode, Aaron and Rodney, who’ve been on both sides of the layoff aisle, spend time with these queries and dig into:

  • The all-around messiness of the traditional layoff process
  • Why companies default to short-term thinking when the boom times boom
  • Dehumanizing layoff practices we should shelve for good
  • Creating clear containers and agreements for handling layoffs
  • How we could design a layoff moment that’s truly people-positive

  • --------------------------------


    Want future of work insights and experiments you can try delivered to your inbox? Sign up here.


    Follow us on your favorite platforms for more org design nerdery:

    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram

    • --------------------------------


      Mentioned references:

      • "RIFs"
      • ConvertKit episode: BNW Ep. 36 with Nathan Barry
      • "life stress inventories": Holmes and Rahe stress scale
      • Office Space, 1999 movie
      • Up in the Air, 2009 movie



        ...more
        View all episodesView all episodes
        Download on the App Store

        At Work with The ReadyBy Rodney Evans and Sam Spurlin

        • 5
        • 5
        • 5
        • 5
        • 5

        5

        176 ratings


        More shows like At Work with The Ready

        View all
        Design Matters with Debbie Millman by Design Matters Media

        Design Matters with Debbie Millman

        1,227 Listeners

        Good Life Project by Jonathan Fields / Acast

        Good Life Project

        3,272 Listeners

        Radical Candor: Communication at Work by Kim Scott, Jason Rosoff & Amy Sandler

        Radical Candor: Communication at Work

        705 Listeners

        Creative Confidence Podcast by IDEO U

        Creative Confidence Podcast

        124 Listeners

        Choiceology with Katy Milkman by Charles Schwab

        Choiceology with Katy Milkman

        1,388 Listeners

        Akimbo: A Podcast from Seth Godin by Seth Godin

        Akimbo: A Podcast from Seth Godin

        1,760 Listeners

        Worklife with Adam Grant by TED

        Worklife with Adam Grant

        9,241 Listeners

        Hello Monday with Jessi Hempel by LinkedIn

        Hello Monday with Jessi Hempel

        1,017 Listeners

        The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos by Pushkin Industries

        The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

        14,589 Listeners

        The Anxious Achiever by Morra Aarons-Mele

        The Anxious Achiever

        574 Listeners

        A Bit of Optimism by Simon Sinek

        A Bit of Optimism

        2,166 Listeners

        ReThinking by TED

        ReThinking

        620 Listeners

        A Slight Change of Plans by Pushkin Industries

        A Slight Change of Plans

        1,882 Listeners

        Fixable by TED

        Fixable

        219 Listeners

        HBR On Leadership by Harvard Business Review

        HBR On Leadership

        131 Listeners