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

        183 ratings


        More shows like At Work with The Ready

        View all
        Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

        Hidden Brain

        43,513 Listeners

        The Knowledge Project by Shane Parrish

        The Knowledge Project

        2,689 Listeners

        Coaching for Leaders by Dave Stachowiak

        Coaching for Leaders

        1,470 Listeners

        HBR IdeaCast by Harvard Business Review

        HBR IdeaCast

        180 Listeners

        How to Be Awesome at Your Job by How to be Awesome at Your Job

        How to Be Awesome at Your Job

        1,037 Listeners

        Worklife with Adam Grant by TED

        Worklife with Adam Grant

        9,135 Listeners

        Inside the Strategy Room by McKinsey & Company

        Inside the Strategy Room

        177 Listeners

        At The Table with Patrick Lencioni by Patrick Lencioni

        At The Table with Patrick Lencioni

        1,130 Listeners

        The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos by Pushkin Industries

        The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

        14,397 Listeners

        A Bit of Optimism by Simon Sinek

        A Bit of Optimism

        2,227 Listeners

        ReThinking by TED

        ReThinking

        617 Listeners

        We Can Do Hard Things by Treat Media and Glennon Doyle

        We Can Do Hard Things

        41,642 Listeners

        Fixable by TED

        Fixable

        222 Listeners

        HBR On Leadership by Harvard Business Review

        HBR On Leadership

        174 Listeners

        What Now? with Trevor Noah by Trevor Noah

        What Now? with Trevor Noah

        4,313 Listeners