How should an organization go about planning for a reduction in force, or RIF?  Certainly, there are a number of considerations that need to go into the planning process, including coordinated upfront planning, the number of impacted personnel, the identification of high-risk individuals in the impacted employees, and more.

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & CEO Bryan Strawser provides perspective on his experience with reductions in force – and the key planning elements that companies must take to ensure the safety and security of their employees and organization.

Episode Transcript

Bryan Strawser: Hello and welcome to the Managing Uncertainty podcast. This is Bryan Strawser, principal and CEO here at Bryghtpath, and I’m running solo today for this week’s podcast where we’re going to talk about mass terminations and layoffs or reductions in force, to use a term that’s really used more frequently nowadays.

Bryan Strawser: I want to talk through the whole cycle of how do you plan for a mass layoff or reduction in force, how do you keep people safe during the process and how do you monitor the reactions of individuals? As we head into this discussion, I think it’s important to point out that as we think about reductions in force or even small scale layoffs, these are very impactful events on not just the individuals who are affected in terms of being laid off and having their job taken away, but it also impacts the entire team and organization.

Bryan Strawser: Because that person that you may have worked with for years and had done a role on the team that you’re a part of, is now gone. And so these are very disruptive events, and although as a security professional or an HR professional listening to this podcast, you have a role to play in terms of planning the process and executing upon the process. Let’s not forget throughout all of this that these are individuals who have likely done a very good job for your organization. They are a team mate to others in your organization.

Bryan Strawser: And there are ways to do this, ways to execute this reduction in force that allows them to maintain their dignity as a human. And that’s part of what we want to make sure happens through this process, because in the end, if you treat these folks right throughout the process, it doesn’t necessarily make it any easier for them in terms of the impact on them, but treating them with dignity and respect throughout the process will minimize the number of incidents and blow back that you receive as you work through this.

Bryan Strawser: You can do this in a humane and dignified manner. So let’s talk about that. Certainly the leadership of a business decides that you’re going to have a reduction in force. It may be dictated by market conditions, it might represent the failure of a project or a strategic initiative or an expansion, but your business leadership decides to execute a reduction in force and decides who is going to be impacted by this and launches a planning effort.

Bryan Strawser: The most important folks that are involved in this planning effort are the leaders of the impacted business, your security team and your human resources team. If you do not have human resources and security… And for that matter, you also need communications. If you do not have these three representatives or an outside resource that can act in that role, then you do not have the right people at the table in order to execute this in the right way.

Bryan Strawser: You do not have the right people at the table to plan and execute this if you don’t have the business leaders, HR, security and communications at the table. You cannot do this the right way without those expertise,