Of all the expenses you could slash within an organization during financial instability, you chose the human!
Firstly, if you think of your people as expenses, then you’re in the wrong business…
When someone says that layoffs are a mandatory measure towards becoming leaner/stronger or represent a pivot into something new, what I really hear is someone who cannot be bothered to lead during a period of change…
It’s more desirable to manage the integration of new technologies than it is to lead people, especially those who might be underperforming…(the true measure of leadership)…
Similarly, tolerating a poor performer versus taking action to remedy the situation is just as bad…
Have employees allowed themselves to become dispensable or are leaders responsible for creating widespread redundancy that they now condemn and are taking measures to get rid of? Have we consciously (or unconsciously) put people into positions that leverages a small fraction of their entire skill set, thereby leading to monotony, which leads to burnout, which leads to employer frustration, & ultimately mass layoffs…
Cue the solution – robots…
“We are simply embracing the future with hopes of competing” – says every modern day CEO…
What we’re really fostering is a business world driven by fear and insecurity. Employees don’t trust their leadership to prioritize them during a downturn or change, and employers have strategically commoditized their people thereby making it easy to cut ties with them…
Is the onus on employees to fight to remain relevant or is it on employers to lead with more compassion? Why can’t we have a balance? An equilibrium that promotes employee accountability and leaders who care!