April 2005

VOLUNTARY

“Will those of you who want to volunteer to be laid off, please raise your hands?”  Incongruous as that sounds at first, that image captures the essence of a creative alternative you may want to consider if you are facing the need for a reduction in force.  

Last month we suggested some significant potential benefits of staging a voluntary lay off process, rather than a mandated Reduction In Force (RIF).  These included minimizing disruption, employee empowerment, improved communications, increased control, reduced potential for litigation and retaining your most committed employees.

We also identified the common fears: not enough will volunteer, too may will volunteer, the wrong people will volunteer.  While real, we also stated that these risks can be managed if some fundamental factors are present in the organization and some fundamental principles are followed in the planning and execution.  This month we consider these factors and principles.

Organizational Leadership and Culture:  In our experience, for a voluntary process to succeed, leadership must embrace employee empowerment, and must have demonstrated a level of trust in employee decision making that has shaped a receptive and open culture.

Open Communication:  The organization must be comfortable with open communication and must have some ongoing mechanisms in place to support a high level of communication even on sensitive issues.

Valid Performance Data:  In order for employees to make sound decisions on their future, they need to have valid, recent feedback on their performance.  A successful voluntary process cannot depend on individual hunches or performance data that has glossed over critical areas of which the employee should be aware.

Clear Business Case:  The business case for the reduction in force needs to be sound, and needs to be clearly and consistently communicated.  In fact, the need for a reduction should ideally not even be a surprise, if the employees are aware of what is going on in the business and the market.

Time to do it right:  In order for a voluntary process to succeed, there has to be enough lead time to do the planning, communicating and implementation so that the process is open, thoughtful, and the potentially impacted employees have the time to make thoughtful decisions.  Six to eight weeks is not an unreasonable time expectation, and depending on the size of the reduction, more time may be required.

Despite the potential advantages, a voluntary process cannot be taken lightly and the above factors need to be carefully and candidly weighed.  If, however, the above fundamentals “profile” your organization accurately you may have the opportunity to turn a typically difficult process into one that strengthens the organization for future success.

Call us, we can help.

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                                  Phone:  952.525.1475            
            
Email:  E-Talent@oipartners.net 

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