Reducing staff numbers is one of the hardest jobs a manager has to do. When you have come to know your team, having to single some of them out to tell them they no longer have a job can be really tough.
But it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. Follow these tips and you'll come through to the other side having kept the respect of your employees.
• Have a sound business reason for making reductions. The stronger your argument, the easier it will be for your team to understand and accept.
• Communicate fully and regularly with your team, as a group and individually, and in writing, even with those who are not likely to lose their job.
• Involve your employees. They may well think of alternatives that you didn't. Don't assume that they don't understand your big picture - you might be surprised at some of the great suggestions you receive to avoid job losses.
• Listen - even to daft ideas that you know will never work even to angry rants even to questions you think you've already answered.
• Never use redundancy as an excuse to weed out poor performers. If people aren't performing well, you should be managing them through an entirely different process.
• Focus on the future. Businesses can be really proactive in helping redundant employees to find work. It's much more than helping put a CV together it's inviting recruitment agents in to talk to staff, contacting businesses which might have jobs for them, and helping individuals to get through the psychological process of losing their job and moving on.
• Don't forget the people who are staying. You've just completely changed the dynamic of their team and their work environment. This is a vulnerable time for employees to start looking for work elsewhere. If you want to retain their loyalty to you, they must see that you have treated their colleagues fairly and that you recognise that it's been hard on them, too.
• Seek professional guidance if you're not confident with doing this yourself. The damage that poorly handled redundancy processes causes can cost your business much more in the long run.
By Chantal Walton, director, consultancy HR on Tap