Three Ways of Coping with Negative Emotions
Human Resource Management (HRM) has evolved over decades, transforming from a supportive organizational function to one of the most important strategic elements of the contemporary organizations. Globalization and internationalization of supply chains make companies become increasingly concerned with HRM as they recognize the importance of people as the major competitive advantage. With that in mind, HRM looks at retention rates and employee motivation as one of the core responsibilities of the department.While hiring and training are significantly important for reaching effective and productive operations; downsizing or simple employee layoff is another important function of HRM, which can affect not only the employee himself but the organization as a whole. The reality is that once the company lets the employee go, it creates resistance and demotivates other employees in the company as well as placed pressure on the managers, who have to lead with the situation directly (Sadler, 2003).
Contemporary literature and business practice outlines and recognizes various strategies for coping wth negative effects and emotions of employee layoff. Every company has its own approach to dealing with these situations. Some of the coping practices are more commonly accepted than the others. To look at the possible strategies to cope with emotions, it is important to outline the core feelings and reactions that are built in the situation of dismissal meeting and process. Reactions can be both, emotional and physical. Some of the common emotional responses include shock, resistance, sadness, anger, shame feeling of worthlessness, loss of self-esteem and anxiety. On the cognitive side, people often demonstrate a headache, fatigue, muscle pain, nausea, and even the upset stomach.
When dealing with layoffs managers should recognize that the above emotions can accompany not only the employee, who is being fired but his colleagues as well. The first important strategy to deal with emotions is to communicate the process transparently and widely to eliminate, or, at least, reduce to the minimum the level of uncertainty in the company. This will help to make employees understand and become part of the process. Managers should demonstrate that the company takes the responsibility and acknowledges its position (Robbins, 2009).
A second coping strategy is to develop a communication strategy to the employee and the colleagues in a way that they receive the most pressing information on the first place and fill in the information gaps for all the parties that may be negatively affected by the happening. This will open the door for communication and ensure that the management is seen as part of the group and not the enemy.
Finally, the company should ensure that the message to the employee and the others are delivered in a proper manner. That said, this message should be delivered personally and in a very respectful manner. Moreover, it is critical that this news is delivered personally by the direct supervisor and not by the HR department. A delegation of this responsibility may be seen as pain avoidance and can cause resistance and feeling of worthlessness in the employee (Robbins, 2009).
Step-by-step Process of Conducting a Dismissal Meeting
There are many strategies to conduct a dismissal meeting. One of the critical elements, however,is to prepare well and ensure that the manager knows its employee and went through all the challenges, appraisal and recent development in the employment contract with this particular individual. There are certain laws and processes that must be respected by both sides when it comes to conducting a dismissal meeting in a correct and ethical manner. Managers should clarify and consult the HR department on these matters.
There is no unique framework for conducting such meeting, but some of the elements can help to ensure that it goes smoothly for the manager as well as the employee. First of all, the manager should explain the purpose of the meeting and explain the reasons for dismissal and the effective date of the contract termination. At this stage, there is no need to go through the documentation, as this can be done at a later stage with the HR department. Secondly, the company should advise that the decision on dismissal is final and not reversible. The third step would be emphasizing that all the relevant factors for the decision were reviewed and all the relevant stakeholders are in line with the decision. If and where appropriate offer alternatives in-house or referral to other companies.The next step should involve the accurate review of the written summary of employee benefits. This review should include the severance package, compensation for vacation and sick time, health and life insurance benefits as well as employment assistance. The manager should have a final paycheck ready for the employee or outline time and a deadline for the payout of the final amounts.
It is critical that during the entire meeting manager remains respectful and demonstrates empathy and accessibility to the employee. To finalize the meeting, a manager could wish luck and express his or her confidence in the future of the individual, who is being dismissed.
Compensation Package
The compensation package for an employee can vary depending on the state and internal organizational rules. But general elements will and must include the following elements:
Job loss and Healthcare Benefits: the company should offer an employee an additional 12 months of health and life insurance coverage as a benefit upon the loss of the job.
Unemployment benefits: in a case of dismissal, individuals are generally entitled to the unemployment assistance. The company should timely and correctly provide all necessary documents to ensure that employee receives this support from the government.
Final paycheck: there are some differences in the situations when the employee is dismissed or left the company as well as has variation in the regulation based on the state. This report will refer only to dismissal option. The company must provide a final paycheck to the employee by the end of dismissal meeting.
Severance Package: the company should provide a severance package in accordance with the contractual obligations outlined at the time of employment. It is recommended that the organization offers: a lump sum equal to the two monthly payments for each year of employment; payment for the services of the outplacement company; continue paying health and life insurance for 12 consecutive months after the termination of the contract.
The Timeline of Compensation Disbursement
Compensation Disbursement time outlines the five major categories of payment to the employee. The timeline is based on the assumption that the dismissal meeting is conducted on the 12th of May with the contract termination on the following date, the 13th of May, 2016.
Three Ways in Which Dismissal Can Affect the Company
Understanding the effects of dismissal on individuals, group and the company is critical for effective HRM. The reality of many organizations illustrates how effective and well-thought dismissal policy and practice can positively affect the organization as well as how it can build on demotivation, uncertainty and reduction in productivity when is not managed properly. There are several major effects that dismissal can have on the organization (Sims, 2007). While its impact on an individual was discussed above, this chapter will focus on the organizational perspective.
First of all, dismissal is a process that inevitably creates an environment of uncertainty and resistance. Employees tend to pass information to each other in a manner, different from what organization expects. With that in mind, resistance is one of the principal reactions to dismissal. Feeling of a bond, personal relationships and group strategies that were built during time by the employee with the colleagues will create certain group reaction. Resistance will mean that people will start looking at management as "them" versus "us" and will become more apprehensive to change and distrustful to organizational decisions. To avoid that, the company should develop specific and coherent communication strategy, where employees become part of the process, comprehend the reasons for dismissal and recognize that company acknowledges the process and takes responsibility and care of employee that is being dismissed.
Another way in which dismissal can affect the company is the overall reduction in motivation levels among employees on lower organizational levels or even direct management. In order to reduce this impact, HRM should build on motivation strategy and clear performance-based remuneration. Additionally, an organization should ensure that the managers are given proper training to handle interdepartmental meeting, where employees can discuss the situation and ask questions with regards to dismissal. When the performance-appraisal system is in place and functioning properly, objectives, goals, and performance measurements are clear to the employees. In the case of dismissals, therefore, individuals will have transparent and understandable criteria, which will help to avoid demotivation.
Finally, there is a financial cost to every dismissal that the company makes. Timeline and discrimination of compensation package outline the way in which the company is affected by the dismissal not only immediately, but also in a medium term, once it is committed to the coverage of health and life insurance after the contract termination (Swanson & Elwood, 2009).
Companies have to deal with the variety of emotions, based on the internal and external diversity. Stakeholders of any organization include not only employees and investors, but society, governments and other market and economy players, which are directly and indirectly affected by the actions of the organization. With that in mind, dismissals should be taken very seriously,as unfair dismissal, employee dissatisfaction, and other negative reactions can have significant consequences on the company, such as fall in productivity, poor brand reputation in the employment market and perception of unethical business practices, affecting Corporate Social Responsibility programs (Schwartz, 2011).
References
Sadler Ph (2003). Strategic Management. 2nd Edition. London: Kogan Page Limited
Ronald R. Sims. (2007). Human Resource Management. Contemporary Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing
Schwartz M.S. (2011). Corporate Social Responsibility: An Ethical Approach. Journal f Economic Studies. 283(3), 202-215.
Swanson R.A. and Elwood F.H.. (2009). Foundation of Human Resource Development. 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Barret-Koehler.
Robbins S. (2009). How to Handle Layoffs. Harvard Business Review [Online]. Retrieved 10 May 2016, https://hbr.org/2009/03/how-to-communicate-layoffs
