...Re-organization and Layoff: Issue and Problem Identification April 3, 2016 According to Bouw’s article (2013), she discusses the issues of improper managing and administration in the event of a company layoff. Mismanaged cutbacks begin with the Human Resources Department themselves. The article states their lack of education, training, and company knowledge, is the reasoning for these incidents. When a manager isn’t properly prepared for a cutback, it can possibly affect the company as a whole. "It's traumatic to the remaining staff - the survivors - and can create fear and resentment"- Mr. Swartz. The company needs to look at all options before they decide to do layoffs or terminate employment. The cut backs can be done in different ways other than treating an employee like they are commodities. The business problem starts with the lack of training the managers receive on how to handle a layoff in the company or termination of an employee. Termination of employees can cause negative results for the company if the management team does not handle the situation properly. Businesses do not focus on how to approach different scenarios and emotions in the event of a termination. Managers often times let their personal emotions get in the way when terminating an employee. They tend to ramble on, and sugar coat the reasoning why their decision was so hard to let them go. Managers are not being straightforward and honest with the employee. Employees that do not understand...
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...Re-organization and Layoff- Issue and Problem Identification May 25, 2015 Re-organization and Layoff- Issue and Problem Identification Layoffs can come about in a number of ways, but the form of layoffs that policymakers have shown they are most concerned about occurs when businesses displace employees. Layoffs are the forward and backward movement within the business cycle, but involuntary job loss is ever-present because firms remove workers for reasons other than temporarily weak demand of goods and services. Employers also conduct layoffs for reasons specific to them or their industry (Levine, 2005). According to Linda Levine, a specialist in labor economics, “the term "downsizing" is describing a practice that became prevalent during the 1980s of typically "old economy" manufacturers restructuring their operations through large-scale layoffs to become more competitive in the global marketplace” (2005). Reorganizing work to improve competitive advantage has since spread to "new economy" manufacturers and to firms in the service sector. It also includes more than downsizing, such as sending work to facilities within and outside U.S. borders. By definition, restructuring achieved through downsizing produces a net loss of jobs at companies. (Levine, 2005). The main issues are that employers don't consider an alternative solution to laying off employees, nor do they dismiss employees in an appropriate way. What can be done instead of a lay off? Has the decision making...
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...they don't live in fear," he says (“Mismanaged layoffs can go 'horribly wrong',” 2013). Managers tend to come off a little rude when terminating or laying off employees. Another solution would be consider whether or not the loss of the employee is necessary. Instead of laying off employees companies can place that employee in another section of the company that he/she has the skills to do and the position is open. Doing this allows the company to have fewer contracts or cutting wages. Managers also tend to talk too much or not talk enough which can sometimes come off to an employee as uncaring. Knowing what to say and how to say it should also be something managers should think about when having to terminate or layoff employees. Employers must also follow the law when terminating or laying off employees. Sometimes managers terminate employees based off of emotions and feelings towards that individual being laid off or terminated. Under the Canada Labor Code, which covers federal employees, an employer has to provide at least two weeks' notice in writing or two weeks wages to terminated employees after three consecutive months of employment, according to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. Workers with at least 12 consecutive months of continuous employment also qualify for severance pay. The rules vary by province for the rest of the work force, including whether or not the employee belongs to a union. (“Mismanaged layoffs can go...
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...Re-Organization and Layoff: Decision Making SAMANTHA STINSON PHL/320 March 14, 2016 Jason Miller Re-Organization and Layoff: Decision Making Introduction When a company chooses to conduct a mass layoff, the employees are not the only ones affected, the ethical business environment and economy are also at threat. Handling a company’s finances can be very puzzling and companies that find it difficult to overcome this task, experience a downturn, weakening business, and when this occurs, the need to find solutions to relieve their financial issues become critical. The purpose of this paper is to provide a recommendation from the two solutions provided in Week 4, how this solution benefits the middle-income customer, business decisions involved in the process, and what resources a company would need to implement that decision. Employee Buyout When a company is enduring extreme financial hardships, they may be able to encourage their workers to resign or retire voluntarily. “A buyout typically includes an offer of severance pay for a particular length of time and the continuance of other fringe benefits.” (D. Sullivan, 2016). The employer is entitled to negotiate the terms so they are not only favorable to the company but the employee too. A positive side effect the company gains from offering buyouts instead of laying off or firing employees can minimize possible lawsuits and bad press. There are several laws and regulations that must be followed when pursuing the employee...
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...Re-Organization and Layoff Team D Melissa Stotko PHL/320 May 26, 2016 Martin McDuffie Re-Organization and Layoff Solutions One potential creative solution for the problem that the team identified in week two would be to force employees that have been with the company over 20 years into mandatory retirement. For every mandatory retirement that the company forces, that is one potential job saved. Now we are not saying that the company needs to force retire 100 salary employees and 950 union employees, but if even they we able to retire half from each category that would help them stay competitive in the marketplace. We are trying to save jobs. So we need to get rid of the old dinosaurs that are not up with the current trends that GE needs to stay competitive with. Another potential creative solution for the problem could be for GE Transportation to find new, create new, or adjust their current marketing strategies. Clearly orders and productivity are down. If GE was to find a new strategy to boost revenue and productivity then they would not be forced into implementing this layoff plan. Let it say these new strategies boosted productivity by even 20% that can cut down 20% of the 1050 employees they had planned to let go. It is common knowledge that if you have a strong marketing strategy then chances are you will be successful. Why solutions will work Forcing employees that have been with the company over 20 years into mandatory retirement is one of...
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...Re-organization and Layoff: Decision Making Evaluation Paper Learning Team D PHL/320 07/20/15 Scott Phillips Decision Making: In our Decision Making Evaluation, we as a group most commonly agreed that the biggest factor to easing the “Layoff” would be to have a trained individual handle the situation. This would solve issues for all classes of individuals that are being relieved of their duties in a business setting while keeping the professionalism present in the process. Through other research there were other options available to remove the “Layoff” issues and it was best shown in Daniel Panger’s, “Alternatives to Employee Layoff.” Panger explains how the amount of money and time put into training an employee gets wasted when the employee gets laid off and expresses other ways to approach situations that demand change. The idea of reducing workdays and weeks is brought up to save money and escape the Layoff (Panger, 1971). The issues seen with this technique is in the long run it would seem to simply prolong the issue and still lead to a layoff. That leads us to the decision of having a prepared and educated person handle the laying off process. Implementing the Decision: For a businesses to use this solution there is many things that must take place and the most important would be to establish a formula and fundamentals that will be present in the process. There are fundamentals from others studies that have already been used and a...
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...Re-organization and Layoff: Decision Making Evaluation Paper PHL/320-Critical Thinking and Decision Making July 20, 2015 Re-organization and Layoff: Decision Making Evaluation Paper The term “working poor” aptly describes most employees in the middle income tax bracket. Middle class Americans typically live paycheck to paycheck. These workers face difficulty saving money as incomes barely cover living expenses. The financial struggles of middle class employees greatly intensifies when a facing a layoff. The laid off employees not only deal with the loss of income after a layoff; they also encounter barriers in finding a new job. During the past three economic recessions, millions of American jobs disappeared as companies decided to save money of labor costs by outsourcing “middle-skill” jobs (Tankersley, 2014). Middle class jobs are increasingly hard to find. Learning Team A discussed the financial strain sustained by these displaced workers. The team decided a company’s best course of action to assist these employees consists of offering a severance package to discharged workers. The Severance Package There are many considerations that a company must make when determining to lay off employees. One such consideration is how the decision will impact the company’s reputation with current and displaced employees. Employees will experience a multitude of emotions including anger, fear, and resentment. However, there are ways to reduce...
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...Re-organization and Layoff: Decision Making Evaluation In an article that has been discussed over the past five weeks entitled Mismanaged Layoffs Gone Horribly Wrong by Brenda Buow (2013) states “A company’s handling of layoff’s can have consequences long after the former staffers have left.” No organization sets out to lay off employees, but sometimes that is what must be done in order to keep the organization afloat. There are not many solutions to not conducting a layoff, but over the past five weeks it has been discussed that organizations can do a reduced work week or an internal job fair. The most effective solution is reducing the amount of hours an employee works. This benefits the organization by saving money on payroll and can even help the middle-income customer. Solutions A reduced work week allows extra time for the employees rather than being laid off and losing employment all together. For the middle-income customer, the solution of a reduced work week allows parents to have time to care for their children. For example, “Laflamme, a mother of three, has been working only four days a week for the last few years. Having an extra day to herself allows her to run errands and chores around the house so that she can enjoy the weekend with her children” (Shingler, 2013, para. 7). A company facing layoffs can make the decision to cut back the hours of employees after performing an analysis of the company budget, and being able to positively say that cutting back...
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...Mismanaged layoffs can go 'horribly wrong’. The effect of mismanaged LAYOFFs on the remaining workforce and the effects, lack of management preparation, the human condition, and lack of mitigation strategies. We think that the problem with this article is that not enough managers or HR personal, know how to let a person go from their employment effectively. They sometimes don't realize the impact that it has on the other employees’ morale. At times, companies don't investigate to ensure downsizing will be the answer to cutting costs like they think that it will. Every HR or manager should be let go in their lifetime so that they know what it feels like. I believe that this statement holds tremendous merit because the best lessons in life are learned through personal experience. In order to adequately communicate life changing messages of sorts, it should be done by a seasoned manager. We would be surprised to learn if any company has a layoff learning path that will coach and train the management staff for the firing of an employee.. It is imperative to be sensitive to the individual being laid off as this will impact their livelihood significantly. I do agree that other options much is explored such as relocating or wage cuts before making the decision to lay off people. The Problem Layoffs create uncertainty in the workforce causing loss of productivity in remaining the remaining workforce. The article addresses that a manager's approach is paramount; we...
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...Re-organization and Layoff Summary PHL/320 March 31, 2016 Timothy Woods Re-organization and Layoff Summary Being the manger or the supervisor in HR that is in charge of hiring and firing people can be really tough. When doing this job many try take personal emotions out of it, but for some the thought of ending another’s career, or the means of taking care of a family could be a tough pill to swallow. In reviewing this all team, A has come to many conclusions and slowly coming up with answers to the “hard questions” that must be solved… Summarizing the Issue The issue and the matter at hand is how to deal with downsizing from an organizations perception. A company or a business must deal with the difficult task of having to let go of certain employees but the question is, how? How do they implement a strategy about letting someone go when they have to be confronted with different reactions and different personalities? Being that all situations are different, there must be a variety of strategies that can be used in the downsizing process. What is the Problem? The underlying problem is not downsizing because after all a business will do whatever they feel is best for themselves. The underlying problem is what happens after the downsizing occurs. Our group acknowledged that downsizing can have a negative effect on employees and their morale. It can also have an effect on the employees depending on the organization’s methods of handling the situation. It is...
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...Re-organization and Layoff: Issue and Problem Identification PHL/320 Re-organization and Layoff: Issue and Problem Identification In Week Two, Team D discussed the article Mismanaged layoffs can go ‘horribly wrong’ (Bouw, 2013.) The initially chosen focus of the group discussion was the potential ramifications of poorly handling the conversation terminating the employee. Reflecting on the article through further group discussion, and realizing the scope of the team’s initial impression is limiting the problem to a small component of the larger issue, Team D asserts the broader issue is that employers often turn to downsizing as the go-to method of cutting costs. Experts in the Bouw article provide evidence that knee-jerk layoffs to appease shareholder are often a mistake and cite why. Through the collaborative process of discussion, the team benefits from gaining confidence in the decision to change the focus of issue exploration from miscommunicating when firing to the drawbacks of layoffs. By clearly defining the problem that was not immediately apparent, Team D can now concentrate on discussing practical solutions for the broader underlying issue of unnecessary downsizing. Problem Identification The first step to successfully tackling any problem is identifying it. According to Dr. Henry Hornstein, downsizing within a company should be the last resort if cost cutting is necessary (Bouw, 2013.) He hypothesizes that it is approximately a 50 percent chance...
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...or what is more commonly known as layoffs. Managers have to cope with negative emotions that come with this process as well as the stress that the remaining employees often go through after many of their co-workers or friends have been removed from the workplace. They have to know the human resource approach on how to administer the layoffs correctly and how to determine the eligible time frames for any severance payments to those employees that maybe eligible. Managers are then responsible for being proactive on what opportunities and threats that may affect the organization after the layoffs have been performed as well. With all of these situations at hand, a manager must be very knowledgeable of the company’s ability to continue to move towards a profitable and stable work environment. When managers experience layoffs they must be prepared to deal with the both negative positive emotions and reactions from their staff. It may be very odd to expect positive reactions from those who are being laid off; however, this is not something that does not happen, especially if this is something that has been expected due to employees being aware of reduction of work load and loss on company contracts with huge organizations. Employees often embrace themselves for these inevitable changes in advance by updating their resumes and also being proactive in looking for potential replacement employment if the layoffs take place in their organization. Managers must also be aware of...
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...Re-organization and Layoff Team Discussion & Summary Team B PHL/320 2/23/2015 Wayne Moore Mismanaged layoffs can go 'horribly wrong.' The effect of mismanaged LAYOFFs on the remaining workforce and the effects, lack of management preparation, the human condition, and lack of mitigation strategies. We think that the problem with this article is that not enough managers or HR personal, know how to let a person go from their employment effectively. They sometimes don't realize the impact that it has on the other employees morals. Also, that sometimes companies don't take a closer look to make sure downsizing will be the answer to cutting costs like they think that it will. Every HR or manager should be let go in their lifetime so that they know what it feels like. I believe that this statement holds tremendous merit because the best lessons in life are learned through personal experience. In order to adequately communicate life changing messages of sorts, it should be done by a seasoned manager. I will be very surprised if any company has a potential layoff learning path that will coach and train the management staff for these kinds of things. It is imperative to be sensitive to the individual being laid off as this will impact their livelihood significantly. I do agree that other options much is explored such as relocating or wage cuts before making the decision to lay off people. The Problem Layoffs create uncertainty in the workforce causing loss of productivity...
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...Re-Organization and Layoff: Issue and Problem Identification Paper June 29, 2015 Learning Team A PHL/320 Richard Haines Management positions are tough as it is, but how does a member of the management team handle the tough decisions that they have discovered will be the best for their company? Layoffs and downsizing are never an easy topic to tackle. How does a manager deliver this type of bad news in the most professional way? The issue that was presented in the article “Mismanaged layoffs can go horribly wrong” was companies and their management teams are not able to layoff or terminate an employee or employees in the appropriate way. The author of the article feels as management is not able to handle these types of situations in a professional manner. Members of management often have great people skills, which are either something they were born with, or something they have learned throughout their lifetime, but when faced with the challenging situation of letting an employee go they are unable to say the right things. With proper training of these tough situations, managers will be able to handle these types of situations in a more professional manner. Managers need to be able to put themselves in the employee’s shoes and speak to the employee as if they were on the other side of the conversation. Mangers should also explore every option within the company before taking the action to layoff or terminate an employee. Documentation...
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...what is more commonly known as layoffs. Managers have to cope with negative emotions that come with this process as well as the stress that the remaining employees often go through after many of their co-workers or friends have been removed from the workplace. They have to know the human resource approach on how to administer the layoffs correctly and how to determine the eligible time frames for any severance payments to those employees that maybe eligible. Managers are then responsible for being proactive on what opportunities and threats that may affect the organization after the layoffs have been performed as well. With all of these situations at hand, a manager must be very knowledgeable of the company’s ability to continue to move towards a profitable and stable work environment. When managers experience layoffs they must be prepared to deal with the both negative positive emotions and reactions from their staff. It may be very odd to expect positive reactions from those who are being laid off; however, this is not something that does not happen, especially if this is something that has been expected due to employees being aware of reduction of work load and loss on company contracts with huge organizations. Employees often embrace themselves for these inevitable changes in advance by updating their resumes and also being proactive in looking for potential replacement employment if the layoffs take place in their organization. Managers must also be aware of...
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