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Now is NOT the time
Did you see the news articles a few weeks ago, when a major airline gave its laid-off workers a manual with tips for saving money? On the surface, the manual made sense. People without jobs need to know how to stretch their dollars.
The effort backfired. Workers were upset that the company cutting their jobs was advising them to ask family members for hand-me-down clothes and to pull things from other people's trash.
Where did the company (Northwest Airlines) go wrong? It broke at least two cardinal rules for dealing with layoffs. One has to do with timing, and the other with choosing who should give the advice.
These are both easy to illustrate. First, about choosing the source of the advice: You can't give both good and bad things from the same hand. In this case, Northwest not only was cutting jobs but also had been (and continues to be) part of a long and messy labor dispute. Who wants helpful tips from the party causing him or her great harm?
That's not to say that employers shouldn't do everything possible to help people they're cutting from the payroll. Of course they should make this effort, earnestly and to the fullest extent of available resources. But in cases in which the relationship has deteriorated badly, it makes sense to step back and let a third party manage the outreach.
Timing is the other key factor in handling layoffs. When it comes to helpful tips, laid-off workers can stand only so much upbeat information at a time -- especially at the beginning of the process.
If you're familiar with Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross' work on the emotional stages of death and dying, you won't be surprised to learn that the same stages can be applied to the loss of a job. Initially, the worker struggles with feelings of disbelief and anger, which give way to fear and anxiety and finally evolve into an acceptance and readiness to move forward.
Based on my experiences leading workshops for people in transition -- sometimes held on the manufacturing floor while machines are being dismantled behind us -- I can tell you this: When people are dealing with the shock and anger stages of a loss, they're in no mood to discuss ways to save money on groceries. They're dealing with the big-picture questions about their place in the world and how that mortgage is going to get paid, while also battling emotional crises and feelings of betrayal.
This reality puts companies in an awkward spot. Most would prefer to gather a bunch of tip sheets in a big folder and hand it all off on the day of the layoffs. Most, in fact, do this very thing, and the public never hears a peep, probably because the workers involved are too busy gasping for air to complain.
On most days, the world is moving too quickly for us to honor our "emotional stages." Companies will hand off the information and get back to their core business. Government programs will favor the dislocated workers who quickly decide on their next careers. The unemployment checks will end surprisingly quickly.
In the long run, all this hurrying may be for the best. At least it keeps things moving in the worker's life. I just wish there were some way to speed up the emotional side of things. As it is, I'm often coaxing angry transitioners to network and helping morose job-seekers practice for interviews. With all the extra baggage, they simply aren't as effective as they would be in better circumstances.
If you feel you are caught in a cycle of anger or fear after a layoff, your best strategy is to ask for help. Seek out job-related support groups in your area -- or even a therapist who can help you work through the emotions. Once you understand your feelings and how they may be affecting your job search, you'll be better able to modify your approach.
- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.
