Dismissal Meeting Essay

1. Propose three ways that a manager can cope with any negative emotions that may accompany an employee layoff. Layoffs are tough for both the employee being laid off and the company for which he/she worked. The situation causes so much uncertainty amongst the remaining employees. The feeling among the employees is; if this happened to them this could happen to me as well. According to Johnson (n.d.), â€Å"There is a major disruption in the status quo; relationships are severed, work is redistributed with a probable increase in everyone’s workload.† We as human fear the unknown and will ultimately feel that it’s bound to happen again and will remain on edge until reassured it won’t happen. Three ways the manager can cope with any negative emotions are: communicate with remaining employees, dispel any rumors, and allow employees to vent. During these difficult times it’s important that management has constant communication with their staff. Accordin g to Butcher (2008), â€Å"Most employees want to know what will be happening to them, especially whether they will they be laid off.† Each one of the surviving employees wants to know what’s going on no one wants to be left out. When there is something perceived to be a cover up the employees are uneasy. When the employees are uneasy panic and hysteria sets in and production levels go down. The moment employees get wind of the layoffs or terminations the rumors will start to fly. It all stems from fear of losing their jobs. Employees become untrustworthy of management, so until management presents themselves as trustworthy, employees will continue to talk and spread rumors. Management has to step and in let the employees know the truth about what has happened and what will come next. If there is projected to be more layoffs then management should let them know. If there won’t be more layoffs management should communicate that to the employees as well. The best coping mechanism for negative emotions would be to let the  person vent. If management allows the employees to vent, this will lessen the fru stration amongst the remaining members of the team. Management should conduct a meeting with the employees and allow them to share their feelings. Once management has an idea of how the employees feel they can make proper action to deal with the situation. Communication shouldn’t be one sided. Each side has to share what they believe is important. 2. Describe a step-by-step process of conducting the dismissal meeting. There are many steps to disciplining and employee. Usually, the last step in the discipline process is the dismissal of the employee. In a situation, where the employer doesn’t believe the employee should continue employment with the company the dismissal process begins. According to Heathfield (n.d.), â€Å"Sometimes, however, terminating a staff person’s employment is the best step to take for your organization.† Often times, when the employee isn’t a best fit for the organization management has to make the decision to trim the fat. Once it’s been determined the employee will be terminated for whatever reason. Whether it is for cause or non-performance, there is a process in which this shall be conducted. The manager has to schedule a meeting, inform the employee of termination, allow the employee to speak, and collect company property and have the employee escorted out. The manager has to be diligent in scheduling the meeting. Most often practice is to schedule the meeting for the end of the day. This allows the manager to minimize the chance the termination of the employee may disturb the work environment. In the event, the employee has a good relationship with the other employees the others may become upset. The meeting should be scheduled for the employee on a day in which the employee works. Depending on the preferred method of communication the manager should contact the employee as soon as possible. Once the meeting has been determined the manager should pick a location in which the meeting can be conducted. The preference is a location in which there will be some type of barrier between the manager and the employee. The manager should position the room in such a way that the employee doesn’t have to cross paths once the meeting has ended. While the meeting is going the manager should open the meeting explaining the reason for which they are meeting. After the manager has discussed with the employee the reason for termination it is important to allow the employee to express his/her feelings. During this time the  employee is allowed to say something in his/her defense. Also allows the employee to vent frustration about the termination. This will lessen the likelihood that employee will try some sort of retaliation. Additionally, is there was some misunderstanding on either the manager or the employees part this would be the time to clear it up. The next step is a combination of two, have the employee return company property. Someone should accompany the employee to his/her work area/location to assure company property has been properly returned and his/her personal property has been gathered. Making sure the personal property has been attained will deter the former employee from coming back. The second part would to have the former employee escorted out. In situations like these, it may be best to have someone the employee has a close relationship escort them out. 3. Determine the compensation that the factitious company may provide to the separated employee. Majority of the people in the workforce today, are doing so because they have to. Everyone has bills and expenses that have to be paid regularly. With this being said, everyone needs a steady income. Without a steady income individuals will fall behind and face major issues. So when it comes to employees being laid off from work employers should assist with some type of temporary compensation. In most cases, employers provide severance pay; pay accrued leave, and unemployment benefits. Most employers have severance packages set up for employees in the event the employment has to be terminated earlier than expected. According to Yuille, (2012), â€Å"The severance pay offered is typically one to two weeks for every year worked but can be more.† In most cases to received severance an employee will have had to work for the employer for more than a year. Employers should offer pretty reasonable packages depending on the job market and the economic climate. Most employers offer a benefits package for its employees. These are the things that attract talent to a particular employer. Within the benefits package there should be a leave option. The leave option should be a reasonable about of leaver per time worked. In the government workforce, when employment is terminated the amount of leave not taken is paid out at the rate in which the person works based on the number of hours of leave. Unemployment benefits mainly focus around two major parts of employee compensation and health benefits. The first of the two is  the weekly unemployment payment usually received from the state in which the person has been employed for the amount of time in which it requires to receive the benefit. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) allows for temporary continuation of health insurance. However, it isn’t subsidized like it would have been while employed. The individual has to pay a much higher premium when paying as unemployed. 4. Using Microsoft Word or an equivalent such as Open Office, create a chart that depicts the timeline of the disbursement of the compensation. See Appendix A 5. Predict three ways that this layoff may affect the company. In most cases, companies lay off employees to save money. Most times layoffs are due to slow in production or a drop in revenue. It’s always ugly business on both ends of the deal. The employees are out of a job and the company is out of workers. Three ways layoffs may affect a company are: lower moral, loss in production, and cost to retrain. When there is a layoff the surviving employees tend to become a bit worried about what will happen to them next. According to Matthews (2002), â€Å"The effects of layoffs on surviving employees have a less obvious, but still important, short-term financial impact. Morale directly affects productivity.† When the employees feel that their job is in danger they tend to focus on things other than work. Production is the main focus of any company’s operation. Production is what makes money for the company. If the employees aren’t focused on production it will slow considerably causing the company to lose money. The effects of the layoff will cause the company to lose more money than they anticipated. In the long run, the company will lose money on production due to low morale and lack of focus. Once production starts to pick up again the company will need to hire more workers. This boost in production will cause the company to need more workers to handle the load. The money spent on recruiting and training will absorb the money that was supposed to be saved by the company. Matthews also said, â€Å"The employer will pay a premium price for attracting valuable replacements, including the cost of recruiting and screening candidates.† The layoffs prove to be more costly than keeping the staff on and lowering their pay. References Butcher, D. (2008, November 13). 5 Strategies for managing employees after layoffs. Industry market trends. Industry market trends rss. Retrieved from http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2008/11/13/5-strategies-for-employers-managing-surviving-employees-after-layoffs/ Heathfield, S. (n.d.). How to fire with compassion and class. About.com human resources. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/discipline/a/firecompassion.htm Johnson, D. W. (n.d.). The emotional impact of lay-offs and non-renewals. University of Minnesota. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://www3.crk.umn.edu/humanresources/Documents/Emotional%20Impact%20of%20Layoffs.pdf Matthews, C. (2002, July 19). The real cost of layoffs by carole matthews inc.com. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/articles/2002/07/24434. Yuille, B. (2012, September 24). The layoff payoff: A severance package. Investopedia. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/negotiating-severance-agreements.asp