Key concepts of the article by Martha Lagace include:
Most
managers who conduct layoffs feel a mix of emotions that may catch them
by surprise: sympathy, sadness, guilt, shame, anxiety, and perhaps
anger.
Best practice for managers includes understanding yourself and
recognizing your limitations. Recognize ahead of time the emotional
cocktail that you will likely experience when performing a layoff, say
the researchers.
Companies should focus not only on getting the task done and on
ensuring the well-being of victims, but also on the well-being of those
who perform the layoff.
Conduct training beforehand; have pairs or teams perform the tasks
together; provide a good physical environment in a nonpublic, quiet
area of the organization; and later allow those who carried out the
layoffs to decompress and debrief.
