The Layoff Guide: How to do layoffs in the least shitty way possible
Save hours, HR and potentially legal costs by using my layoff guide! Because you’re never going to be thanked for doing a shitty thing in a not-shitty way, but it is still worth doing well and with integrity.
I’ve planned and executed a lot of layoffs. Five in five years, in fact. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for you, that makes me a bit of a layoff planning expert. You may have read (or experienced first-hand, for which I’m so sorry) about the terrible ways companies manage layoffs: think leaked meeting invites, cringey CEO speeches, and pre-recorded termination messages. And maybe you are a good person so you want to avoid doing something terrible in a terrible way.
That’s where this guide comes in.
This is a guide for HR and People Operations staff who are responsible for project managing layoffs and want to do it fairly and thoughtfully. It’s especially designed for smaller teams where you might be the only HR person at your company and are new to layoffs. If you’re a leader or manager who wants to do better in laying people off or is new to the process, this might also be useful for you.
In this guide, I’ll cover:
- How to figure out who to lay off
- Conducting layoffs in a fair and legally sound way
- Templates for offboarding and documenting terminations
- Navigating severance agreements
- Scripts for telling people they’ve been laid off
- Tips for how to tell people you laid off their teammates
- How to manage the aftermath and support your employees going forward
And I’ll do it all with a bit of snark because if you’re not laughing, you’re crying right?
You'll get my 28 page guide outlining the process of a standard layoff from start to finish. I'll include sample scripts, templates, and checklists to ensure you have a smooth planning process. I also offer guidance into what happens after the layoffs - how to tell your team, work through change management, and come out the other side.