Yahoo Gentle knife: layoffs more humane

December 10, 2008, this day, is the Yahoo job cut the mystery of the day announced. After 50 days of torture, 14,300 Yahoo employees who are the unlucky "10%" to the bottom of the story. The next day, an email from a friend who worked at Yahoo revealed Joy: "Yesterday, we had a nerve-racking day!" Luckily, I am still a Yahoo employee! ”

Now I'm living in the middle of a job cut in Silicon Valley, witnessing some sad and even bizarre stories. Open the local newspaper, flooded with "There is hope, hope" the words of encouragement; some associations began organizing psychological courses for middle-aged engineers; in other extreme cases, a middle-aged man, who was overwhelmed by the investment in real estate, shot and killed the CEO who announced that he had been laid off with a 9-millimeter-caliber burst into the company.

In the distance you may not understand, after the financial crisis has affected the real economy, the pressure on Silicon Valley tech people in the high cost of life is that their homes may be foreclosure by the inability to pay their monthly contributions, or the cars bought on instalments, and the families of engineers who have just built up in Silicon Valley, The crucial "immigration status" may also be affected, and if it is a work visa (H1B), once fired there will be no cushion, only to return to school, or from where to go back.

Intrigued by the compensation for Silicon Valley tech, I did a special survey, the answer is: regimen's salary. So, Yahoo's layoffs are quite "humane". In this extraordinary situation, it gives a compensation of five months ' salary and four years ' salary of four months for a job full of five years. In addition, "shot" people can maintain two months "status" ("in the State"), which means that they can not be sent home immediately, there is time to find a job.

It is said that one employee has just entered Yahoo two months unlucky "shot", but he has received 3000 U.S. dollars sign-on bonus (signing gold, Silicon Valley High-tech companies to compete for talent in the contract when the staff of the bonuses), plus 4 months salary compensation.

But none of this is the most significant part of Yahoo's job cuts, and what really fascinates us is the secret memo that was "made public".

December 10, 2008 3 o'clock in the morning, an internal secret that will guide Yahoo's management to announce the job cuts more skillfully--"Yahoo's secret layoff doublespeak revealed" Appeared on the Valleywag.gawker.com website, causing frantic clicks from Yahoo employees. The proposition behind it is--as a manager who wants to remain prestigious, how better to comfort this heartbreaking farewell?

This is a very careful consideration of the need, it is worth the domestic also for layoffs headache CEOs reference.

The script for the Yahoo layoff show starts with the boss moving toward an employee who will be dismissed, and pay attention to the following words.

Scene One: If it's in the office, the boss will walk up to the employee's desk and say, "Thank you for coming to work, Aaron." I have some information about our organization, I want to tell you alone. ”

If some of the employees are on vacation (indeed there is an Indian employee on vacation), please continue to emphasize "privately" on the phone-"Hello, Aaron, I need to talk to you about something very important, are you free now?" I have some information about our organization and I want to tell you in private. ”

The emphasis on "private" makes people feel friendly and intimate, and the next technique of announcing it also makes people laugh.

"As you know, this is a challenging year for Yahoo." Now, companies are shifting their focus to cost savings, so we have to make tough choices around eliminating some jobs. Your position is one of the ones to be eliminated. ”

Please note that Yahoo says here is not to eliminate the staff, but to eliminate the position, so it does not seem to target someone and so hurt.

Subsequently, managers are asked to say "I'm glad you met Aaron" when managers will bring their staff to the job counseling and placement company right Management, the person who teaches the employee how to deal with interviewing skills and helps determine the best choice in their career. He has worked with us for ___ years or months and has become a key figure in our team. ”

In addition, there are some additional hints: "As a leader, you have to be able to be found all day." In the process of downsizing, there is no war story or gossip, showing respect and dignity to employees. ”

Here are some important things to do and not to do:

For example, managers should know how to focus, remember the purpose of the interview, adhere to their own decisions, meet the length of the longest, not more than 15 minutes, explain things clear, concise and respectful, by listening to maintain open communication, and before continuing to suspend, allow employees to reply, etc.

What should not be done-don't reduce the importance of employee work; Don't try to answer the employee. "Why me?" Don't feel indebted to your employees; do not discuss other employees or compare them; Don't say you disagree with the decision; don't try to give him advice or advice or he can come back, and don't make silly comments like, "Now you have enough time to spend your vacation" or "Who knows how long I'll be here?" ”

I've made a special reference to the 2007 Silicon Valley jobs created throughout the year, with a total of 20,000. It can be predicted that, influenced by the financial crisis and the global economic downturn, Silicon Valley is no longer so generous. Around me, depressed companies continue to lay off workers, and companies with good performance do not recruit, and most Silicon Valley people are prepared to do so: the climax has not come and the real recession should be in 2009.

Yahoo's "gentle knife" may not be the most classic company in the history of layoffs, however, it still gives us some inspiration, that is, in the face of farewell, how more "professional + humanization" to avoid the injury caused by the staff self-esteem of the tragic events occurred.