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To lay off or not to lay off – that is the question! - What advice would you give someone who was in your shoes?

“Okay, we can come back to the detail of how each of these ideas will roll out. At the moment we are really just brainstorming. So now we have lay-offs, flights, entertainment, rental and divisional projects. What else? What advice would you give someone who was in your shoes?”

“Well, if the divisional projects are going to come up with areas that can be cut at the various levels of the divisions, then the executive should also look at company-wide interventions – like reducing the number of work days per week. In fact, perhaps we should look at areas where we can cut – like are we prepared to take a pay cut? We can’t expect others to do things we are not prepared to do. It might be another opportunity for us to lead from the front.”

“Does anything else come to mind?”

“Um, not really – I think I am all optioned-out! Other things will probably come up as I walk out of here – but anyway, what I like is that there is the opportunity for numerous other options to come out of the project teams. Actually, there is one more; perhaps one of the project teams should be a cross-functional one to ensure that Exco and the Divisional teams don’t leave something out.”

In discussing which of the options Mary would take forward, they realised that all of the options were relevant and that an action plan for each of these should be developed. As time had run out, and because of the urgency, Sipho and Mary agreed to get together over breakfast the next morning and to spend up to three hours putting a detailed plan together.

“Before we leave,” said Sipho, “there is one other aspect that I think we need to look at. What is the most important thing that could go wrong?”

“That’s easy,” said Mary, “apart from us not getting it all right and the company going down, communication – it is imperative that we communicate openly and sufficiently throughout the process.”

“Then, will you give that some thought as well overnight – think about exactly what needs to be said to whom and at what stage. Okay? Could you also give some thought to each of the alternatives we have discussed today at two levels: what might we have left out? And what are the most important pro’s and con’s of each that will inform how we design the plans around them? Okay? Then finally, what have you learnt today - about yourself or just generally?”

“I realised that the stuff I avoid is not that difficult if I just chunk it down and face up to it. I noticed too that the options I came up with got bigger and more effective as we went along. It made me think that too often I settle on the first reasonable option that comes up – gee, just how many second-best or incomplete decisions have I come up with over the years.”

“Can I share something that I noticed?” asked Sipho. Mary nodded. “I noticed that as we got into the deep-end of the session, you started asking yourself some really important questions the provided you with some of the most exciting possibilities. I think that is really significant in terms of the quality and sustainability of your thinking. The only problem is that if you continue to do that, you might lay me off!” At that, they both smiled and went their respective ways.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lauron Buys Coaching Solutions cc are Leaders-in-Progress in their field. Lauron can be contacted on 031 262 8625, at lauron@lbcoaching.co.za, or visit http://www.lbcoaching.co.za/

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