Charged with giving the depraved news? Here are your ethical responsibilities

by Bruce Weinstein, PhD

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Most discussions about downsizing focus on the authorized, economic, or psychological issues raised by dint of. this practice. These are essential concerns, but we rarely consider how or why downsizing is also an ethical issue. The next two columns are an attempt to redress that problem. Here, we’ll consider your ethical responsibilities if you are the one charged with giving the bad news. In the second array of less front than depth, we’ll look at what you ought and ought not to prepare if you are the one actuality downsized.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Downsizing refers to a company’s decision to reduce its workforce for reasons other than poor performance, criminal conduct, or unethical mien on the part of those being let rush. The word is a euphemism meant to soften the blow as much towards the company as it is in the place of the soon-to-be eliminated. There is nothing inequitable with making a difficult task easier to bear. In incident, in that place are good ethical reasons for doing so, as we’ll in a short time experience. Still, there is no getting around the fact that downsizing is a type of layoff, with all that this implies. The moral manager will keep in mind what is really going then he or she is charged with letting good people circumstance.

WHY DOWNSIZING IS AN ETHICAL ISSUE

Anytime we’re faced with a decision that be possible to regard the rights or well-being of others, we’re looking at an ethical issue. No matter how strong the justifications for reducing the workforce are or assume to be, laying off loyal and productive employees is an upsetting experience for totally concerned, and those on the receiving end face not just financial but psychological injury.

How so? For many of us, the workplace isn’t just a place for work; it’s where we develop and maintain some of the most important relationships we have. During the week, we spend besides time through co-workers than with our families, and for better or worse, work is how many of us define ourselves and bestow meaning to our lives. Getting laid off compromises every part of of these things, so managers should think of downsizing as a deep and unpleasant trauma for those existence let go, and not as a mere setback or reversal of fortune.

Yes, downsizing has legal implications, and it is understandable that companies be destitute of to minimize their liability when they downsize. Yes, in that place are relating to housekeeping matters to consider, which makes downsizing a management issue, over. But at its core, downsizing is an ethical issue, and the good manager is concerned not just with protecting the joint concern’s financial and legal interests but in like manner through honoring the dignity and integrity of the of man beings who work on the front lines and who are the lifeblood of the organization.

DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY

I propose the following management guidelines for downsizing ethically:

1. Do it in person.

This seems unmistakable thing to do, unless I’m surprised by the number of reports I’ve heard about employees who were downsized upon the phone or by e-mail. Managers who use this method claim it makes the total thing easier to deal out with. Yes, but for whom? Certainly not for the employee being let go. As uncomfortable as it is to end someone’s engrossment, the as it should be thing to do is to acquire a personal conversation with him or her in person. The ethical principle of respect for others (BusinessWeek.com, 1/31/07) requires no thing less.

2. Do it privately.

Respecting others means honoring their wishes and values, and it is equitable to assume that most the bulk of mankind would prefer to have troubling tidings delivered in private. This means in your office, with the means of approach closed. I’ve heard of managers who broke the bad intelligence at the employee’s cubicle in the compass of earshot of everyone in the vicinity. Again, one would think that this would be a matter of common sense and common-place decency, unless evidently neither is all that common.

3. Give the person your full attention.

Interrupting the conversation to take phone calls, check your BlackBerry, or engage in other distractions isn’t just rude, it tells the other person that the interpretation at hand isn’t quite that important to you.