John EmersonJan 21, 2023
yuletide

Wow this article is even more wild than the Stanford one https://hbr.org/2022/12/what-companies-still-get-wrong-about-layoffs

“The findings of two decades of profitability studies are equivocal: The majority of firms that conduct layoffs do not see improved profitability”

“Far from cutting-edge, these layoffs mark a revival of long-discredited corporate strategies. If the trend continues, history suggests these tech leaders will leave their companies severely crippled, at best.”

#layoffs #business

What Companies Still Get Wrong About Layoffs

Research has long shown that layoffs have a detrimental effect on individuals and on corporate performance. The short-term cost savings provided by a layoff are often overshadowed by bad publicity, loss of knowledge, weakened engagement, higher voluntary turnover, and lower innovation — all of which hurt profits in the long run.  To make intelligent and humane staffing decisions in the current economic turmoil, leaders must understand what’s different about today’s larger social landscape. The authors also share strategies for a smarter approach to workforce change.

Harvard Business Review
Jan 21, 2023 at 12:45amIvory for iOS
Show threadEric LawtonJan 21, 2023

@yuletide

"Fire the people who understand the systems; keep the management who ran us aground".

Upton Sinclair had an explanation for this kind of thinking:

It is difficult to get a man(ager) to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.

Show threadhonk honk I'm a truck *brrrrr*Jan 21, 2023

@yuletide wait, *HBR* published this?

Surely someone's going to be fired for letting that happen

Show threadStephen FoskettJan 21, 2023
@yuletide @gminks yeah but what does this (checks url) “Harvard Business Review” know about business management? 🤦‍♂️
Show threadantipode77Jan 21, 2023

@yuletide

They cut those employees, but there was a reason why they were there in the first place.
It was >not<, because they were doing absolutely nothing.

Any company without any slack in its system is less resilient, when unexpected things are happening. Tightening up everything until no more movement is possible is a recipe for failure.

Show threadflutterfli007Jan 21, 2023
@yuletide laying workers off so they get a better gig at a better tech company they can build to knock out the old competition. a long form of self destruction
Show threadGrapeshotJan 21, 2023
@yuletide
shorter HBR article: no company ever shrank into greatness
Show threadBarry Schwartz 🫖Jan 22, 2023

@yuletide W. E. Deming was clear: MAYBE mass layoffs once, at the START of your adoption of the new philosophy.

But, of course, almost all American companies still operate on the old, benighted philosophies.

Show threadOld Hippie ⓋJan 22, 2023
@yuletide Like religion, business leaders believe and act on orthodoxy that is not rooted in fact.
Show threadJosh GrantJan 22, 2023
@yuletide good thing companies are laying off people while they’re hugely profitable
Show threadBrittle Anxious Nonlinear IncoJan 24, 2023
@yuletide I'm actually for the giant monopolies austering themselves into oblivion for a quick buck they'll never get. Good riddance.