If you must retrench … 
Do it as gently as possible — at least give staff time to say a dignified goodbye
Gilbert Goh
MANY workers who have contacted me via my retrenchment support siteTransitioning.org have spoken of the inhumane ways they were told they were out of a job.
Some were called in by their bosses half an hour before they were due to knock off and were told the bad news in a robotic manner. There was a lack of compassion and emotion on the part of the managers when they broke such depressing news, said the retrenched folk, who were often caught unawares.
Some were escorted out of their offices by their managers, their stuff hurriedly shoved inside a plastic bag.
Many were not given the chance to say goodbye to their colleagues. The time they were given to react to the bombshell was often less than half an hour.
Though retrenchment should by now be a regular, familiar process due to its increasing frequency here, the way some employers carry it out leaves much to be desired. Employers should approach the act of retrenching staff with compassion. Though it is a necessary act, it can be done tactfully and humanely.
Most employees here work their guts out for their company, and that is why our Singaporean workers yearly top the “best productivity” surveys. So how much more distasteful is it for someone who has worked for many years for his company, but is retrenched seemingly without much consideration for their feelings despite their many sacrifices for the employers’ cause?
At the very least, many who are set to lose their jobs, I am sure, would want to take the time to bid farewell to their colleagues, with whom they have spent much time in the office. We spend so large a part of our waking hours in our workplace that some may even be closer to their colleagues than to their family members.
In Australia, a friend of mine was retrenched together with six other employees when their company merged with another. Not only were they allowed to spend a full month in office serving notice, they were also allowed to use their company’s facilities for a further month to look for alternative work. A recruitment consultant was also hired to counsel and assist this group of workers in their job hunt.
It is not surprising that the staff who were retrenched continued to return to their former workplace as a show of gratitude to their bosses for treating them respectfully.
As many will be laid off in the coming months, employers need to think of a humane way to retrench staff. The fear that retrenched staff will sabotage their company’s email and operational services is unfounded provided they are treated charitably enough.
News travels fast, and when the economy turns around, errant companies will find it difficult to employ new staff — let alone retain the existing ones.
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