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- 01 Oct 2001
- Research & Ideas
How To Make Restructuring Work for Your Company
by Stuart C. Gilson
A bungled corporate restructuring can turn a good idea into disaster. In an excerpt from his new book, HBS professor Stuart Gilson outlines the keys for a successful corporate makeover. Plus: Gilson Q&A. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
Conducting Layoffs: ’Necessary Evils’ at Work
"The core challenge for everyone who performs necessary evils comes from having to do two seemingly contradictory things at once: be compassionate and be direct," say Joshua D. Margolis of Harvard Business School and Andrew L. Molinsky of Brandeis University International Business School. Their research sheds light on best practices—typically overlooked—for the well-being of those who carry out these emotionally difficult tasks. Q&A Key concepts include: Most managers who conduct layoffs feel a mix of emotions that may catch them by surprise: sympathy, sadness, guilt, shame, anxiety, and perhaps anger. Best practice for managers includes understanding yourself and recognizing your limitations. Recognize ahead of time the emotional cocktail that you will likely experience when performing a layoff, say the researchers. Companies should focus not only on getting the task done and on ensuring the well-being of victims, but also on the well-being of those who perform the layoff. Conduct training beforehand; have pairs or teams perform the tasks together; provide a good physical environment in a nonpublic, quiet area of the organization; and later allow those who carried out the layoffs to decompress and debrief. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.