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Tips to Handle Layoffs & Terminations

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ai,business

Tips to Handle Layoffs & Terminations

No manager looks forward to terminating employees.  However, a company's future success depends on properly handling employee dismissal regardless of the reasons. It's good practice to remember that the termination process affects departing employees differently. Maintaining the morale of the remaining employees is critical as departed employees share the details of their termination with peers and in the marketplace.

Here are some common tips summarized from various sources:

  • Preparation for the event is necessary. This includes documentation.
  • Open and transparent communication is key. The employee in question should have received warnings and should not be surprised. Be clear about the reasons for the termination.
  • The termination message should be brief and to the point and should be delivered by the manager of the departing employee, not by HR.
  • Consider having a witness from Legal or HR if the situation requires.
  • Be respectful, show empathy, and listen to the concerns of departing employees.
  • Inform their colleagues of the termination, but keep details confidential.
  • As a manager, this is your responsibility. Don't assign blame or hide behind directives from above.
  • Transitional support should be provided, if appropriate, including outplacement assistance for the departing employee and possibly a letter of recommendation.

For company-wide layoffs, here are some additional tips:

  • Plan carefully for the time after the layoffs. Your remaining staff will need support in the changed work environment.
  • Early, candid and frequent communication is critical. Employees should be clear about the background and reasons for the cutbacks. Future promises should be realistic.
  • Upper management should be available to managers and provide guidance on delivering the bad news. Ideally, upper management should be available to employees in this situation, too.
  • Managers represent the company. Any company-wide layoffs should be considered a "we" decision and not a "they" decision.
  • Show empathy and listen to the concerns of the remaining employees to build loyalty and trust.
  • Eric McNulty, a Harvard professor who teaches crisis leadership, says managers should never say, “we can do more with less.” If that is true you should have been doing it before.

Sources for this post include The Harvard Business Review (Susan Peppercorn); CNBC (Eric McNulty, Paul Wolfe, Jennifer Benz); Insperity; Blog Namely Rachel Bolsu); Reliable Plant (Debbie Zmorenski); Indeed; Keap (Business Management, Friedman, Rampton; Stewart); Business News Daily (Sean Peek); Academy to Innovate HR; Recruitee (Thomas Glare); Nationwide; Forbes (Mike Kappel).

Post submitted by Dennis Swijter, Research Manager International Flavors and Fragrances R&D (retired) and ALMA Board Member

Science and Tech Industry-Performance Standards Defined and Published for Lab Grade Seating

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Lab chair

SEFA Defines Performance Standards for Lab Grade Seating

Given the degree of risk and safety common to Science and Technology research lab environments, it’s very customary that most types of equipment or supplies used are bound or regulated by some well-defined performance standards or compliance testing requirements. However, in the case of seating specifically intended for Laboratories, documented criteria and industry expectations have gone undefined until November 2022. The Lab Grade Seating standard SEFA-12, produced and endorsed by the Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association (SEFA), is the first known global publication of the unique specifications and product definitions required for a chair to be qualified for the rigors of lab environments.

Unfortunately, it has been very common for lab managers or facilities managers historically to be without appropriate knowledge or be misinformed about chairs that are uniquely designed for labs. Additionally, up until now, lab planners at Architectural + Design firms have not had a reference tool or resources designed to help them properly call out the necessary specifications required in a project FF&E bid package. As a result, after decades of lab design evolution, you often see chairs primarily designed
for office workstations mistakenly used in Bio-Pharma-Chemical research labs. “It is long overdue that some standards be addressed and available given the complexities and prevalence in today’s commercial labs for harsh bacterial, chemical and/or cleaning agents,” observed David Sutton, Executive Director of SEFA.

The Lab Grade Seating (SEFA-12) standard contains a generic, universal definition that applies to all seating manufacturers who produce chairs for commercial application. It includes extensive independent testing requirements of chair components and materials performing against 49 of the most common chemicals used in lab settings. Scientists and researchers also work very differently than traditional office workers, therefore, certified lab-grade seating may support them in superior ways. Mr. Sutton also said, “The process for us to get to an endorsed standard was an exhaustive one that covered every element of the chair to ensure when a lab decides to make a purchase, they will have a very strong basis to know a product meets the right levels of durability, ergonomic function, cleanability and design intent. SEFA’s Board of Directors is very proud of the efforts and the contributions from our lab seating membership and it will mean something for a chair manufacturer to say they can fully comply with our Standard. It is important to note that during the 4-year process to create the standard many of the world’s leading lab architects and planners were involved in drafting and finalizing the standard.”

The SEFA-12 Standard can be referenced on the SEFA website at www.sefalabs.com or provided by a participating SEFA lab seating manufacturer member. Future enhancements to the initial standard will expand upon the definitions of lab grade criteria to include facility areas sensitive to ESD (Electro-Static Discharge) control, Cleanroom contamination control and ergonomic factors.

Post submitted by Mark Scelfo, US Managing Director, Bimos Lab Seating (SEFA-12 Seating Co-Committee Sponsor)

Lab Staff Needs Great Seating, Just Like Office Workers, or Maybe Better!

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YOUR LABORATORY STAFF NEEDS GREAT SEATING, JUST LIKE OFFICE WORKERS - MAYBE BETTER!

In the 1980’s, office furniture manufacturer Herman Miller introduced two breakthrough chairs, Ergon and Equa, both emphasizing ergonomics and sparking a shift in thinking about how a worker’s body interacts with their chair.  Since that time, the behavior of companies trying to properly address the needs of their workforce in the office has shifted dramatically.  In the past four decades, the office seating market has evolved significantly with most major office furniture manufacturers designing and developing a countless array of well-designed ergonomic chairs for their clients to consider.  A vast majority of companies embrace the notion that providing great seating for their office and management staff pays dividends.  As the importance of office design has elevated, the average business would allocate new seating budgets from $400 to $1,500 per chair to accommodate the needs of their employees.  Leadership stakeholders felt that by making investments in the office environment, they were more successful attracting and retaining talent, as well as addressing the health and safety of their staff. The ROI seemed evident.

However, oddly enough, this same phenomenon and priority mindset has not taken hold within other interior workspaces like the laboratory or production floors.  While the physical demands placed on researchers and technicians can be significantly more complex and risky than that of their office counterparts, even in today’s most sophisticated labs, the focus and emphasis on ensuring scientists and engineers get seated in the best possible product for a research center seem to be a major afterthought to those involved in the process.

A few recent examples of this difference can help exemplify a disconnect that is prevalent in the design process for science seating.  At Company (A), a leading Architectural and Design firm who are leaders in the field of Science and Technology Design, specified the lab interiors for a large new lab build project using cutting-edge lab furnishings, yet when it came to laboratory chairs, four common office chair models were the preferred options.  Those models lacked the unique functions, materials or styling that should be evident in modern lab seating used in high-risk environments. Company (B) is a recognized global leader in bio-pharma research with thousands of highly paid scientists on its payroll.  As of 2021, no corporate standard was established for laboratory seating and so despite making monumental investments in their lab furnishings, lab managers were often left completely on their own to select and procure chairs for their labs. Not only was the design ignored but so was the appropriate budgeting for high quality lab seating that you would expect for these highly competent teams. The end result was many lab managers made the decision to purchase chairs at local office superstores, and so the lab interiors became an eclectic mixture of seating having inferior specifications and quality to hold up in their labs. Lastly, Company (C) standardized their labs on a suggested mesh-back stool to provide a great look and comfort level for the staff in a wet lab application where biochemical agents and pathogens were routinely used.  Unfortunately, they failed to take into account that porous mesh materials are highly susceptible to trapping and fostering bacteria growth and are very difficult to clean.

The true contrast of work performed and the duties required between office and science workers could not be more different.  Science workers are often required to do a high degree of forward-leaning over microscopes or trays of test samples.  There is a need for frequent posture transitions, on and off the seat.  They sit at elevated worksurfaces on stools far more where the need for height range adjustability is very important.  Long periods of standing and leg fatigue can be common. Chemicals, cleaning agents and hazardous materials are commonly prevalent and add more risk factors to their space.  The testing equipment needed within reach for experiments is often heavy and sophisticated.  Working under fume hoods and strong ventilation systems is often required.  Technicians often are required to wear protective apparel and head shields in cleanroom environments.  Lastly, many technical workers need seating designed with electro-static discharge controls to help offset the risks associated with electrical shock and the damage that it can cause to circuitry and components.

The reasons for focusing on the physical differences between a research chair versus the common office chair are numerous and need to be addressed differently by the collection of Lab Planning Firms, Facility Managers, Health and Safety Managers and Lab Managers who design and run lab and high tech environments.  What is even more important is that despite the average compensation and contribution levels of the scientists and technical research personnel being at the highest end of the spectrum and critical to driving revenues, tens of thousands have to sit in inferior seating solutions.  Unfortunately, knowing all of the great improvements being made in today’s design, environmental and facility management standards, lab seating is still sorely unknown, underutilized and underappreciated for how it can impact the health and performance of the staff members who sit in them.

This dynamic can only improve over time with greater knowledge and awareness. We should no longer resign ourselves to the fact that just because lab furniture is a construction driven specification and lab seating is part of the FF&E package that the lab workstation is not looked at as a total holistic solution where all integral elements are properly defined to contribute to what is our better “Labs of the Future.”  It is encouraging to know that in 2022, the Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association will publish for the first time, guidelines that address the definition and specification of lab grade seating.  With the present explosion of spending and growth within the Sciences industries, now is an important time to begin to properly address and support the individual needs of each scientist, engineer, and assembly technician to be at their absolute best on the job.

by Mark Scelfo, US Managing Director, Bimos Lab Seating:  Seating for Science + Technology

And Then Some

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. . .And Then Some

“The secret of my success was to work really hard and then some.”
George Toma (aka "Sod God")- World Famous Groundskeeper (KC Royals, Super Bowls, World Cup)

I always liked this quote which I heard during an interview with George Toma on the radio one morning.  You hear people touting that working hard is good but we must work smart. To me, the “and then some” suggests that we want to work smart but it is critical to developing “wisdom” which will carry us through all the tests of leadership over time. Several years ago, I gave a talk in which I cited an article in American Laboratory by Daniel Schneck that was entitled, Simple Wisdom: Seven Attributes of the “Wise” Person*.  Professor Schneck wrote an editorial column in American Laboratory for many years in which he always provided the big picture to various aspects of the human side of things which was applicable to lab leadership. He was very much a renaissance person with vast interests which drove him with passions related to engineering, music, and their combinations.

Here are my annotations/translations to keep in mind for lab situations:

Wise = Can manage life’s (lab’s) experiences both efficiently (getting things done right) and effectively (getting the right things done)

Attributes

1.  Patience and Restraint = Get the Facts before Acting
2. Socratic Disavowal of Knowledge = Always Stay Teachable
3. Multidimensional Perspective of Human Experience = Understand the Complexity of People
4. Ability to Distinguish Forest from the Trees = Look for the Win-Win Objectives
5. Judgment = Right Decision not Personal Decision
6. Attentive and Observant Enough to Ask the Right Questions = To Assure the Right Answers
7. Introspective = Part of Solution Not the Problem

It is always good to remind ourselves of these things whether an established manager or a new manager in transition to leading a lab. This has never been so true as it is in the dynamic situations that have presented themselves during the pandemic. At the end of the day, we need to provide ourselves and our staff the clarity that we are all in this together and we will engage in a mindful way “and then some”.

*Daniel Schneck, American Laboratory Magazine, April 2007, Editor’s Page “Simple Wisdom 6(A): Seven Attributes of the “Wise” Person”

Submitted by Richard Durand, ALMA Board Member and Director, Analytical and Material Science at Sun Chemical Corporation

Managing Your Lab in the VUCA World

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Managing Your Lab in the VUCA World

Over ten years ago, I stumbled onto the concept of VUCA which was a framework for how the military had to adapt to the rapidly changing world relating to military actions and strategies that would need to evolve in the modern world. Past military history can’t easily be used to suggest future practices in the nuclear world. This is crucial thinking to how to train future leaders on managing challenges that will come. The concept started to find its way into the business world later as a variety of new/disruptive technologies and thinking changed the effectiveness of past practices and directed us toward new strategies.

The VUCA principle suggests that the modern operating environment is characterized by:

Volatility -The nature, speed, volume, magnitude, and dynamics of change
Uncertainty-The lack of predictability of issues and events
Complexity-The confounding of issues and possible chaos
Ambiguity-The haziness of reality and mixed meaning of conditions

Whoa, doesn’t this sum up the last 2 1⁄2 years of managing your lab and life in the pandemic world? It was an amped up discontinuity for any lab even in well-organized and managed situations. It is also establishing the context for the future as we have had to change quickly due to circumstances that are out of our control.

Your VUCA going forward needs to reflect operational thinking that can cope with the dynamics:

Vision - Clear communication in leading your staff through change(s) that we can’t foresee
Understanding - Listening for details and engage all resources you need early and often
Confidence - That you and your team will rise to the challenge if we work together
Adaptability - Advance processes for the future which were not thought possible or suitable before

Take the time to reflect on how the turbulence of the last couple of years changed your paradigm related to lab management. There will be a need to continue to make changes in thoughts and approaches to lab management practices in relation to how the world around us and staff expectations evolve. There is no one prescription that would be right for all labs. We all need to be mindful that we are in a different place in which we need to comprehend adequately various stressors in play to manage the people and processes in the lab.

Submitted by Richard Durand, ALMA Board Member and Director, Analytical and Material Science at Sun Chemical Corporation

Sometimes You Should Just Pick Up the Phone

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Sometimes You Should Just Pick Up the Phone

Just this morning, I encountered a situation where at least five emails could have been reduced by the process of picking up a phone and talking to the person involved.

Here are some reasons why:

  • Everything looks worse in black and white
  • It’s easier to answer the questions involved on an interactive basis

The pandemic has increased the tendency to communicate via email. We have become loath to pick up a phone. Slowly, the isolation of the pandemic will wear off and we will become more social again.  However, before you hit that email send button, take a moment to (1) breathe and reread that scathing email before you hit the send button (or not), and (2) consider picking up the phone. Sometimes, you should just pick up the phone. Of course, you can always follow up a call with an email.

Recently, this was exactly the situation I faced.  A new member of HALMA (Houston Association of Lab Managers-serves Houston Galveston and areas surrounding) had questions about the organization. Once I got on the phone, the topic of the conversation became more clear and the live interaction resolved the member’s questions in a timely and more direct manner.

To add to this topic, there is the school of thought that says documentation never hurts. It is important to consider the importance of keeping a paper trail. This way when a question comes up several months later, you can refer to a confirmation email or your notes. In the situation above, I went back to my sent files (I keep one for every year plus current) and found emails I had sent to the person in question. I carefully used those support documents to prove the point we were discussing. Note, I said "carefully", delicate use of previous communication can be key - but that's another post.

Lastly, a comment about sales by the phone versus email.  I am currently answering a call to someone who I hit a "request information" button for on LinkedIn. Ten minutes later, he is still asking questions. After about five minutes, I think, I never should have asked. Once you do get on the phone, be mindful of your colleague or customer’s time.

Submitted by Rebecca Rosas, Ph.D.
ALMA Board Member, HALMA Director, VP of Strategic Planning, Texmark Chemical, Inc.