How Not To Layoff People
Wall Street is not the only place employees get a sense of foreboding before getting the axe.
But some people on Madison Avenue are tipped off in unique ways....
Struggling media agency Carat is planning a major restructuring of its U.S. operations, including an undetermined number of layoffs—news it accidentally released today via a memo the agency’s top New York-based HR executive e-mailed to the entire agency that appeared to be intended only for senior managers.
In a rare, uncomfortable look into the preparations for employee layoffs, management informed its rank and file of forthcoming layoffs and other changes in Microsoft PowerPoint and Word documents full of “message” points on how people should be told of their fate and what should be said to their still-employed colleagues, clients and vendors. According to one person with knowledge of the memo, it was sent to all staffers before the mistake was realized, and it was pulled back by the IT department. The documents, obtained by Advertising Age and posted with this story, detail talking points for managers as they talk to clients, vendors, the press and employees as Carat tries to navigate the fallout from the news.
In an interview, Carat President Scott Sorokin depicted the forthcoming moves as being in the best interest of the clients and as a response to “client needs.” He said that the layoffs would be across various parts of the agency, not just the buying groups, which figure heavily in the documents. He said that that emphasis is because those groups are spread across various satellite offices.
Do they all use this script?
Included was a script for how the downsized would be informed: “If you would like to go home today and come back tomorrow to clean out your desk or office, you are free to do so. We would like you to meet with your manager following our meeting to transition your work. We will be communicating to your team today. Your manager will be contacting clients. We ask that you do not contact your clients to discuss this situation.”
Hey, aint life grand (in corporate America)?
E-mail Blunder Alerts Carat Staff to Major Restructuring
Ad Age
Comments:
Next entry: It's All Good at Atticus Capital
Previous entry: Lehman Brothers: So Popular Nobody Wants It
