Restructuring Drama

By Matt:

My company is going through a reorganization this week, and it has been pretty difficult. They kicked it off about five weeks ago when they told us, and announced to the press, that there would be a 15% reduction in workforce within the next 4-6 weeks. Since then we've all been anxiously waiting for the proverbial "hammer" to fall, and now the time is upon us. So far the week has been filled with a lot of closed door meetings, hushed hallway conversations, a general sense of foreboding, and the occasional awkward joke in attempts to lighten the mood.

This is the second restructure I have experienced in the corporate world, the first being last winter. Last year the slash-and-burn happened quickly and abruptly - an email was sent on a Friday morning, and throughout the day, one-by-one, each individual was called into their manager's office... some did not return to their desks.

This year, in attempts to be more considerate to employees, they gave us a long advance warning, and to their credit are doing their best to communicate issues delicately. But I'm not sure there is a way to do these things that isn't messy.

I'm curious to hear about reorganizations you have been through... is there a good way to do these things? Is it possible to witness 15% of your company being let-go and in the end say, "You know, that was a really positive experience"? I know we have some Human Resources readers out there, and would be interested to hear your take as well.