How Do You Tactfully Handle Pink Slips and Innovate Mass Recruitment Strategies?

Dear site members,

I have two queries related to pink slips and recruitment:

1. What are the HR ways to handle pink slips?
2. Please suggest innovative ways of conducting mass recruitment.

Your advice on the above questions is required. Please reply as soon as possible.

Regards,
Roy, S.K.

Dear TS,

These are two different questions, please don't link them. They are not at all connected. I have clubbed these questions instead of making two separate postings.

Regards,
ROY

Hello Roy,

OK... I get it. Regarding the first one, do you mean the process of handling the employees while giving the pink slips?

Regarding the second one, it depends on the profile, domain, and level you want to hire for. For example, if you are hiring freshers, campus recruitment would obviously be the best choice.

If you want the right answer, you have to ask the right question... right?

Regards,
TS

Dear Roy,

HR professionals are going through a very tough time. Recession combined with the need for cost-cutting in all areas results in pink slips. In most organizations, the person to communicate the pink slip is HR. Even line managers are not comfortable in doing this and pass it to HR. The challenge in front of HR is how to send out an employee who until the other day was like a key player. Moreover, this should not affect the morale of employees who will be staying back. I suggest the following approach, which I am following myself.

1. Be aware of management's strategies. This will help in effective communication with the employees who are going to stay back or be let go.
2. Have open communication with the employees and continuously explain the scenario outside as well as in the organization (without revealing sensitive information). This will help the employee mentally prepare.
3. While giving a pink slip, appreciate the employee's contribution and give positive feedback. Show empathy. Try outplacement options to help the outgoing employee. Please remember, tomorrow an HR person may also be given a pink slip by their boss.
4. As far as possible, inform the employees who are staying back that the outgoing employee has resigned on their own. Don't make the pink slip obvious. This will damage the morale of other staff.
5. Talk positively with the employees and emphasize the need for working as a team to come out of the crisis.
6. If staff welfare measures are implemented, please continue them. If not, introduce them. Staff birthdays, wedding anniversaries, etc., will be vital.
7. HR personnel should not be emotional about pink slips. We should see the reality, accept it, and adjust.

Regards,

Bhavan

Nice contribution, Bhavan.

For bulk hiring, you may consider utilizing bulk emails, job postings, walk-in interviews, advertisements, campus drives, and employee referrals. Is there anything else you would recommend for this purpose?

If the company is not hiring the consultant, then what should they do? I am a consultant facing the same problem.

Regards,
Shikha

Dear Bhavan,

All the measures suggested by you are quite excellent. Please let me know, as in the USA, they have the COBRA Act under which all employees are covered under group insurance. In India, do we have any provisions through which we can enable employees to purchase insurance at a cheaper rate or almost at a group insurance rate for 3-4 months once they are out of the job? Is it possible to implement this measure legally?

Regards,
ROY

Dear Roy,

I appreciate your concern for the employees without jobs. But as per my knowledge, there is no such provision in our labor legislations. In the Indian context, when you mention insurance, it typically refers to life insurance or general insurance like mediclaim. Organizations have not matured enough to implement insurance to cover job loss. Perhaps a few organizations might have introduced this concept. I suggest you check with insurance providers to see if they offer a policy to cover job loss. I will also reach out to my known vendors and update you.

Another challenge is who will pay the premium? Will it be the organization, which is focusing on cost-cutting, including HR costs, or the employees who have faced salary cuts or lost performance-based incentives/bonuses, etc.? This poses a real challenge for HR.

I request senior members to share their insights with Mr. Roy.

Regards,
Bhavan