I once knew a senior manager who, at budget time, asked his staff to “shoot” enough employees to cover for a projected deficit in revenue. Other symbolic terms for downsizing are “take-out,” or the ubiquitous “terminate” It is not without psychological significance that the language of layoffs is often the language of assassination. One client failed to meet me at the airport and the replacement apologized and told me my former client “went across the river.” The outplacement firm that handled this organization’s downsized employees was located on the other side of the Ohio River.
One reason for the symbolic death language is a deep-seated fear of job loss caused by employees defining themselves not by what they do, but where they work. If who you are is where you work, your basic identity is threatened when your job is threatened.
It is helpful for employees to understand that when employees loose their jobs, they don’t really loose their identity. In fact, they often find job loss results in a wake-up call and can act as a stimulus for much more meaningful work and a more relevant life.
Language is powerful and one useful intervention is to help employees and organization see the symbolism in their language around layoffs and downsizing. One way to start is to simply have organizations stop using the word “terminate.” It has the wrong symbolic context.
