Harsh reality and a gentle touch
How does a caring company make hard decisions? According to its conscience
AS THE RECESSION worsened earlier this year, layoff horror stories were everywhere: employees being escorted from their desks by security guards, or getting the call on their way into work.
But for employers that value their people, the trick is making only the necessary cuts while taking care to minimize the pain - never an easy task, but especially difficult now.
Winchester Hospital: Around the end of February, officials at Winchester Hospital realized that recession-squeezed patients were delaying appointments and surgeries. Revenue had fallen far enough to force cutbacks.
“We knew we were going to be off our budget,’’ recalled Anne Lang, vice president for human resources and legal services; so, she said, the hospital put together a set of principles to guide its cost-cutting.
“We wanted to make sure that no one particular group was hurt less or more than any other group,’’ Lang said. “We wanted to do things that were reversible, so that if our volume came back, we could reinstate things. And probably the nearest and dearest to my heart was that we didn’t want anyone to lose their jobs.’’
The hospital, Lang said, made every effort to keep employees informed: Memos went out, meetings were held, and management continually checked in with staffers.
In the end, Winchester Hospital slashed roughly $5 million - the equivalent of 100 full-time positions - from its budget by, among other measures, freezing pensions, reducing time off, and eliminating special employee events. And nobody lost their jobs.
“You know in your career when you think, ‘You know, that was the right way to do it?’ ’’ Lang asked. “We reacted quickly. We didn’t get ourselves in this bind of, ‘Now what do we do?’ ’’
Yun had heard the horror stories about other employers having laid-off workers escorted out by security guards. Instead, Whole Foods managers met with Yun to see if they could reassign him - as they try to do with all employees whose jobs disappear. The company had already instituted a hiring freeze. Its team leaders met to discuss sharing staffers.
One manager, regional human resources director Linda Shear said, might say, “I have a need in the cheese department.’’ Another could have a worker willing to work there.
At every point, Shear added, Whole Foods tried to communicate with employees about sales numbers and other performance indicators.
“We think people are mature, and we think that we can have an honest conversation with them,’’ she said.
Yun met with a Whole Foods president and several vice presidents about his reassignment. “They gave options as to what I could do,’’ he said. “It was kind of uplifting, and showed that they cared.’’
A month later, he landed a new position and now works at the Charles River Plaza store as a team leader.
“It worked out for the best,’’ Yun said. “The way that they deal with situations is definitely thought out.’’
Eastern Bank: Some years ago, Eastern Bank created a “transition pool,’’ where employees whose jobs were being cut could work at their current salaries while receiving skills training and assistance with job searches.
“We wanted to be able to find a way to preserve the dignity of the individuals by not kicking them out on the street . . . and we wanted to preserve the institutional knowledge of the company,’’ said Nancy Huntington Stager, executive vice president and director of human resources. The practice has proved invaluable in this recession, helping departing employees stay afloat while providing the bank with an in-house pool of staff for seasonal tasks, rather than using outside temps.
“Everyone feels a part of the process rather than feeling they’re having something done to them,’’ Stager said.
After 15 years at the bank, Gail Allen found herself in the pool several years ago when Eastern downsized its risk management department.
“I was nervous. But I have to say HR took right over, put their arm around me, and I was reassured every day that I still had a place to go,’’ she said. “It gave me confidence. It made me feel like, ‘You know what? They’re really going to take care of me. I’m going to have a place to go, I’m going to contribute, and I matter.’ ’’
Stager said about 55 percent of the employees who end up in the transition pool land other jobs at the bank, while the rest go eslewhere or retire.
Allen stayed with the bank, finding a new position as a security investigations officer about a month after her job was cut.
“It’s been an extremely positive experience for me,’’ she said.
Erin Ailworth can be reached at eailworth@globe.com. 
