Navigating Redundancy with Humanity: Leadership Lessons from the Front Lines

Safety & Redundancy: 2 articles caught my attention today:
1) 🚨 𝗛𝗦𝗕𝗖 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀.
But their bonus pool? Largely untouched.
2) Meanwhile, Germany has lost 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 manufacturing jobs since 2020.
Redundancies are everywhere—𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀—𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘁.
And how are they handled?
A 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘 𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙡, 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙗𝙮 𝙃𝙍—𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣.

No one knows who’s next. Then suddenly, their status changes to “𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚”—a cold, transactional way to say, "𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚."

Exit interviews? Just a legal shield to 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆, not the people.

Performance reviews tweaked mid-crisis to justify layoffs.
No explanations. No accountability. Just business. 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹.

💥 And yet, when employees flip the script with a 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻—a no-show and a cold email—it’s seen as unprofessional.

💡 We know that people do their best work when they feel 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲.

So how can they feel safe when they watch their colleagues disappear overnight?

At Kholo.co, we know there’s a better way. Leaders don’t just “manage redundancies.” They lead through them.

🔥 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝗽-𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗴𝗼?
🔥 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻—𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆?
🔥 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆?

Here’s how we can do it better:
✅ 𝗕𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 – No sugarcoating. People can handle the truth better than silence.
✅ 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 – Make space for emotions. Lead with empathy.
✅ 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 – Prevent burnout, rebuild trust, and acknowledge their contributions.
✅ 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 – Career support, introductions, fair severance—basic respect.
✅ 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 – Define new priorities and celebrate small wins.

We 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 need to throw money at the problem. We need 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽.

💭 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲?
💡 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹?
🌱 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆?

What if organisations engage in transparent and collaborative decision making where instead of top-down layoffs, employees can be included in problem solving sessions about financial challenges and creative solutions: voluntary hour reductions, new roles or alternative business models

Let’s spread some hope. Who’s doing it right? 👇

#HumanCentricLeadership #FutureOfWork #Redundancies #PsychologicalSafety #TealLeadership

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