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Hi ya party people,

It’s Halloween weekend, and I hope your plans involve an unreasonable amount of candy and absolutely nobody from work asking for a quick favor. 🎃

I’ll also accept photos of your babies or pets in costumes…everything else can wait until Monday.

👀 Before we go, though, there are a couple of situations that deserve our attention:

First, what happens when you’ve documented an employee’s performance issues, but your Ops manager insists you give them a “met expectations” rating anyway?

Then, a reader’s company is closing at the end of the year, and getting leaders to plan the shutdown together has become a job unto itself. They’re also trying to keep employees around while wondering how much longer they can afford to delay their own job search.

Let’s cover some solutions, and don’t forget to send me your question(s) if you want a chance to be featured! 😄

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ASK AWAY

🧠 planning & evaluations

📣 Donna Griffin, Director of People & Culture @ Intelligentsia Coffee:

Because you said you are in a federal agency, that's new water for me. I know that performance management is more tightly regulated, and it likely feeds into a larger system of reviewing leadership. It sounds like your Director doesn't want a public record of anyone not meeting standards, even if it's true.

If the Director has to sign off on the review, then it feels useless to try to fight a lower rating. All you'll end up with an empty bottle of Advil.

You know your culture best, but I would suggest an email to the Director that documents the performance deficiencies you outlined and the overall need for a lower rating, but that you will honor the request to give a higher rating while still creating a performance plan to address the issues. This protects you from insubordination but still documents the issue. Perhaps your Director will agree to the higher rating this time, but to the lower rating if these issues continue? That could be included in the email as a future-state suggestion.

The only call-out would be on why the Director is making this request. Is it because they don't want to look bad, or is it because of favoritism of the employee? Watch out for that!

📣 Anonymous Safe Space User:

I’d ask the Operations manager to explain what supports a “met” rating and put that direction in writing, while keeping your examples factual and documented. Since you’re at a federal agency, check with HR or employee relations about who has final rating authority and how to record a disagreement. If the rating stands, ask how to document the performance gaps and expectations so the employee still gets clear, honest feedback.

Safe Space members can join this discussion here. Not a member yet? Apply to join here.

📣 Kristy McCann, CEO/Founder/CHRO @ 127 Ventures:

Candidly - that is the CEO job - so prioritize your job hunt. Not your problem or pay grade - that is the CEO/C Suite. God Speed!

📣 Donna Gosciej, CHRO @ Transition:

I developed a time line myself for senior management and took it to them. A complete project plan. I ask them to identify critical roles they needed to keep to the end or beyond (i.e. accounting for taxes etc.) I also proposed stay bonuses for those roles. Finally, developed (if appropriate) final talking point sheets for employees. (When do benefits end, how to turn in computers and assets, unemployment information.) And dont put your person search on hold. Hope this helps.

📣 Alexandra E, CHRO @ Credit Union:

Wow. Ok. Lots to unpack.

::grabs chair, turns it around backwards, sits down like a hip teacher in a 90s teen flick::

I think your first priority needs to be establishing that dissolving the company is not the same thing as simply closing the doors on December 31.

You have approximately 225 employees, multiple medical practices, shared administrative functions, patients, vendors, contractual obligations, and regulatory responsibilities.

This is a significant operational transition, and it needs to be managed as a coordinated project, not left to individual shareholders to figure out independently.

Here's where I would focus, in order of priority.

1. Establish a formal transition team immediately. You need designated decision-makers representing executive leadership, HR, finance, operations, IT, compliance, and the individual practices.

Someone needs to own the overall transition plan, with clearly assigned responsibilities, deadlines, and accountability.

I would insist on weekly meetings and a centralized tracking document.

With only about nine weeks remaining, there is no room for ambiguity about who is doing what.

2. Identify what absolutely cannot fail. In healthcare, continuity of patient care, medical records, patient communications, payroll, benefits, regulatory compliance, and financial obligations are nonnegotiable.

You need to determine which shared services must remain operational through December 31 and which responsibilities will continue beyond dissolution.

I would prioritize a comprehensive inventory of contracts, liabilities, critical systems, and operational dependencies. Healthcare counsel should be involved immediately, particularly regarding patient records, HIPAA, employment obligations, and the legal structure of the dissolution.

3. Address employee retention realistically.

You cannot reasonably expect employees to remain committed to an organization that has already announced its expiration date without providing them some financial incentive or security.

Identify the positions essential to completing the transition and develop retention agreements with specific end dates and bonuses.

You don't necessarily need all 225 employees until the end, but you absolutely need the right people.

And leadership needs to understand that retention costs money.

Hoping employees will stay out of loyalty is not a staffing strategy.

4. Require the shareholders to coordinate their individual transitions.

If most are establishing independent practices, their decisions will directly affect the shared organization.

You need firm dates for when each practice will transition, what services they will require until then, how costs will be allocated, and who assumes responsibility for employees, patients, records, equipment, contracts, and outstanding obligations.

Otherwise, you risk having everyone optimize their individual exit at the expense of the organization they're collectively responsible for closing.

5. Develop a communication plan. Employees need accurate information about anticipated separation dates, benefits, final compensation, potential opportunities with the new practices, and what happens next.

Patients and vendors need coordinated communication as well.

Uncertainty will accelerate turnover, and inconsistent messaging will create unnecessary operational and reputational problems.

6. Protect your own career. This is the part I am very firm about.

You should absolutely not put your job search on hold based on an expectation that you'll help manage the closure. Your responsibility to the organization does not supersede your responsibility to your own financial security.

If leadership needs you through the dissolution, they should - like those other key people I mentioned earlier - be prepared to negotiate a written retention agreement that makes staying financially worthwhile, including compensation, a guaranteed payment date, and protections if your employment ends earlier than anticipated.

Finally, I would stop trying to convince leadership through general discussions about the importance of planning.

Put the risks, decisions, deadlines, and consequences in writing.

Present a transition plan identifying what needs to happen, who must authorize it, and what happens if no decision is made.

Give them something concrete to approve or reject.

If they refuse to engage, document your recommendations and the associated risks.

You can provide the framework, establish priorities, and coordinate the work you're authorized to do, but you cannot personally compensate for a lack of executive leadership or shareholder cooperation.

My biggest concern isn't whether you can successfully manage this transition. It's whether leadership understands that they have to provide the authority, resources, and financial commitments necessary for anyone to manage it successfully.

And I would make one thing abundantly clear: the shareholders have a financial interest in the successful dissolution of this organization.

Employees whose jobs are disappearing do not share that same incentive.

Leadership needs to stop expecting those employees to absorb the consequences of a poorly planned transition while the owners establish their next businesses.

::stands up, tosses chair aside.::

I’m off my soapbox. Hope at least something in this helps you. 🙏 good luck! 🍀

Safe Space members can join this discussion here. Not a member yet? Apply to join here.

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🚨 ON YOUR RADAR

🎧 Your manager dodged feedback for 6 months and now needs someone fired by Friday. Ashley Herd, founder of Manager Method, joins me to talk PIPs while I revisit some management decisions I’d personally love to forget. Check it out on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

🕵️ I’d like to report my workweek missing, last seen chasing a hiring manager for feedback. Join me for HR Therapy on Nov 17th to figure out where the hell our hours go and what we can stop doing ourselves. Come ready to vent and leave with at least one thing coming off your plate.

💰Pay Transparency matters (but it's also difficult). That's why I created this course. Join the Safe Space community to access it, plus everything else you need to stay ahead of the curve.

📱Is your benefits email getting ignored? Gen Z wants retirement benefits, but knowing what their employer offers is a different story...and another all-staff email probably won’t fix it! Betterment at Work shares ways to reach them in their recent article, from bite-sized mobile content to nudges timed for when they actually need the info.*

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📝 RESOURCE OF THE WEEK

Each week I feature a resource I love from the Safe Space library that I believe would be relatable to this week's newsletter topic.

This week, we have a horror story you’ll never be able to predict. Check it out HERE ⬇️

🫂 COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS

Must Attend Virtuals - it’s literally like VE central over here, ppl!

❤️‍🔥 NEW VIRTUAL ALERT! Meno Hour with Dr. Stacey Fine, OBGYN at Maven, is happening Nov 11 at 12pm EST. Brain fog mid-comp planning, sleep that quit on you, crying at someone else’s performance review? If perimenopause or menopause is showing up in your life (or your team’s), you’re not the only one, so bring your questions, your coworkers + share the event link with someone who needs it. Open to all! Grab your spot 👉here!!

🫠 NEXT WEEK! Open Enrollment Recovery Room with RyanMae McAvoy and Rachel Ackerman is happening Nov 6 at 1pm EST. Come hang with your ppl, swap OE war stories and don’t forget to post your bingo card to the Safe Space feed beforehand to be entered to win our Survival Kit, which we’ll be drawing live! Grab your spot 👉 here!!

🛠️ADVANCED AI WORKSHOP! Live Build: Org Charts Are Dead with Hebba and Kayshia Kruger is happening Nov 13 at 1pm EST. If you came to our first two live build AI workshops, you know you’ll walk away with a wealth of knowledge. This time we’re turning Hebba’s team’s org chart into a work chart, so come with a workflow or org design challenge you want to rebuild. Grab your spot 👉here!!

☕ NEW! November’s Virtual Coffee + Cowork on Nov 18th, at 1:00 PM EDT is now live! HR team of 1? In need of body doubling? Simply want to hang out listening to lofi beats with your fav community? Trust, it’s always a vibe. Come hang with your your ppl, grab your spot 👉 here!

FRIDAY FUN

😂 When ppl start requesting too much from HR

FYI: NO is a complete sentence!!!!

P.S. I love this show - Derry Girls is a MUST WATCH.

YOU MADE IT THROUGH THIS WEEK!!!!!!

You deserve rest, silence and whatever other wishes you may have.

HAPPY FRIDAY. 🙏