Do the right thing in a recession

You're a manager at a company that's struggling, and you have to decide which employees to lay off. Some are single. Some have families to support. Some are healthy, while others have medical problems. Meanwhile, your longtime assistant tells you that she could lose her home if she doesn't get a bonus. You could go to bat for her, but it would mean that much less will be available for others.

What to do

It's tough to be the boss these days. But though you may find this painful to hear, you need to make these decisions on merit alone and resist the temptation to take hardship into account. If employees have been encouraged to believe that performance is what counts, it's not fair to change the rules when the chips are down. Plus, without prying into workers' private lives, you can respond only to the hardships you hear about. That's penalizing those who keep their troubles to themselves. Not only is that unjust, but you'll send the wrong message. After all, you want your employees to give you their best efforts, not a list of their creditors and dependents.



NEXT: What do you do about budget-busting friends?