Netflix’s lay-off philosophy

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During Netflix’s corporate retreat in July, Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix Inc, openly talked about the reasons for laying off the chief communications officer.

Through the Wall Street Journal’s interviews with more than 70 current and former employees, it seems the culture of radical transparency, or some say postmortem practices, has existed for a long time.

Netflix’s executives send emails to hundreds of workers to explain the reason for the axing of a particular person. Sometimes, the unfortunate ex-employee will be invited to a meeting with his former colleagues to discuss the firing decision.

One executive, who requested to be in the meeting, stated the discussion was beneficial to the team’s transition and the sacked employee also viewed the sessions as generally useful.

The popular streaming service’s talent management practices are often seen as a taboo at most companies. However, according to a 2018 LinkedIn survey, the turnover rate is 13% below the average technology industry.

Other than this strategy, every now and then, there are “real-time 360” luncheons and dinners for internal employees to review each other.

Photo／The Hustle