AI Blocks › Hire and look after your people
Let someone go fairly and tell the team well
Give it the situation. Get a fair exit plan, risk flags, a handover checklist and the announcement.
Let someone go fairly and tell the team well is a free AI workflow for the job "Hire and look after your people". It guides your AI through several skills in order, passing each step's output to the next.
Free · No account · Made by AI Blocks · Level: advanced · Thinking: high
What it does
Letting someone go is the hardest thing a manager does, and most do it badly in the same ways: the reasons are blurred, the person hears it from the wrong people, final pay or notice is wrong, and the rest of the team learns about it from an empty desk. This workflow plans the exit in the right order. It sets who decides, the sequence of events, what the person is offered and the plain words to use, following Ben Horowitz's rule to tell the truth and prepare the managers, and Brian Chesky's rule to say the decision, the reasons and the help in your own words. It flags notice, final pay, severance and release points for a lawyer or HR to check. It builds the handover checklist. After you have held the conversation, it writes the announcement for the team and the honest answers to what they will ask.
You give it
- The situation: who, why, and whether it is a layoff or a dismissal
- Where they work (country and state), their contract type and start date
- What you can offer: notice, severance, references, help finding work
- Any plan or notes you already have (optional)
- A buyer brief (optional)
You get
- An exit plan: who decides, the order of events, the offer and the words to use
- Risk flags on notice, final pay timing, severance and release terms, for a lawyer or HR to check
- A handover, access and exit interview checklist
- The team announcement and answers to likely questions, sent only when you say so
Use it when
- Money has run short and you have to cut one or more roles.
- Someone has not met a clear standard after real feedback and a fair chance, and it is time.
- You have never let anyone go and do not want to learn by making the mistakes.
Steps
- Layoff plan writer: Describe the cuts you must make. Get a decision check, a manager script and a company announcement.
- Termination risk checker: Describe a planned firing. Get risk flags, severance and release points, and final pay timing. A first check, not legal advice.
- Offboarding plan builder: Give it a role and leave date. Get a checklist, exit interview questions and handover plan. Not legal advice; check local rules.
- Staff announcement writer: Say what is changing. Get a clear internal announcement, a rollout plan and answers to likely questions.
How to use it
- Download the handoff pack. It's a zip with HANDOFF.md and every skill file this workflow uses.
- Give the folder to Claude (in Claude Code, or as files in a Claude Project) and say "Follow HANDOFF.md".
- Paste the situation, the location and what you can offer. It plans the exit and flags the risks.
- Have a lawyer or HR check the plan and the flags. Then hold the conversation yourself, in person.
- Come back for the announcement. Read it, change what needs changing, then send it.