As HR professionals, one of the hardest parts of the job is communicating to an employee the decision to separate them from employment. Whether it be a performance related termination, or a financially related layoff; it is never an easy task. I find layoffs particularly difficult when it has nothing to with the employee’s actual performance, and everything to do with seniority or salary. More often than not, the delivery of bad news falls to the HR professionals with the belief that we know how to handle these situations the best, right?