Arukah leadership and board
Conversations 8:00 to 10:30, all staff at 11:00, breakouts after. Who does what, what gets said, and what has to be finished first.
Everything lands on this one day: the cuts, the new way of working, and the plan.
Client-facing first. Six of the ten carry caseloads, and the clock on transferring their appointments starts the moment they are told.
Arukah phone and laptop stay. A side door is available to anyone who does not want to walk out the front.
By 11 o'clock everybody already knows. Fifty people have watched colleagues leave all morning, so the meeting is not breaking news. It is there to say what happens next and who is leading it.
Ruth delivers all ten, Matt is in the room for all ten. HR delivering keeps the process identical for every person, and there is a witness in every room. Nobody does one of these alone. The notification itself is under a minute. The time goes into packing up and walking out.
"Thank you for meeting with me. I know this is difficult, and I want to be direct with you.
As part of the significant restructuring Arukah is undertaking to address our financial situation and position the organization for long-term sustainability, we have made some very difficult staffing decisions.
Unfortunately, we have made the decision to end your employment with Arukah, effective today.
I want to emphasize that this is a business decision based on the organization's financial needs and restructuring. It is not a personal judgment about you or your worth as an individual.
I understand this is difficult news. I'm sorry we have to have this conversation. I will walk you through the details regarding your final pay, benefits, and any other applicable separation information.
I know you may have questions, but the decision has been made."
"We will cut you your final check and you will receive your final pay on the next pay period. Arukah is picking up your health insurance through the end of September. I will forward you information on COBRA."
Ruth takes a backup email address and confirms their phone number before they leave. Their Arukah email is off that morning, so it is the only way to send the COBRA information.
Ethan is waiting outside, and the two of them go down to collect personal things. Bags, not boxes. Arukah phone and laptop are handed over, and client files stay. Anything they miss, they arrange a time with Ruth to pick up later.
150 minutes for ten conversations is fifteen minutes each with nothing in between, and Ruth is the only person who can deliver, so they run one after another. If she also goes down with each person, the packing sits inside that fifteen.
Two ways to buy room: Ethan does the walk-down alone once Ruth has finished, which frees her to start the next one, or the last conversation is set for 10:15.
Each person's email and key card are deactivated about ten minutes before their conversation.
Cutting all ten at 8:00 does not work. Someone whose conversation is at 10 would find their email dead and their badge refused at 8:15 and work out why. So it runs on the clock, person by person. Dustin can help Ethan with the email side, and both of them need the running order with a time against each name.
Clinical staff have client files and case materials mixed in with their own things. Nothing with a client name on it leaves the building, on paper or on a personal device. Ruth and Ethan need that before they walk into the first room.
⚖️ Worth a line from counsel, along with the second open question: cutting email does not cover files held locally on a laptop, so the handling of machines needs a decision before Wednesday.
Twenty minutes. Then Ariel for five, Erin for five, then questions.
Some of you already know what happened this morning. If you do not, let me inform you that we had to reluctantly lay off some of our team. I am going to be straight with you about why, and then we are going to talk about what happens next.
First, I want everyone to hear this clearly from me:
The individuals who were laid off today did nothing wrong.
They are good people. They worked hard. This was not about them being bad employees or not caring about Arukah. We had to make some very difficult business decisions because of the financial position we are in.
Grants have ended, and we have been spending more money than we have been bringing in. That is not sustainable.
I want to be transparent with you. I am going to show you a couple of numbers so you understand the seriousness of where we are. I am not going to bury you in spreadsheets or financial details today. But I believe you deserve to know the truth.
We have a problem. And we have to fix it.
But I also want you to hear something equally important:
The value of what you do is not in question.
The work you do for our clients, our families, and the communities we serve across these five counties matters. Arukah matters.
That is exactly why we have to fix the business underneath the mission.
We cannot continue doing business the way we have been doing it. We have to tighten spending. We have to improve our processes. We have to become more efficient. We have to improve how we deliver services and how we get paid for those services.
And we have to stop operating as separate silos.
We are one agency. Not six agencies. Not seven departments working independently. One Arukah. One team. One mission.
There are going to be changes. Some will be difficult. There will be changes to hours, processes, accountability, and how we operate. I promise you that I will be straight with you about those changes. You may not always like every decision, but you will understand why we are making it.
And today is not just about what we have to cut. It is about what we are going to build.
We have a 90-day plan.
This isn't a hope. It isn't a wish. It isn't, "Let's see what happens." It is a plan.
That plan includes getting our financial house in order, improving our revenue cycle, changing processes, strengthening accountability, integrating psychiatry and clinical operations, and making sure every part of this organization is working toward the same goals.
And for the next 90 days, I need everybody in this room. I need you all in.
I need us to work hard. I need us to communicate. I need us to stop making excuses. I need us to solve problems instead of passing them down the hallway. I need managers to lead. I need people to hold each other accountable. And I need everyone to understand that every dollar matters, every client matters, every hour matters, and every decision matters.
My intention is that we do not have to go through another round of layoffs during these 90 days.
But I also want to be honest with you: I cannot promise what happens beyond that if we do not execute this plan.
The plan has to be implemented. Not partially. Not when it is convenient. Fully.
If we do what we say we are going to do, if we work together, if we improve the way we operate, and if we create the financial stability we need, then we have an incredible opportunity in front of us.
Because I believe this is a great organization. And I believe the people in this room can make it even greater.
I would not be standing here if I didn't believe that. And you would not be sitting here today if I didn't believe you are part of the future of Arukah.
So I'm asking you for something over these next 90 days. Give us everything you've got. Be part of the solution.
If you see something that isn't working, speak up. If you have a better idea, bring it forward. If something is broken, help us fix it. If we need to change something, don't automatically resist it, help us make it better.
We are going to have difficult days. We are going to have uncomfortable conversations. There will be moments when this isn't easy.
But I believe we can do this. I am confident that we can turn this around.
Not because I think it will be easy. I am confident because I look around this room and I see people who care about this organization, who care about our clients, and who have the ability to make a difference.
So today, we acknowledge what happened. We respect the people who are no longer with us. And then we move forward. Together.
We have 90 days. Let's make them count.
The detail of the plan goes in the breakouts. The speech names what is in it in one sentence, which is the right depth for a room that has just watched ten colleagues leave. The breakouts are where people can ask about their own job.
Two sentences from the speech are the ones staff will repeat to each other, and they are the ones every leader has to get right in the breakouts and in the hallway after:
"My intention is that we do not have to go through another round of layoffs during these 90 days."
"I cannot promise what happens beyond that if we do not execute this plan."
Say those two, in that order, and nothing softer or firmer. A leader who upgrades it to "your job is safe" is making a promise Arukah cannot keep. One who drops the first sentence leaves people hearing that more rounds are coming.
| Who | What they cover |
|---|---|
| Matt | Twenty minutes. What happened, why, what changes, and the ninety day plan |
| Ariel | Five minutes. Clinical and program, in her own words |
| Erin | Five minutes. She runs revenue cycle, so billing and collections is hers to say |
| Ruth | Not speaking. She has delivered all ten conversations that morning |
| Ethan and Grace | Not speaking |
Staff have worked with Ariel and Erin for years and with Matt for six weeks, which is why two of the three voices are theirs. Have them standing off to one side rather than lined up behind him.
Yoga room: clinical, program and psychiatry, the three that generate revenue. Community room: everyone else.
The first ten to fifteen minutes will not be productive. People want answers before they want a plan. Leaders should know that going in, so nobody forces a deck through it and nobody reads the mood as failure.
Each leader needs one page by Monday, with four things on it:
| When | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Mon Aug 31st by 5:00pm | 🔴 Final list locked, then people scripted into time slots. The running order, the email cutoffs and the client coverage map all wait on this | Matt |
| Mon Aug 31st | Leadership walk-through of the whole Wednesday, start to finish. This is the rehearsal, and where to poke holes | All |
| Mon Aug 31st | One page to every manager running a breakout. Ruth and Ethan walk the script and the walk-out together | Matt, Ruth, Ethan |
| Tue Sep 1st | 🔴 Client coverage map. Every departing clinician's Wednesday and Thursday appointments, the named person taking each one, and who tells the client. Identified August 21st and still the last unfinished piece. It cannot be completed until the list locks Monday evening | Ariel |
| Tue Sep 1st | Running order to Ethan and Dustin, with the cutoff time for each person | Matt |
| Tue Sep 1st | 🔴 Decide how laptops are handled. Cutting email does not cover files held locally on a machine. This is a HIPAA question, so it is worth a call to counsel rather than an internal judgment | Matt |
| Tue Sep 1st | Rooms booked, packets printed, bags ready. Yoga room and community room held. Ruth and Ethan briefed on records | Ruth |
| Wed Sep 2nd | 8:00 to 10:30 conversations. 11:00 all staff. Breakouts after | All |