Communicating During Layoffs
An increasingly connected workforce creates new challenges for employers during already difficult workforce reductions. Websites (such as Internal Memos), email, message boards, and online news sources make all information public information very quickly and senior leadership teams more hesitant to communicate anything until the last possible minute.
The consequences? Former employees who believe they were treated unfairly and without respect because of untimely information and retained employees with less respect for their employer because of how their former colleagues were treated. What’s more, the untimely delivery of information creates an unproductive workforce as employees try to reduce their own uncertainty by discussing the situation with their co-workers.
The Coaching Point: Although convincing the senior leadership team to communicate everything they know as they know it is unrealistic, it is still imperative to manage to the employees who will remain after the reductions. Some general advice:
Communicate early. While it is unrealistic to communicate all information as you learn of it, there are pieces you can disseminate quickly. Doing so will create quick wins for leadership and the communication group and making a habit of it will increase the trust in information from those sources.Communicate with candor. When questions come up that you cannot answer--either because you don't know or you can't tell your employees (possibly for legal reasons)--be candid and say "we don't know" or "we can't tell you." Your employees will understand, and will see this as a visible sign of respect.
When you don't know, communicate through probabilities. The alternative is to allow rumors and speculation to fill a vacuum.While layoff "success stories" are an impossibility, Agilent managed to reduce their force in a respectful manner by over-communicating to their workforce. This article from Fortune tells their story: How to Cut Pay, Lay Off 8,000 People, and Still Have Workers Who Love You.Make small promises and deliver on them. Overcoming employee skepticism is one of the largest hurdles you will face. By making small promises, like forecasting when the next update will come, and keeping them, employees will begin to trust the information that is provided to them (and hopefully become less likely to send it to a local media source).
Equip your front-line supervisors with information. Line employees most trust the information from their direct supervisor and supervisors communicate to their direct reports by answering questions. Equipping front-line supervisors with information makes them appear more credible when they can actually answer the questions they are asked and provides employees with credible information from a trusted source.
Establish a senior leadership presence early and maintain it throughout the reduction. It is typical for the senior team to clam up and become less visible during workforce reductions. This sends the message to employees that the leadership team (1) doesn't respect them enough or (2) is too uncomfortable to look them in the eye. A visible leadership presence will send the message that leadership respects employees and while they may not be comfortable with the decision to reduce they support it.