If you are anybody's boss, you've probably given out a lot of bad news lately. Layoffs are coming. Anyone who doesn't lose their job will have a much heavier workload. The fourth-quarter numbers are looking bad. Did someone say holiday party? Since there's no budget this year, forget the annual blowout at that upscale restaurant. Eggnog will be served in the conference room at 4 p.m. on Dec. 23.
How in the world are you supposed to inspire your workers when you're carrying around the burden of ever-worsening balance sheets and the guilt of having to let longtime loyal employees go? Is there a good way to deliver bad news?
According to staffing, career and crisis communications pros, openness, honesty and empathy are absolutely essential and go a long way.
Beth Banks Cohn, who runs a leadership and executive coaching firm in Manalapan, N.J., says you must be decisive about your company's business plan and communicate that plan clearly to the staff. That's especially important when the plan involves major staff and workload shifts.
At a pharmaceutical business where Cohn consulted, management abruptly split the research and development department into two pieces, hoping that would help development of a new drug to keep up with a competitor. But no one sat down with the staff and spelled out the reason for the split. Rather, management barreled ahead without communicating at all, and the two departments were soon duplicating each other's work. "It wound up we had to undo the split," Cohn recalls. "You always have to communicate your plan. Even if what you say is, 'Part of this will be pretty, but part of it is going to be ugly.'"
Another reason for clear communication: "In the absence of information, people make stuff up," Cohn observes. "Managers always tend not to want to give specifics, especially about downsizing. But information is an important part of getting people to understand and accept what's happened. As a leader, you have to err on the side of giving more, rather than less, information."
How can you as a boss keep your staff focused in the midst of great turbulence--say, during a week when employees are being laid off? Start with empathy, Cohn says: "A manager can say, 'I know this is very distracting, but we have a job to do. I'm here to support you and to help you be as undistracted as possible. Whatever you need from me, I want to be able to provide it for you.'"
How can you as a boss keep your staff focused in the midst of great turbulence--say, during a week when employees are being laid off? Start with empathy, Cohn says: "A manager can say, 'I know this is very distracting, but we have a job to do. I'm here to support you and to help you be as undistracted as possible. Whatever you need from me, I want to be able to provide it for you.'"
What not to do: tell employees they should feel good when they have every reason to feel rotten. Cohn recalls one company where she worked that laid off 30% of its staff. A manager got up and said to the survivors, "It could be worse. It could have been 50%." Cohn recalls, "Every single person in that room wanted to kill her. During a trying time you have to let people know you're still human."
Richard Levick, of Levick Strategic Communications, in Washington, says that after layoffs leaders need to reassure their workers that the remaining jobs are safe. "Let people know that this is as far as the cuts are going to go this quarter, or this year."
He says it's also important, during hard times, for bosses themselves to show sacrifice. Whether it's giving up a bonus, taking a pay cut, or relinquishing the privilege of first-class travel, sharing in your employees' pain helps earn their trust. "It's critically important, if the messenger is to be credible," he says.
Finally, Levick reminds managers how important it is to share information when the news starts improving. "Once your market starts coming back, you've got to flog your internal communications with the good news," he says.
Susan Adams, Forbes.com
Susan Adams, Forbes.com