Downsizing a workforce is never a pleasant time, but the experience is usually made unnecessarily worse when there is no formal communications plan that is consistent and well thought out in advance for presentation to the entire company by all levels of management.
Many of us in HR can vouch for an old truism: In the absence of a formalized workplace communications plan, the employee rumor mill will take over. Because of heightened anxieties during these times, you especially want to clearly and abundantly communicate your organizational messages. Because if you don’t, people may start assuming and presuming things that may not be true at all. Then you will not only be forced to communicate the truth, but you also will also need to address damage control.
It is important that you take these steps for those employees who will be leaving, but also for those remaining. You certainly want to convey the message that you care about employees. While technology can’t offset the pain of being laid off, you want to use all means possible to get out consistent and timely messages; for example:
- Employee intranet sites or Web portals
- E-mails
- Video presentations
- Webinars
- Staff/Company Meetings
The bottom line is: It’s important that all employees get the same information, and at the same time.
A well-planned communications plan executed during a downsizing event benefits employees, who in turn are more likely to continue to maintain confidence and trust in their employers. A communication plan can effectively address the stress levels that are exacerbated through gossip and rumors. Here are a few other employer-employee benefits of a communications plan:
- Helps sustain and rebuild confidence in the organization
- Helps instill optimism for the future
- Helps keep surviving employees motivated so that they will better serve customers
- Helps apprise employees of what is expected of them
You see, your surviving employees are those who keep the business running, take up the slack created by the downsizing and they are the ones who continue to serve the customers. So it’s very important that they know how to handle jobs that were previously handled by laid-off employees. Organizations who execute a sound and consistent communications plan will also do better at sustaining employee morale and loyalties. During these times, employees are looking to be reassured, and a well prepared plan will help you do that.
On the other hand, if employer-employee trust is broken and nothing is done to regain it, your organization could find itself in a situation in which surviving employees start looking at other options. Then, not only are you losing employees that you were forced to lay off; but, you can potentially lose other employees you are counting on to stay and help rebuild the company.
As noted earlier, a downsizing is never pleasant, but the aftermath can be made even worse if employers fail to develop a well-planned communications strategy. Most employees don’t want to receive this news, but you will find that it’s much better received by all employees—those laid off and those remaining—when employers are honest, truthful, forthcoming, up-front and comprehensive with their information.
Although a downsizing is almost never perceived as a Win, let alone a WIN-WIN, a well executed communication plan can demonstrate caring and compassion on the part of the company about what is happening to their employees and their families. It can also offer a hope for the future of the company that can go a long way in facing the rebuilding and the recovery process after a downsizing has occurred.