How to Communicate to a Staff After a Layoff

Layoffs are devestating both to those laid off and the co-workers they left behind.

Communicating effectively during a crisis within an organization is critical to the organization's future success. Formulate a strategic plan for crisis communication ahead of time. Don't wait until a crisis is upon you. Plan ahead. Draft letters which address potential crisis scenarios including layoffs. Pro-actively communicate with employees before crisis hits by holding regularly scheduled meetings between employees and management. If you have already experienced a layoff and need to establish communication with employees, consider these three options: letters home, open-door policy and face-to-face meetings.

Instructions

1. Maintain management credibility by communicating often and in numerous ways. Not everyone receives information in the same way. A letter from top management addressed to each employee allow you to reach out to the spouse as well as the employee. Transparency is key. Clearly lay out the reasons why the company was forced to lay workers off. Include business figures where appropriate. Consider the following wording: "Our company has suffered a loss of 30 percent over the past two years. We were no longer profitable. In order to continue as a business we were forced to cut 15 percent of the budget. Although we are saddened by the fact that we were forced to layoff 15 people, we were able to preserve many jobs and continue to hope that profitability will rise and those jobs will remain secure."

2. Institute an "open-door" policy for managers. If this currently is not a policy within your organization; start it now. Employees need to feel like they can speak with management freely. Open-door policies allow communication from the bottom to the top. It is critical that management knows and understands employees' concerns. Provide an anonymous feedback box. When managers get information from the box, concerns should be addressed at meetings with employees present. If the company cannot fix the problem, do not fail to address it. Instead, talk about why this problem cannot be fixed. Offer success stories of problems addressed by employees that have been fixed.

3. Hold face-to-face meetings as forums for open discussion. In larger organizations that run 24 hours per day, seven days per week, this is a challenge, but well worth the effort. Remember to schedule meetings for every shift and convey the same information to every shift. These meetings should be regularly scheduled, even monthly. Key management should have the opportunity to address both larger and smaller business issues including productivity reports, benefits issues, scheduling issues and plans for increased productivity including layoffs and how they will be handled.

4. Communicate with the surrounding community. Community leaders can be important resources. Management should be a part of key community organizations like the local chamber of commerce. Consider purchasing an ad in the local newspaper addressing the layoffs and how the company is moving into the future. Electronic media also offer a potential means of communicating with the community. Top managers or the company's media relations manager can appear in an ad that will run on radio, television or both addressing the layoffs and plans the company has for conquering the challenging business environment.

References

• Management Help: Basic Internal Organizational Communication
• Carrots: Five Ways to Better Communicate with your Employees
• Municiple Research and Services Center of Washington: Reduction in Force-Layoffs
• Missouri Business: How Well is Your Open-Door Policy Working?
• Wendy Mack: Addressing Employee Emotions after a Layoff
• The Ammerman Experience: Communicating to Employees after Layoffs