Employee Engagement: Best Practices for Layoff Communications

Plan ahead for your reduction-in-force communications.

Layoffs. It’s a word no one likes to hear. But with ongoing news of cuts at Meta, Twitter, Amazon and more, it’s a hard one to avoid. It’s also not just tech companies being impacted – many industries' leaders are being forced to make difficult decisions right now as we hover at the edge of a recession.

All of this means it’s time for companies to dust off their reduction-in-force (RIF) communication playbooks. And the reality is, those playbooks may be a little out of date. For one, there haven’t been many layoffs since pre-COVID (yes, there were furloughs at the start of COVID, but many were cushioned by the extension of unemployment benefits. Plus, everyone was in the same pandemic-hit boat). We’re also living in a very different world of work now: with many employees working hybrid schedules, or even fully remote, the connection between employees, managers and the organization may be different than it was before. 

All of this can have a big impact on the way you should communicate about this sort of change, which will affect your ability to maintain employee engagement after layoffs. While most of the basic best practices will still apply, some may need to be altered to fit this new environment. Here are just a few elements to consider:

• A different culture – You probably had a pretty established company culture prior to 2020 – but how did that culture fare through the last two years? With employees going virtual and now hybrid (not to mention other company-specific factors), your culture may have changed. Managers may not feel as in-touch with their employees, and employees may not feel as connected to their managers – or the company. All of this will make it harder to anticipate how a reduction in force will be received. Layoffs now, after all that employees have been through, may impact their confidence in the company and cause those staying to question whether leadership really has their best interests at heart.

• Shifting leadership expectations – According to recent research by Padilla, certain leadership qualities are more important to employees now than they were two years ago. Our research shows that nearly 65% of employees feel that empathy and transparency have risen in importance, and 56% feel that authenticity has, too. How will you adjust your strategy and communications to align with these shifting expectations? Additionally, different employees – especially those of different generations – may have contradicting feelings on your communication approach. While foreshadowing the change can increase transparency, which will be appreciated by some, it could just cause anxiety for others.

• More rumor mills – Talk of potential layoffs always makes its way into the rumor mill, but you’ve likely created even more rumor mills since the pandemic began. We all set up new digital channels to help us communicate and collaborate better while working virtually – but now each of those channels has the potential to act as another digital water cooler for rumors and anxiety. Plus, many employees are now even more comfortable publicly speaking their minds than they were a few years ago.

• Low unemployment – It’s been a job-seeker’s market for a while now, with companies working against trends like “The Great Resignation” and “quiet quitting.” As a result, layoffs will seem completely counterintuitive. It goes back to employee confidence in the organization: at a time when companies are struggling to attract and retain talent, why would you lay good people off, unless you’ve made poor financial decisions or are struggling as an organization?

Add all of this up, and you can see why your old RIF communications playbook might need some updating. So, as you’re adjusting your communication strategy to ensure you maintain employee engagement after layoffs, here are some suggestions:

• Decide whether to foreshadow. This goes back to your company culture – if yours came out of the pandemic stronger and your employees are receptive to change, foreshadowing can help lessen the blow and meet the desire for higher transparency. If not, foreshadowing could just serve to increase the anxiety and frustration.

• Make layoffs part of the long-term vision. After the chaos of the last two years, these layoffs can’t just be about cost-cutting and profitability, which sounds short sighted and insufficient. There needs to be a bigger narrative – one that explains why this is a strategic business decision and includes a “so we can…” component, as in: “We need to reduce our costs and return to profitability so we can invest in XYZ to meet needs A, B and C of our customers and employees.” These layoffs need to be seen as required near-term changes to help achieve a long-term plan.

• Be more empathetic in every communication. Layoffs will be particularly tough now after everything employees have been through, and especially without the pandemic’s extended unemployment benefits. Be authentic in your acknowledgment of how tough this situation is, and show that you truly care and understand how they’re feeling – both those who are leaving and those who are staying. The latter will need to understand why and how this decision was made, and feel confident in the future of the company.

• Listen to employees. Make sure you’re keeping an ear tuned to those new digital watercoolers, in addition to usual office chatter, so you can address employee fears and concerns before they become bigger issues. As mentioned, it’s a job seeker’s market right now, and the last thing you want is to lose more employees – by their own choice. This is particularly important if you're a company with a lot of non-desk workers, who likely have different communication needs, preferences and challenges that will impact their engagement.

Letting people go is never easy, but the right communication strategy can make a difference and allow you to maintain employee engagement after layoffs. If you’re facing difficult employee decisions and would like support communicating them, Padilla can help.

This post was updated from August, 2022.

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