Nov. 11, 2008 at 12:12pm

When you have to announce layoffs

Posted by Kathleen Deakins in Internal Communications
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Grim... That’s the mood of some of our hospital clients who are cutting back and making due as the financial crisis persists. Especially the ones tasked with announcing program cuts, workforce reductions and laying off their own staff. Still, they are taking heart in knowing that good communication can help keep a bad situation from getting worse.

Ten timely tips for sharing the bad news:

1. Get ahead of the rumor mill and announce your news as soon as possible.

2. Be compassionately business-like, explain the “what” and “why,” and quickly get to the “what’s next.”

3. Equip managers to be effective communicators, give them talking points and coach them.

4. Share the news in person with those directly affected before telling the broader organization.

5. Encourage leaders to act as if employees are judging their every move, because they are. How leaders treat departing employees says a lot to remaining employees about how they will be treated in the future.

6. Resolve to be the best source of information – timely, accurate, consistent.

7. Mix it up and talk to folks. Be approachable. Invite questions. Give straight answers or explain why you can’t.

8. Establish a structure for sharing updates with employees and employee feedback with your leaders, such as a weekly intranet post with an e-mail link, monthly town hall meetings with a Q&A session, or daily CEO blog posts open for comments.

9. Help remaining employees understand what they can do to help the organization move forward.

10. Put Q&As in writing so employees can share them at home.

A parting thought: Remember the mission. Most of us go into health care for better or for worse. Our communities need us now more than ever.

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