Employee Engagement

By Francois Basili, President, HumaNext LLC

Recession? Budget Cuts? Layoffs? Financial Problems? How can you communicate bad news without damaging employee morale and the organization's reputation?

From my years of experience as head of the communication function for a large healthcare organization that experienced almost yearly rounds of budget cuts, reduction in force, union strikes, and other “challenges”, here are some lessons learned regarding communicating bad news:

• Make sure you sit at top management’s table when they are discussing these matters so you can have first-hand knowledge of the issues involved before attempting to communicate them. If not, then ask for meetings with the leaders who have the critical information to hear from them directly.
• Be aware of the competing pressures on top management regarding these issues. Often there are legitimate concerns about competitors getting information about the financial status of the company and its future plans. There are also concerns about the company’s ability to hire top talents during periods of financial problems. There may be other concerns as well regarding stock prices, share holders’ action, union negotiations, and other issues that you must be fully aware of so you can strike the right balance in your communication.
• Make sure you never give false, inaccurate, or misleading information. You don’t have to give “all” the information you have if this could do damage, but whatever information you do give must all be accurate and honest.
• Employees need to be aware of the challenges the company is facing so they can do their part to help. Describe the challenges in a straightforward way without minimizing them. Describe the organization’s plans for meeting these challenges, and indicate confidence in people’s ability to rise to the occasion as they have done in the past. Remind employees of past accomplishments to stir confidence and instill hope.
• Finally, the best way to combat challenges is not to just to communicate about them, but to engage employees in practical ways to rise above them. This is the time to launch employee engagement initiatives. Invite employees to form teams to brainstorm and implement actions to save costs, eliminate waste, boost efficiency, improve service, or increase revenue. I have seen dramatic changes in the culture, morale, and results when employees are given such opportunity.

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