Learn how to communicate company downsizing—and what to do next.
Downsizing is difficult for a company, and laying off employees is a complex and challenging task. Departing employees experience myriad emotions, such as anger, sadness, and fear. The remaining employees also have concerns about increased workloads and their own fates.
Effective communication is crucial during reductions in force (RIFs). The process will be smoother with preparation and consideration of your essential messaging. Being transparent and communicating appropriately will also reflect positively on our brand, even though you are letting people go.
To help you navigate through this difficult, but not uncommon occurrence, we’ve put together some key considerations and advice for how to communicate downsizing to employees.
Before you start to communicate with employees, it’s necessary to create a communication plan with thoughtful, transparent, consistent communications from the CEO. It’s important to be clear when you present your message to employees. Your communications may also be made public, so prepare emails, FAQs, and a media statement in advance. Above all, your message should be transparent and honest.
Uncertainty can lead to anxiety and disengaged employees. By being transparent and providing information as soon as possible, you’ll avoid issues like rumors starting. Transparency also prevents your company from losing the trust of the remaining employees. It will be difficult to prevent news about layoffs from cascading due to the prevalence of social media, so make sure your strategy is to execute the communication plan quickly and efficiently, starting with the affected employees.
All communication with both impacted and retained employees should be open and honest about why layoffs are happening. Be open about why RIF is necessary and share what other options were considered, implemented, or rejected. If you’ve been transparent with your employees all along, they will be less surprised by the news and more receptive to your communication.
Whenever possible, deliver layoff messages to impacted employees in 1:1 meetings with a manager they trust. Allocate enough time to help them process the information, but keep the meetings short enough to prevent discussions and rumors from circulating as laid-off employees communicate with colleagues. Employees often have questions to ask when a company is downsizing. Offer a way for them to communicate with management after the meeting since they may have more questions after they’ve had time to process the news.
For remote or hybrid employees who are not in the office, hold video conferences to deliver the news face-to-face. Even though they are not on-site, they deserve the same opportunity to hear the news from a trusted manager in a respectful way.
Be compassionate and provide clear, direct information to those employees whose jobs will be affected. Though you might feel stressed, striking the right tone that reflects your compassion is important. Let these employees know what kind of severance package or benefits they should expect and what support will be provided to them. Show empathy and avoid corporate jargon.
Remember that your existing employees will be watching how you handle the situation. After the layoffs, you’ll need them to have a positive mindset, and seeing your compassion for their former colleagues will help.
Your communication with remaining employees will strongly impact future employee satisfaction. You should be prepared to deal with a rollercoaster of emotions as these individuals process the downsizing and the implications for their own roles and responsibilities.
Those who weren’t let go may experience Layoff Survivor’s Guilt, which can lead to decreased productivity and morale. Reassure your remaining employees that their jobs are safe, and prepare to deal with changes in company culture and employee engagement.
Management needs to step forward to explain the reasons behind the downsizing and the company’s plan moving forward. This will help restore confidence in the organization and reassure employees that the company will continue to operate smoothly.
The following steps will help you communicate with employees to decrease anxiety and move forward after downsizing:
Don’t forget that listening is key in communication. While you want to get your message across, you need to listen to your employees' fears and concerns. You have a message to deliver, but listening to your employees’ responses, acknowledging their emotions, and replying with empathy will benefit the employees, managers, and the company.
As we mentioned, you should expect your communications to be made public. Part of your communication plan should include a media statement for external stakeholders. It’s important that news sources and clients hear about the company downsizing from you first so that you can control the narrative. This should happen shortly after your internal downsizing communications.
External stakeholders often will have many questions when a company is downsizing. Communication with external stakeholders should contextualize and accurately relate the rationale for the downsizing in order to reduce the number of questions they may have. Include the steps you’re taking to support the affected employees, including severance, resources offered to help with future employment, and other types of support offered by your organization.
Reassure clients and stakeholders that their services will not be affected by your downsizing. Let them know that internal restructuring is occurring and that they will be kept apprised of any changes in the teams they normally work with.
Be aware that the media will be watching and while you can’t control what they say, your consistent message to all employees and stakeholders will help keep the story from spiraling.
Clear, transparent, and effective communication is critical during downsizing. Creating a communication plan that allows you to quickly proceed through the process is critical. Transparent communication is the best way to keep downsizing from tarnishing your brand.
Follow up shortly after the downsizing by conducting an employee satisfaction survey with your remaining employees. Use the collected data to make informed decisions about improving company culture, workplace changes, and encouragement for remaining employees.
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