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Delivering the News
Bad news abounds these days, testing effective communication skills and methods. The good news is that having a well-crafted communication plan will help HR leaders lessen the blow when they have bad news to deliver. Many organizations have been forced to cut staff in order to survive. Others are cutting benefits and pay to help weather the economic storm. Many are doing both. No matter what the bad news is, how you go about communicating your message is critical. After all, when pay and benefits are cut, the people who are affected are still on board when the dust settles. As an HR leader, you should craft your plan with as much care and forethought as your organization gives to the actual pay and benefit changes that spark the need for the communication in the first place. Know the "who, what, when, where, how and why" of the communication before the first announcement is made about plan or program changes. Then, share the communication plan with all senior leaders and get their input. Communicating with one voice and reinforcing key messages across the organization are important. Employees are looking for leadership during trying times. Consistent, effective communication will help morale -- even when the news is grim. As you're well aware, cuts in benefits and/or pay are meant to save your organization money. So you should think about the communication goals that will support this overall organization objective. Clearly state what you want employees to do, think and feel as a result of the communication. Possible objectives for employees might be: Understanding the changes and then becoming as productive as possible, and/or feeling that the organization still cares. For those managing employees, an objective might be to explain and support the changes despite their own negative feelings about the changes. Whatever your communication objectives are, put them in writing, share them with all senior leaders and map out a plan for achieving them.
Don't Spin Having a clear message is key when you must communicate bad news. Although it may sound simple, clarity can actually be difficult for some organizations to execute. It's important to get senior leaders closely involved and develop a set of messages that you will repeat throughout the communication cycle. It's helpful to try putting yourself in the position of the people who will receive the news and make sure the communications answer their questions, such as: * What's happening? And when? * Why is it necessary to make these changes? * How does it affect me/others? What do I need to do differently? * When will I know more? * As a supervisor, what is my role? * What can I do to help?, and * Where can I go with questions? Include tips on how employees can help. Many employees would help, if they knew what to do. These communications are your chance to harness their energy and give employees meaningful purpose and focus. Involve them in ways that are related to what's happening. Make them part of the solution by, for example, soliciting their cost-cutting ideas, then take the best ideas and implement them. Clearly communicate what suggestions you're taking and how much they've saved the company. The messages don't have to be overly gloomy and depressing, but you don't want them to be inappropriately cheery, either. Finding the right tone is important -- it will create a specific mood and contribute to the communications' credibility. Bad news can be delivered clearly and honestly, and perhaps with some hope or optimism (unless the situation is truly hopeless). However, don't try to put a positive spin on obviously negative news. Employees will see right through your efforts and will see the news for what it is: disingenuous. If there are two sides to the story, tell both sides. Eventually, the truth will come out, and you can ward off an even more potentially negative reaction by addressing the issue up front. Effective communication builds trust in an organization, but spinning a message can lead to a breakdown of trust and make gaining employees' confidence harder in the future. Finally, though it may be tempting sometimes, don't blame others for the challenges your organization faces. It is unproductive and promotes a feeling of powerlessness. You want employees to focus on doing their jobs as well as possible, not on who or what brought on the current crisis.
Manage Expectations Nobody likes surprises -- especially when they have a negative impact on people's lives and families. If you're going to reduce benefits or increase the employees' share of costs, give them as much notice as possible so they can plan accordingly. Use the available communication tools -- particularly social media. If you have an internal company Web site and/or blog, use these tools to reinforce your messages and invite dialogue. These internal lines of communication give you a chance to clear up confusion, answer questions directly and honestly, and involve those affected in the discussion. You can be sure that at least some of the employees in your organization will be passing along the news to family and friends as soon as they read the executive's letter or hear the announcement. The cyberspace conversations will begin right away outside your organization. Try to be proactive in using social-networking media so you can manage potential misunderstandings inside your organization and reinforce more of your key messages before the news heads out the door. As for the media, send them the news after you've told all your employees. You can be certain that no employee wants to hear about significant changes at their company via the morning news. News spreads at lightning speed these days thanks to e-mail, blogs and Twitter, so have a well-written press release ready. Tell your employees first, then send the press release. As you communicate with employees about benefit or pay cuts, put yourself in their shoes. Chances are good that employees will react to the news with fear, anger and distrust. Cutting benefits or pay may be less drastic than laying people off, but it still can feel like a violation of an implied social contract. This reaction is especially true in organizations that have reinforced messages that tie total compensation to personal effort, such as "It's our way of thanking you," or "Because you work tirelessly for our company." These messages become problematic when rewards are reduced. If you're tying a reduction to the economic downturn or something measurable, such as company profits (e.g., "Because our profits are down, we will be suspending your 401(k) match"), be aware you're creating expectations about what the company will do when things return to normal. Expect the unexpected: If you cut your 403(b) or 401(k) plan matches, are you prepared to see participation in the retirement-savings plans drop off? Another example of an unexpected behavior change can be found in those organizations that have communicated an increase in healthcare premiums -- the number of medical claims actually increased. Be sure you've considered such scenarios and their financial impact when you are making decisions about benefit reductions. The results may be costly and self-defeating.
Beware the Closed Doors When you adopt plan and program cuts, approach your message as if you're sharing the news with family members. Lead with humanity and empathy. Invite dialogue. As you know, making pay and benefit changes is hard on everyone -- employees, families and managers. It's OK to say so. Acknowledge the hardship that results from such changes. In discussions with employees, managers need to be truthful and open. If an executive or manager doesn't know an answer, then she or he should say so. Encourage your managers and supervisors to allow -- and even invite -- dialogue when appropriate. The dialogue among employees will go on in any event; by being part of it, you can try to make the discussion as constructive as possible. It's also important to encourage your organization's managers to keep their doors open. Now more than ever, employees are looking for nonverbal cues about what's going on in the company. A closed door sends a loud message of possible impending doom. Don't make promises you can't keep by promising there won't be more bad news. You don't know what the future will hold and your organization may have to take additional steps to react to its business environment. Employees will understand one benefit reduction or pay cut, but may not forgive a second round of changes if they were promised otherwise. So don't tell employees there won't be any further changes. Tell them what leadership is doing to help the organization. Ask employees to focus on the things they can control, such as the quality of their work and workplace safety. By all means, share legitimate good news -- certain divisions continue to show strong sales or "the company will continue to invest in research and development" -- but don't promise what you can't deliver.
Stopping the Virus Although delivering bad news is hard, remember that silence communicates, too. In a time of crisis, people need more candid information, not less. Without messages from leadership, people will use their imaginations. Employees will talk and guess at what's happening and why. As they lament and brood, the incorrect information and negative mood can pass through an organization like a virus. Get the news out so you have some control over the messages and you can address your employees' questions and concerns. Surviving difficult economic times is not easy; however, bad times can be a chance to improve your communication with employees. You've got their attention; they're listening and want to help. Keep them informed in a timely manner, with candid updates on what's happening and how they're affected. When you must deliver bad news, be honest but sensitive and give employees plenty of time to digest it. Give them credible people to talk to and a place to go with their questions. They will spend less time guessing and speculating and will likely be more focused and productive.
Denise Foster heads the employee communications practice at Milliman, a Seattle-based actuarial and consulting firm.
October 16, 2009 Copyright 2009© LRP Publications |
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