WSJ recently had a story on how poorly companies communicate layoffs. Is anyone aware of best practices for the best medium for a large-scale layoff ... i.e., email, townhall, manager discussions, etc.? Do you just set up a "mandatory meeting" invitation with no context? etc
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and never on a Friday or before holidays; it should be done at a time when HR or the manager can check up on people to see if they are all right<br>
No one should ever get fired by surprise. When the dismissal is for poor performance people will have gone through a performance improvement plan, so there is no surprise with the dismissal. The same is true with mass layoffs. The employer should have been providing information about the state of the business and the potential need for layoffs, so when it happens it is not a total surprise.
I have experiences of doing mass layoffs where the only thing I could do was call everyone into the canteen, stand on a chair and read a statement about the bad news. That statement finished with a commitment to meet every person one-to-one to discuss their individual case.
If I had to do a mass layoff today I would have communicated the news about the business in advance and made sure that people understood that there was a risk of job losses.
It makes sense to have regular workforce town hall meetings. If they are not normal events people know that when a meeting is called it must be bad news and the rumour mill will take over.
If the workers are all in the same place then I would have a town meeting. If they are dispersed I would have an online podcast/webinar meeting.
I would start with the bad news and then provide the reasons for the decision, including all the attempts that have been made to make other options work.
I would also include a big section about the support that will be available to everyone.
I would not tell people how much I hate being the bearer of bad news. If you hate it don't do it.
Lay-off communications in the US may be different, where you are just sent on your way. However, it is bad practice. HR and Communications should work together to create manager toolkits with a talking brief, Q&As, available support (if any). Then you invite people to a meeting, where in some countries HR has to be present for legal reasons. You explain the situation, using approved messaging/talking brief, and answer questions. If any support is available, or redundancy payments, they should be explained, too.