Better Approaches to Communicating Layoffs

The video became legendary. A company few had ever heard of was instantly infamous. The CEO, an object of ridicule and derision, was forced to “step aside” for a while. 

In December, Better.com CEO Vishal Garg unexpectedly laid off 900 employees in a three-minute virtual meeting. His handling of the call, along with trashing the employees he let go afterwards, led to his being relieved of his duties for a month, and tarnished his personal reputation and that of his business. While he did return to his job in January, the damage to the brand will linger for years.

Laying off staff is the hardest part of a manager’s job, unless that person is a sociopath. You are taking away someone’s livelihood, for reasons that are completely out of their control. It’s tough enough to get rid of an employee who deserves it, firing one who doesn’t is tougher. 

Sad to say, I’ve been on both sides of this situation. I’ve helped clients craft their message to employees who were losing their jobs due to closure and relocation. And, my last job on Capitol Hill ended when a dozen of us were let go in a restructuring of the committee staff. 

With those scenarios, and Better.com, in mind, here are my tips for handling this toughest employee communications challenge with compassion and professionalism.

Explain why this is happening.

Even in a situation where everyone knows layoffs are coming, it’s still important to tell those who are losing their jobs why you are taking this specific action. With my client, the answer was simple — the facility they were closing could not be profitable for at least a decade. 

With my job, it was more complicated — they wanted to add more people to the staff, and since it was a congressional committee, they could not simply raise revenues to cover additional salaries.

Better.com’s Garg didn’t explain why it was happening — I will charitably speculate that he figured his staff knew the challenges the mortgage industry was facing, and not that he couldn’t be bothered.

Show some compassion. 

If you have outlined why the move is being made, you have the right to say that you don’t enjoy making the move. But, don’t be maudlin. And, please, use better language than Garg’s “If you’re on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off. Your employment here is terminated effective immediately.”

Explain how it will be handled.

After the initial shock, people want to know three things: What is my end date? What is my severance? What do I do? My former employer did a fantastic job at laying this out. 

In contrast, Better.com merely told employees that they would receive a follow-up from HR, but employees’ accounts were immediately shut down so they had to receive information hours later on their personal emails. They should have had an HR person on the call to explain the process. And to…

Take questions. 

Again, my former employer did a great job with this — they let us ask about the process by which they made the decision (although I still have some questions about it) and what was expected of us. In the case of my client, we worked for hours on all of the questions we expected from the employees and how to answer them honestly, but with care and concern. 

It helped that my client was offering a good package, but even if you are not able to, be prepared to answer why not. Letting your soon-to-be former employees express themselves not only helps them understand what is happening, and what it means, it also makes them feel heard, not just shunted aside.

Don’t make it about you. 

I had a lot of questions when I heard I was being let go. Not one of them was “gee, I wonder how the person doing this feels?” While, as noted earlier, you should show compassion, try to keep yourself out of it. Garg’s attempt at self-pity, “This is the second time in my career I’m doing this and I do not — do not want to do this. The last time I did it, I cried. This time I hope to be stronger,” was painful to watch as an outsider; I can only imagine how his employees felt. 

Keep the focus on the employees, what they need and want, and how you can help them during their transition.

Don’t ask for secrecy. 

The biggest mistake my former bosses made, excluding letting us go of course, was asking us not to tell the rest of the staff that we were being let go — they had a meeting scheduled later that afternoon for those who were keeping their jobs. My supervisor, himself headed out the door, pushed back, saying “there are people upstairs worried about their futures.” 

After some more heated discussion (I may have raised my voice), they caved and said “go ahead.” Everyone in an organization that is facing layoffs knows what’s coming — don’t ask people who just lost their jobs to keep it a secret. This not only is an unfair burden for those leaving, it also shows a disrespect for your continuing staff who are already watching colleagues and friends go.

Keep your door open.

Don’t let this meeting be the last contact between yourself and this group. Offer to discuss their futures with them while they’re still there, or even after. Even the ones who don’t take you up on it will appreciate the thought that you are not just casting them out into the wild.

Why is it important to handle layoffs well? Because not doing so will hurt the morale of your remaining team. Also, former employees talk to potential future employees — you want to ensure those who worked for you speak as well of you as possible after the fact. 

You want to be seen as someone who compassionately and considerably handled a tough situation, not as an unfeeling monster who couldn’t be bothered to think about those who just had their lives upended.