Hope for the best. But prepare for … layoffs

Marzena Tajchman:

To say layoffs are becoming more frequent, is to say nothing.

Jack Welch’s old rule of firing the “bottom 10%” never really went out of fashion. AI gives a convenient excuse to cut whole departments and teams. The widely shared belief that we live in a “volatile and unpredictable world” pushes leaders into the “right-sizing” mode.

And it is not only the reality of companies struggling financially. Layoffs are normalized in organizations reporting steady growth quarter after quarter.

Which is why, it’s time to check how well we are prepared. Time to review our internal communications from the perspective of the layoffs day.

Let us imagine the CEOs message announcing the layoffs just went out. It has just been read by all our colleagues. All over our organization, people are asking one question “is it going to be me?”.

How would it feel to send the message you were working on today? To launch the campaign you have been developing for the last weeks? To watch the CEO video with the speaking points you just prepared? Would they still sound reasonable or rather overpromising?

Look closely at the metaphors you are using. I have not seen a family laying people off. And as appealing as the “same boat” metaphor is, as far as I understand, we do not throw people overboard to keep boats afloat.

Job cuts announcements come with some financial or operational justification. How surprising would those explanations actually be to managers and employees? How well aligned with your latest communication on priorities or strategies? Of course, priorities might change, strategies might get adjusted. But it is easier to explain why when people have a fair understanding of the status quo.

Communicating job cuts cannot be done in isolation. It requires a coalition — HR, finance, legal, PR, employee representatives. Do you know people in these functions? Do they know you? Do they trust you? Would they respond when you need answers fast? Would they warn you about possible risks?

And then there are line managers. They will do the heavy lifting. They will be the ones asked to explain and justify the layoffs, asked every single day if there is any news, while forced to keep confidential information to themselves. Do you have tools, channels and rapport established to reach them quickly? Do they have access to the senior managers? Do they know how to get information on time, make sense of it, ask questions and get answers?

It’s true: during layoffs, internal communication might become a priority overnight. Access might improve. Doors might open. Relationships might get built. But it will be much easier if we already have strong foundations.

For our own benefit, let us not wait until job cuts. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Because in the end, layoffs day is the ultimate stress test of our internal communication.

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Marzena Tajchman is an internal communication and change management consultant with over 20 years of experience, currently building and sharing a framework for internal communicators supporting layoffs at CommunicatingJobCuts.com.