How to have tough conversations with employees

If you pay attention to media reports, it’s pretty likely that a recession and bad economic times are just around the corner for Canadians.

And this could have a great effect on organizations who might be looking to cut costs by laying off staff — as we’ve seen already with large firms such as Amazon and Meta.

For employers and senior leaders, this means challenging dialogue is ahead. But what is the best way to approach these talks?

“Regardless of what the content of the message is, the message has to be one of honesty,” says John Kay, CEO of Realize Strategies, a management consultancy in Vancouver.

“And it has to be one of: ‘We’re in a rapidly changing environment. We just simply don’t have all the information today to necessarily tell you everything you need to know.’”

How not to do it

This way of communicating with the workforce was not observed during a recent all-hands meeting held by Google, in which CEO Sundar Pichai was less than forthcoming with employees to discuss an uncertain future, according to Inc.com.

While Pichai was criticized for playing his cards too close to his vest, his job wasn’t easy, says Kay.

“There’s a balance to be struck between being honest that you can’t predict the future but at the same time, giving people a degree of confidence that even if you can predict the future, you’re going to do everything you can to ensure stability and predictability. Because, at the end of the day, what are individual staff concerned about? They’re concerned about their jobs, their ability to pay their bills, their livelihood, their family.”

When organizational leaders decline to be honest and transparent, “You run the risk that if you say, ‘I have no idea,’ that it doesn’t instil confidence,” says Kay.

“If you go the other way and say, ‘We’re going to be absolutely fine,’ when the objective data in the media says otherwise, then you run the risk of just looking like you’re inauthentic and Pollyannaish.” 

There are seven steps to approaching contentious talks, says another communications expert.

‘Head for the exits’

When the correct balance isn’t reached, the risks to an organization can become catastrophic, according to Kay.

“You’re just begging to lose confidence; you’re just begging to lose credibility. And you’re also just begging to see people head for the exits because they have no idea what’s really going on.”

It’s best to provide as much information as possible when a C-suite member, generally the CEO, has to deliver bad news. For example: “Here’s the steps we’re taking to mitigate the risk and, based on what we know right now, we think that this is what the world is going to look like over the next six months,” says Kay. 

“We really don’t think that we’re going to have to lay off for the following reasons: we know that we’re unfortunately going to have to shrink a little bit, we just don’t know exactly what that looks like yet but as soon as we know, you’ll know.”

For those in the tech industry, it appears mass layoffs are all but inevitable and there are a number of legal considerations that must be taken into account, says a lawyer.

Keep up the empathy

During the early days of COVID, many organizations were praised for their open and compassionate practices in letting workers know what is happening and how they were responding to the pandemic.

It’s incumbent upon progressive businesses to continue behaving in this fashion, says Kay, because employees today expect it, and “employees are much more inclined to see leadership as credible if a CEO is saying, ‘We’re all in this together. I don’t have all the answers. I’m going to tell you what I know, when I know but I have concerns too because I don’t know if we’re going to hit a recession but I’m going to be honest with you, folks.’”

No longer are CEOs expected to employ the old leadership model from years ago of command-and-control leadership, he says, when “the leader cannot show any degree of uncertainty, any degree of vulnerability — those days are gone.

“You don’t have to be the general at the top of the pecking order for people to just see you as a leader to believe in; they’re going to believe in you a lot more if it feels like you’re in it with them. You are the leader, you are ultimately the decision-maker but you’re part of a team, a shared community that are all trying to achieve the same thing.”

To make the communication most effective, empathy should be considered before the message is delivered.

“Put yourself in the shoes of the employee: imagine what it would be like to be standing on their side of the table and if you were hearing the things that you want to tell your staff, your employees — how would you perceive it? Does it ring true to you?” says Kay.

HR as culture builder

When it comes to HR, they have a role in creating a strong culture that can withstand these outside forces, he says.

“The critical thing to those tough conversations right now is building and maintaining an organizational culture and building and maintaining a culture where employees are as engaged as they can be.

“HR professionals, to some degree, really have to be culture builders, communicators — even to some degree counsellors — while delivering some of the tough messages that may come if we do see inflation continue [and] we see a recession hit sometime this year and, not just a mild one but one that is heavy and deep and requires some unfortunate retrenchment,” says Kay.