Job Cuts—How to Tell Employees the News

No manager likes to deliver bad news to his or her employees, and the worst news of all is about a job cut. The fact that there will be job cuts rarely comes as a surprise to employees, but that doesn’t make it any less difficult for their supervisors. There are steps you can take, however, that can make it a little less painful for everyone involved:

1. Prepare yourself. Acknowledge to yourself that communicating the information won’t be easy. Recognize that the employee will feel hurt and he or she may take his or her emotional response out on you at first.

2. Gather the information you need. Before you deliver the news to an employee, make sure that you understand and can explain clearly the reason for the job cut. The employee will want to know the method of selecting employees for termination, the details of the severance package and the rights and opportunities for laid-off employees. Be informed.

3. Plan for the interview. Consider the timing and location for the meeting. For instance, avoid, if you can, alerting an employee on a Friday. Counseling and other support mechanisms may not be available over the weekend. In terms of the interviews themselves, if more than one employee is going to be let go, give yourself sufficient time for each interview and some time between to regain your composure. As far as the location for the meeting, choose a room out of view and beyond the hearing of the rest of the staff. To minimize the upset between those just told and those waiting to be told, find somewhere where employees who exit won’t bump into those still waiting to see you.

Have a plan concerning how you will deal with those being terminated after you have told them the bad news. Will they be asked to clear out their desks and leave immediately, or has your organization decided to give them a few days to prepare for their departure? Check with the human resources department to determine your organization’s policy.

As part of the interview, you may have to provide written information to your employees about their severance package, outplacement support, etc.

4. Communicate the finality of the decision. Don’t hem and haw during the interview so that an employee is led to believe that there is the possibility of remaining. If the decision is final, that should be communicated.

5. Provide the information assembled. If you have done your preparations for the meeting, you should have the paperwork about the financial settlement and outplacement program, if any, being offered, the timeframe and contacts within your organization that can help the employee further in adjusting to the decision. The employee may be so shaken by the news that he or she may request a follow-up meeting. Depending on your relationship with the employee, and organization policy, you may agree to meet.

6. Be sure that the employee understands the situation. Close the interview per your schedule but, before doing so, determine the employee’s understanding of the situation.