The secret of communicating bad news to employees.Good times or bad, several considerations prevail in developing and conducting a bad-news communication campaign. Organizations show their real values when they communicate bad news Years of saying how important employees are and how much the organization cares for them can prove to be empty words Noun 1. empty words - loud and confused and empty talk; "mere rhetoric" empty talk, hot air, palaver, rhetoric hokum, meaninglessness, nonsense, nonsensicality, bunk - a message that seems to convey no meaning based on how the organization behaves when delivering bad news. Bad news |Fact of Life' In the big picture of communicating bad news, five basic facts of life emerge: There is no alternative called "Let's not Let's Not is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in Boston University Graduate Journal in December 1954. It was written for no payment as a favour to the journal, and later appeared in the collection Buy Jupiter. "communicate." If there's bad news, it's it's 1. Contraction of it is. 2. Contraction of it has. See Usage Note at its. it's it is or it has it's be ~have certain to find a communication channel. Organizations can either step forward at the outset and orchestrate or·ches·trate tr.v. or·ches·trat·ed, or·ches·trat·ing, or·ches·trates 1. To compose or arrange (music) for performance by an orchestra. 2. how the news is delivered or step back and react as the information comes out. * If open and honest communication is not part of the organization's culture, personality, and history, then communicating bad news is bad news. Without;a well-established framework that supports a dialogue of full disclosure, there's very little that can be done at the last minute to make the communication of bad news anything other than a disastrous disappointment * Supervisors and managers must be included early, kept fully informed, and remain supportive. Supervisors and managers are the organization's most important employee communication vehicle. They provide an opportunity for two-way communication Two-way communication is a form of transmission in which both parties involved transmit information. Common forms of two-way communication are:
Contraction of they are. they're be not on management's team, the ball game's over. * Proper planning prevent poor performance. This may sound like a panacea Some antidote or remedy that completely solves a problem. Most so-called panaceas in this industry, if they survive at all, wind up sitting alongside and working with the products they were supposed to replace. - but it is essential in communicating bad news. In fact, organizations that are good at communicating bad news have contingency plans A plan involving suitable backups, immediate actions and longer term measures for responding to computer emergencies such as attacks or accidental disasters. Contingency plans are part of business resumption planning. in case they're needed. Good planning can't occur at the last minute. * The worst alternative that management considers is likely to be communicated through the grapevine Grapevine - A distributed system project. . This is the "skid-greasing phenomenon." In most cases, employees are aware something bad is about to happen. This is the main reason the "Let's not communicate" alternative doesn't does·n't Contraction of does not. really exist. On the positive side, when the bad news is not as bad as the worst alternative, employees sometimes are relieved to hear it. The key audiences for bad news Organizations planning a bad-news event should consider carefully the needs and concerns of various audiences: * Employees/retires - those directly affected - those indirectly affected - those sending the message - those handling the responses * Public - customers - prospects - shareholders - employees/retirees - future employees When organizations plan to communicate bad news to employees or retirees, often the most overlooked audience consists of the people involved in sending the message and handling the responses. These people suffer a great deal of stress - especially when jobs are being eliminated, benefits or wages are being cut, or other action is taken that evokes a strong emotional response from the affected employees. The employees who are not affected - if there are any - sometimes are also overlooked. They too may suffer stress, including what's been called "survivors' syndrome" - the guilt of escaping the actions that affected their coworkers and friends. The bad-news information shared with the public and shareholders needs to be coordinated and synchronized syn·chro·nize v. syn·chro·nized, syn·chro·niz·ing, syn·chro·niz·es v.intr. 1. To occur at the same time; be simultaneous. 2. To operate in unison. v.tr. 1. with the messages that are sent to employees. Employees read newspapers, and watch television news - and they are often shareholders. That's why the timing of the information distributed outside the organization needs to be linked to the employee bad-news communication effort. But just as important? organizations need to say much the same thing to both their internal and external audiences. If the messages are different, employees will want to know which one is correct and which one isn't is·n't Contraction of is not. isn't is not isn't be . 10 elements of bad-news communication The following can serve as a checklist in preparing a bad-news communication effort. Describe the news in a clear and straightforward manner. * Do not lie, hide the message, sugar-coat, use jargon jargon, pejorative term applied to speech or writing that is considered meaningless, unintelligible, or ugly. In one sense the term is applied to the special language of a profession, which may be unnecessarily complicated, e.g., "medical jargon. , minimize, or downplay down·play tr.v. down·played, down·play·ing, down·plays To minimize the significance of; play down: downplayed the bad news. Verb 1. . * Do not make promises about the future that may not hold true. * Do not overract * Do not avoid adding honest perspective - "Although this is by no means a good situation, it is not as bad as..." Explain why the action is being taken. * What is the logic behind the action? * How does the action support the organization's mission? * What was being done wrong? * How will the action help solve the problem? * Explain how the decision is fair to as many groups as possible. * If there's no fairness, there's no hope for a "positive" result. * The test of "success" is reactionss such as, "I don't like it, but I can see why it's fair." * Fairness must be shown to an array of groups: - directly affected employees - indirectly affected employees - the organization - shareholders - customers and prospects - the public Involve a high-status messenger in delivering the message. * Who sends the message says a lot about how much the organization cares about employees. * Lack of senior management involvement raises questions about control, responsibility, and leadership. Deliver the message in a timely manner. * Who the organization tells first says a lot - will employees learn about - the bad news in the newspapers or from their supervisors? * Reactive reactive /re·ac·tive/ (re-ak´tiv) characterized by reaction; readily responsive to a stimulus. re·ac·tive adj. 1. Tending to be responsive or to react to a stimulus. 2. communication is usually defensive and apologetic. * Do employees believe they have enough time to react properly - to change their behavior, acquire new skills, find new jobs, and make decisions? Identify who made the decision and what process was used. * Who was involved in the final decision-making decision-making, n the process of coming to a conclusion or making a judgment. decision-making, evidence-based, n a type of informal decision-making that combines clinical expertise, patient concerns, and evidence gathered from process? * What decision-making process was followed? Describe the effort that went into the decision. * What work and analysis was conducted behind the scenes? * How painful was the process of making the decision? Outline some of the alternatives that were considered. * What other creative and thoughtful ideas were considered? * Why were they not implemented? Show that the organization cares about employees. * How an organization behaves in communicating bad news shows its "true colors (1) Specifically, refers to 16,777,216 colors (24-bit color). See high color. (2) Generically, refers to photo-realistic color (typically requires 24-bit color as a minimum). ." * What humane humane pertaining to the avoidance of infliction of pain, discomfort and harassment; used especially with regard to animals. humane considerations actions are being taken to help all employees? * Describe what action is required and what, if anything, can be done to change the decision or help avoid the problem in the future. * To change action - sales must increase to X - output must increase to X - expenses must be cut by X * To avoid the problem in the future - X new quality standards must be attained at·tain v. at·tained, at·tain·ing, at·tains v.tr. 1. To gain as an objective; achieve: attain a diploma by hard work. 2. - X new customers must be found - X new direction must be taken - X new values must be adopted - X new performance expectations must be set * To complete the event - outplacement out·place·ment n. The process of facilitating a terminated employee's search for a new job by provision of professional services, such as counseling, paid for by the former employer. services are available at X - elections for benefit payments must be made by X - keys must be turned in by X. The secret of communicating bad news The secret shouldn't be a surprise - a good employee communication program is just as effective with bad news as it is with good news. Organizations that have good employee communication programs use the same 10 elements when they are planning to communicate good news or bad. In their organizations no one asks, "How do we communicate bad news?" That's because where good programs exist, the answer is found in the, question, "What standards do we follow when conducting any employee communication campaign?" |
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