CorpComms Magazine

When no-win-no-fee firm The Accident Group (TAG) sacked 2,400 workers by text message six years ago, it received widespread condemnation for the way it had announced that it was going into administration. 

On the BBC's website former employees made their feelings known. As one put it: 'I am absolutely disgusted. I have worked so hard for this company and all they could manage to do was send me an impersonal text message to say I no longer had a job and unfortunately my wage had not been paid!' 

If The Accident Group had ever hoped to trade again, its thoughtless actions put paid to those dreams and destroyed the group's brand.

Of course, most organisations would not dream of treating staff this way. But when a company is undergoing large-scale change, as many are in this current economic environment, experts believe that many could do better when it comes to explaining the situation to staff, as well as breaking bad news about redundancies or major role changes, following a merger or takeover.

Although it may go against the grain to divulge sensitive information, there is the argument that employees may hear about it from other sources. Alasdair Buchanan, who was head of communications at Scottish Life when it was bought by Royal London, said this was one thing he sought to avoid at all costs. He is now head of communications for Royal London, which is currently in the process of taking over parts of Resolution Life.

'If you have a communications vacuum, the grapevine will fill it and will always make things seem worse than they are,' he says. 'Always let your own people know things before you tell the outside world.' 

KEEP STAFF INFORMED

David Ferrabee, managing director at communications consultancy Able & How, which specialises in people and change, adds: 'People essentially end up knowing the information anyway and then the rumours get going, and they are always worse than the reality.' 

Ferrabee talks of cases where people have found out about the loss of their jobs because their car parking passes no longer worked or because they heard a radio broadcast about redundancies. 'People will feel betrayed if they hear about it like that,' he says.

James McBrien, managing director of communications agency Clearwater, which works with organisations such as Barclays, ABN Amro, BA and the BBC during periods of change, says the key to a successful change programme is getting people to buy into it - even if they will be adversely affected. 'Either there will be resistance, or people will get on board and the difference between the two is largely down to management,' he says.

It can also mean the difference between future success and failure. Angry former workers do not, after all, make great brand ambassadors.

Organisations undergoing change should plan their internal communications strategy from outset, says McBrien. 'Typically they do not give enough time and space to consider how to position the message and how people would want to receive bad news. Under pressure, people are responding and reacting to an immediate situation and failing to take into account the big picture - for example, that this is a person who has devoted 20 years to the company.'

Christian Hasenoehrl, partner and human resources adviser at management consultancy Gallup, also advises that communication strategy should be addressed sooner rather than later. In the current economic climate, companies could end up merging or being taken over by a rival in order to survive the downturn and bolster balance sheets. Often, this will result in redundancies and unwelcome job changes.

Hasenoehrl adds: 'Integration should be thought about and planned at the due diligence stage. Have a clear communication strategy and assess the cultural identity of the target company. When people don't know what is going to happen to them and don't even know if they will have a job anymore, the acquiring company will get very little out of them.'

Hasenoehrl advocates appointing a full-time head of post-merger integration, who takes on this role for at least a year. 'Usually someone is given this as part of their remit and only spends 20 per cent of their time on it. That is inadequate,' he says. Companies should also undertake engagement surveys across the whole workforce after six and 12 months, and act on problems that are highlighted. These principles can be applied in many different change scenarios - not just that of a merger.

One of his clients, Standard Chartered, has expanded from 30,000 people across fewer than 30 countries to a leading international banking group employing 80,000 across 80 countries, but has encountered few workforce problems. The bank, which appears to have avoided the dramatic shake up in the sector, employs around 20 people dedicated to integration, who regularly complete surveys at all levels of the workforce, and lead focus groups of staff affected by change in order to maintain a two-way dialogue with workers.

OFFER A TIMETABLE

It is helpful to give staff a timescale of events as well as all the information you can. 'Be proactive in making sure that people are kept updated even to the extent of saying there is no news,' says Buchanan. 'You need to let people know that information is not being kept from them. You want the people who are affected to continue working positively in the meantime. You need to engage with them and reassure them. Explain the process and promise to keep them informed.'

It is impossible to reconcile workers to dramatic change in an organisation until their basic fears have been addressed - it is human nature. 'People need to know whether they are going to be able to eat and house their families before they can get on board,' says Ferrabee. 'Tell people immediately how many rounds of redundancy there will be, and what they can expect to happen.'

Employees are far more likely to rally around if they feel they have some sort of input. Hasenoehrl recommends setting up a series of planning and orientation sessions with managers within two to four weeks of announcing a deal or other event, and consider altering the plan after input from these sessions if necessary. 'This is about free exchange of information and it will allow employees to be heard,' he says.

Buchanan says that small team meetings helped managers at Royal London to communicate with staff more effectively as they allowed people to ask questions about the takeover of Scottish Life. 'You can also allow questions by email on your company intranet or website,' he adds. 'This is a good way to continue a two-way dialogue and to reassure people there are no hidden secrets.'

When it comes to communicating bad news in person, it is important to get the delivery and the words right. 'This means you have to phrase it right,' says Ferrabee. 'You don't say We need to lay off x number of people in order to be more profitable. You say The company is not functioning well in certain areas and these need to be restructured.'

Companies should also consider investing in specialist training for the executives tasked with delivering bad news. Clearwater, for example, offers voice training to senior staff leading organisations through change. It can do this on a one-to-one basis, hold workshops for small groups or work on a consultancy basis for larger groups.

'Your understanding of what someone is saying is based on three elements - the words, the music and the dance,' explains McBrien. 'The music is the way you say it and the dance is your body language, posture etc. About 55 per cent of your understanding comes from the non-verbal bit, 37 per cent from the music and only eight per cent from the words.'

Clearwater helps clients to develop the delivery, content and interaction of an announcement. When it comes to interaction, in particular, Clearwater helps managers to be more versatile, and therefore more empathic, in the way they expect employees to react to bad news.

McBrien says: 'For example, some people just want others to be direct and to the point and give information. Others want to have their hands held. We are also showing people how to project their natural personalities. If you are natural, people are more likely to trust you.'

EXPLAIN THE OFFER

It is essential to inform people how they will be treated if they have to change or leave their jobs. Thus, if a company intends to provide assistance to people to find other jobs within the organisation or to improve their skills in order to find work elsewhere, this should be publicised. Obviously, this attention to detail is harder to achieve if the company has gone into administration and insolvency practitioners now direct staff communications.

'If you have offices in different countries, people in those countries with less stringent labour laws will worry about their rights,' says Ferrabee. 'Tell them that everyone will be treated the same, no matter what country they are in.

'List everything people will be entitled to, and what you will promise them over and above that. Tell them that you will treat everyone with dignity and respect. Most large companies have generous severance packages - tell people what they are.'

In the case of Royal London and Scottish Life, the group looked within itself for vacancies that could be filled by anyone up for redundancy. If people wished to transfer to different positions, any assistance with relocation or retraining was provided.

'If that didn't work, it was a question of helping them to leave the business in a way that was not seen as a failure on their part,' says Buchanan.

McBrien agrees that sensitivity is of paramount importance: 'A sense of shared pain needs to be communicated. We want to keep you but we can't and we will invest in helping you to move on. If this is done well, then people are left with a positive impression of the organisation and it gets a reputation as a good place to work and will attract talented people.

 'And you never know what's around the corner. You may end up working with these people again some day.'  

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