Lessons From A CEO Roundtable: Having Tough Conversations With Employees During The COVID-19 Crisis

COVID-19 has resulted in accelerated and lasting changes that have had a significant impact on most companies and their employees. A lot of difficult or ‘tough’ conversations have already taken place around layoffs, work sharing, the redistribution of responsibilities etc. and there are more to come, as business leaders continue to do what is necessary to not just survive the current crisis, but evolve and eventually thrive.

The discussion during a recent CEO Roundtable—led by CEO Global Network Group Leaders Tony Martino and Ron McIntosh—focused on a specific tough conversation that many employers are having all too frequently these days: the COVID-19 (hopefully temporary) layoff conversation that has nothing to do with employee performance or behaviour.  

Approached and executed incorrectly, these conversations can result in high levels of anxiety, stress, and emotion on both sides, and so it is crucial to enter into them thoughtfully. The goal should be to maintain the relationship after the fact. Here are three key considerations to help you navigate tough conversations using a non-confrontational approach:

• Elevate Your Communication. Being authentic is key. You need to do a really good job of describing the situation you’re in—how COVID-19 has affected your business—at as high a level as possible. Ensure the employee understands that it is an operational issue and not a performance issue. Be direct and transparent, and share as much as you can about what you’re doing in terms of your strategy to move the business beyond the current crisis. Explain how you see things possibly unfolding over the next few weeks or months and be clear about what may happen next and when. That said, don’t make any specific promises or commitments about the future. You can’t possibly know and you need to say so. You don’t want to give anyone false hope, so painting a picture that includes different scenarios might be useful. Emphasize that you are there to help, and try to find the positives.
• Listen Intensely. Be the conversational catcher versus the pitcher. You need to really listen to what people are saying and, more importantly, try to read what they’re feeling. This is a highly emotional time, and it’s important to acknowledge any fears, feelings, or concerns that come up during these conversations. You can only accomplish this through active listening. You don’t need to respond to every point someone makes, but you do need to acknowledge what they are saying and feeling. Be firm in your resolve, but give people the time to work through their emotions. More than anything, you need to ramp up the empathy and be there in the moment. Expressing empathy in a caring, authentic way will help encourage conversation and acceptance and keep your relationship as positive as possible.
• Instill Trust. People need to feel that they can trust your motives. They need to trust that you understand what they’re up against and the implications the conversation has in their life. Layoffs can make employees feel they have been treated unfairly, so demonstrate how you are in this together and reinforce that you are acting for the overall longer-term health of the organization. Both sides should be working towards a scenario of reemployment when the crisis is over.

Closing Thought

Remember: having the right A players in place will be critical to your success coming out the other end of this. What does your post-COVID organization need to look like? It’s important to consider the long-term impacts of how you choose to handle a tough conversation, especially if you hope to eventually bring the person back.

What are your best practices for your tough conversations?