What Tech CEOs Can Learn from Gen Z About Communicating Mass Layoffs

What Tech CEOs Can Learn from Gen Z About Communicating Mass Layoffs

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a massive wave of tech layoffs, but it’s the first time Gen Z workers have been directly affected by them—and these digital natives have not been shy about sharing their layoff experiences on TikTok and Twitter. Many?Gen Zers have built huge personal brand platforms on social media, and their willingness to publicly criticize former employers who have botched the layoff process means that companies need to communicate differently when downsizing today in order to protect their brand reputation.

In an age when?everyone is a messenger, controlling the message is a lot more challenging.

Most companies do a much better job communicating with employees during the onboarding process than they do during offboarding, but they need to take just as much care with the exit process because every employee now has access to a bullhorn via social media. Companies that communicate thoughtfully and empathetically during layoffs can help minimize backlash and criticism and set themselves up better for future success.

“Employees view communication as respect,” says Taylor Light, Enterprise Account Executive at WorkJam and member of The Z Suite network of Gen Z thought leaders. “If you don’t have a way to communicate with your employees, and for your employees to communicate with you, you’ll be viewed very negatively. No one wants to feel they are just a number. They want to feel cared about and respected.”

5 Communications Tips for an Age When Every Employee Has a Brand Platform

Here are five major communications strategies tech firms can use during layoffs to avoid losing brand equity:

·???????Assume every communication will be shared externally (and probably on Business Insider):?CEOs’ internal notes to staff about layoffs have been posted by others on social media and employees at various companies have recently let journalists view company Slack channels and listen in remotely to town hall meetings. Anything can easily end up online today, and the work-from-home trend has only made it more challenging for companies to control distribution of messages that were meant only for internal teams. Leaders need to be aware of these risks and be able to balance transparency, humanity and discretion at all times when communicating with employees.

·???????Don’t make layoffs a team meeting:?Layoffs should be communicated individually—ideally in person, but if not, then at least in a private video call—with the employee and a manager and HR rep before any access to technology and facilities is cut off for security reasons. Many people form strong connections with colleagues and leading with empathy means communicating in a timely way to make sure employees can say a proper good-bye to work friends and share personal contact information with those they want to stay in touch with.

“Overcommunicating is the most important thing a company can do in these circumstances, but it must be done in a very strategic way,” says Light. “I think certain employees are finding out before others, and then using Twitter and group messages to tell the rest of their colleagues before the employer has the chance to. That results in negative feelings about the company—and there is usually no coming back from that.”

·???????Don’t lay off employees by disabling their security access:?It’s inexcusable for an employee to discover their security badge or computer access has been disabled and then have to figure out on their own that they have been laid off. However, a number of former tech employees have chronicled that exact experience on social media. Instead,?companies should err on the side of overcommunication about layoffs, before, during and after.?

·???????Take responsibility for layoffs, but also communicate with authenticity and empathy:?Several tech execs have noted that they’re having to make layoffs because they overhired during the pandemic, when their business was booming, mistakenly thinking the good times would last forever. While taking responsibility for business missteps is admirable, employees past and present are likely to view the message as inauthentic if the executive doesn’t also express empathy for those affected, thank them for their contributions and commit to making sure the company doesn’t make the same kind of mistake in the future.

·???????Managing the sequence of events is critical to maintaining brand trust:?Timing matters and execs need to communicate proactively, so no one in the organization is surprised the day of mass layoffs. Companies should schedule an all-hands meeting that begins immediately after employees have been let go to ensure all remaining staff understand why the company made these difficult decisions and how they will affect the remaining team and the business going forward. Employees should be able to ask questions—anonymously, if they prefer—of the executive team during the meeting and leadership should be prepared to be as transparent as possible to help rebuild remaining staff’s confidence, trust and morale.

·???????Saying “no comment” to the press is not an option:?Everybody sees through prepackaged, blanket media statements about job cuts, so writing one and thinking that’s a sufficient external comms strategy is wrongheaded. In the age of social media, having “no comment” also no longer works. Smart execs know it’s ideal to have a good relationship with the press and that if a reporter is going to cover a company’s layoffs anyway, it’s likely worth providing some relevant details on background to help make sure the company’s humanity, POV and business strategy are part of the story.

In an age where every employee has access to their own messaging platform, CEOs need to communicate differently about layoffs than they did in the past. Transparency, timeliness and empathy are crucial to an effective layoffs communications strategy that puts people first and also helps the company protects its reputation and brand equity.