Would You Fire Your Whole Department?

The call I received was full of fear, I could hear it in his voice and the feeling I got rocked me from my very foundations. Two days before the company announced pay cuts - company-wide! The next day, an entire department was eliminated and all based on fear. The day after that, my client’s boss sent out a message to his department and told everyone they should get on a call in an hour and a half. 

You Just Sowed The Seed Of Discontent

What do you think happened? Work stopped, everyone was texting each other speculating about what was happening. Of course, as the gossip spread and fears grew, they all thought they were getting laid off and went into panic mode about how they’d support themselves and their families. And this went on for AN HOUR AND A HALF!

Leader’s Become Fear Mongers

When the leader finally did get on the phone with my client’s department, the employees were told they had their jobs through the end of April, but that was all the leader could guarantee. After that, they may be out of work. Although the leader came from a good place to give information, without a plan the HOW is disastrous. Besides the fact that no one worked from the initial email until the end of the day, the message I heard loud and clear was that when we go back to normal, this client and his team had no desire to remain with the company. And my client is the top producer on the team, designated as high potential.

Can We Learn From This - Of Course We Can!

This is a case study in what NOT to do. Why hold an all-employee meeting to discuss pay cuts and close a department a day after that? Pay cuts are less scary than lay-offs. Why sow a seed of contempt for the leaders of the company when you know the loyalty now and in the future is lost, you will have to work exceptionally hard to get anything like that back. But all is not lost.

Take a moment and look at yourself in the mirror, sound familiar? Are you inadvertently making the same mistakes? 

You have a choice and making the right one will help you take the right strategy, after all, it's about bridging the gap and building a support structure in times when there is uncertainty. Everything in life is about communication and the reality that words can cut deeper than a blade is so true, just look at the cuts above and you will see the choice of words as communication has caused unprecedented fear anxiety and lack of trust for any messaging coming from leadership in the company. 

Be A Leader, Coach Your Team, Emerge The Winner

Strong Leaders Understand the Importance of Communication and Providing Clear Honest Messaging is Vital, Especially in a Crisis! 

When leaders are “leading” by the seat of their pants and communicating to their teams and customers in a haphazard fashion, the costs are high and the consequences disastrous! Where is your crisis management plan?

 “have you planned to fail or failed to plan?” 

What pains me the most is that making these mistakes will be like nails in the coffin for many organizations that should be providing valuable services and products that people need more than ever in times like these. Their mistakes create disasters for their employees and their families. And those businesses that don’t entirely fold will be severely impaired and less likely to thrive over the long-term. While it’s impossible to avoid being negatively impacted by the effects the pandemic is having on the economy and consumer sentiment, it is entirely possible to reduce the impact, mitigate risks, and avoid making many of the kinds of mistakes that spell the end for unprepared companies. 

Even with so much current uncertainty, I know this for sure: We will recover. People will go back to work, the markets will bounce back, and companies will hire again. Those who have a plan will come out on top and will have loyalty and trust. 

Talk to me about your crisis management plan today. The call costs nothing.

#crisismanagement #leadership #corporateleadership