Redundancy & Respect

Communicate with compassion and transparency

Communications around redundancies need not be complicated: compassion and transparency are critical. Compassion means treating people as humans with respect and empathy. Losing a job is traumatic in any circumstances and especially so in these unprecedented times. Remember to take the time to share the commercials along with the rationale for your decisions. Explain what actions the organisation have already taken to try to avoid or minimise job cuts, how you’ve made it as fair as possible, and be very clear about the procedures and timelines. Be clear and consistent with the key messages. Use empathetic, sincere language that shows how much you care.

Show respect

Treat people like the adults they are, with respect and empathy. Redundancy is sad news and making someone redundant is one of the worst jobs you may have to do as a manager, so decision makers should acknowledge that it is hard for everyone involved. People may take the news of redundancy personally – it can be hard not to do that when your job and livelihood is at risk. Put yourself in the employees shoes and try not to get defensive – instead empathise, and seek to understand where the anger is coming from. It is important to recognise and value the contributions individuals have made to the organisation, and to reinforce that it is the job and not the person themselves that is being made redundant. There is no stigma or shame involved.