Navigating the nuances of employer brand comms during layoffs

When layoffs hit your organization, employee communications are magnified.

Are leaders saying the right things to affected audiences? Were announcements made within a time frame that allows employees to digest the news before it breaks to the outside world?

These are just a few of the questions comms pros need to focus on when navigating through a crisis, and keeping the employer brand consistent and reflective of your company’s mission and values. We recently wrote about how REI rolled out a reduction in force (RIF) through a chapter-based model that laid out specific next steps and allowed for employee feedback. Such an action allowed REI to stick to its values and keep a time of crisis as predictable as possible.

But within any layoff communications plan, there’s also the critical consideration of what channels leaders speak through, what they say and don’t say, and how managers talk about the impacts with their reports.

Providing support for those affected and aligning it with brand values

When layoffs happen, employees look to leadership for explanation. More than just a recap of what happened, employees need to hear about the reasoning behind the layoffs and what the next steps mean for them.

Anita Guerrero, vice president of corporate communications and brand management at Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago, said that managers lean into a strategy of extreme employee support during these times.

For instance, during a round of layoffs, leaders worked with employees to help them find new employment opportunities outside the company, along with training for them to succeed in their overall career journeys. Doing so is consistent with Goodwill’s brand of giving back.

By giving employees the sometimes not-so-good news, then helping provide guidance and support, Goodwill maintains its brand as a societal helper both internally and externally.

“When we make business decisions, we need to put a lot of ownership behind those decisions to ensure that we’re sharing the news clearly and then taking care of our people,” Guererro said, “even in the hardest times.”

Preserving reputation with an omnichannel strategy 

There’s no cookie-cutter way to handle a layoff. Each response should vary by organization, messenger and situation. This approach should also apply to the channels in which they are communicated internally and then externally to keep the news from escalating to a brand crisis.

Rachel Salis-Silverman, vice president of reputation and communications at Nemours Children’s Health, said that communicators need to think ahead about how their internal message release impacts external perception, especially on social media channels. If you get change communications wrong, there’s a good chance people will take to social on their own accord where you can’t control the narrative.

“At Nemours, people feel things really deeply because of the work we do,” Salis-Silverman said. “With that in mind, in times of crisis, you need to double down and remind people of social media policies. We’re not going to tell our associates what they can and can’t post, but we do affirm that they need to be professional about it as they’re reflections of our culture and values.”

Salis-Silverman also talked about the different strategies of sharing that need to take place on different social channels. Extreme care and intention with channel selection needs to be taken when sharing sensitive company news on more personal platforms such as Instagram.

“Your employees are your best ambassadors in times of famine,” she continued. “The core of your messaging needs to reflect your mission, whether it’s internal or external — and it should shift to match the tone and expectations of the social channel.”

Careful vetting and locking of information with leaders and communicators before anything is shared out, internally or externally, is also crucial.

“Pin down the core of your messaging — then you can expand into the spoken wheel of your overall communications and statement strategy,” Salis-Silverman added.

“Prepare for responses internally first, then you can work to get ready for the social rollout and the media narrative. Make sure you have leaders and managers properly trained to talk about these developments with associates.”

Consider the employee experience as core to any change messaging

It bears saying because it’s so true — your employees are what make your company’s culture, mission and values. Your approach to everything mentioned, from leadership support to channel considerations and social strategies, should revolve around the employee experience and help form the lens by which you communicate. 

“Our brand puts employees at the heart of everything we do — they’re our first community,” Guerrero said. “We always want to make sure our people have what they need and feel supported.”

This desire to foster a positive employee experience should ultimately determine  the organization’s strategy of when, how, and if comms pros bring internal crises to the external sphere in the first place.

“We need to ensure that we’re supporting our employees and our overall mission in every action we take, big or small,” Guerrero added.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.