Beyond the talk track: Rethinking recruitment communications during a reorg

In an uncertain economic climate with layoffs and reorganizations abound, your message to current and prospective talent matters. Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news during a reorganization process, but picking up the pieces and providing directives during and after is just as important as the announcement itself.

These moments present an opportunity for prepared communicators to treat the reorg process as a chance to renew their avenues of outreach and strengthen connections within the employee base.

Crafting a narrative of  post-reorg culture 

Reorgs often throw a wrench into team processes up and down the organization. Valued teammates may be let go, reassigned, or have their duties changed. Communicators advising executives through these processes need to help keep them focused on the messaging that needs to go out to employees first.

Jennifer Hawton, public relations and executive communications manager at PEMCO Insurance, said that comms pros should try to position empathetic leaders in front of the message, prioritizing them over leaders who only know how to communicate about business performance.

“We need to make sure that all of our leaders speak clearly and with feelings in mind,” Hawton said. “People want to know what’s going to happen to them in a reorganization. It needs to be a path of conversation, not just a one-way talk track.”

Hawton recalled the reorg process at a previous role.  It meant focusing more on new skills in recruits and new geographic areas for hiring, while cutting other jobs and moving jobs from some cities.

“We handled that one by getting ahead of it and explaining what it meant or the company going forward,” Hawton said. “We stated the focus of the company, and creating that visualization helped people get on board.”

This train of thought also applied to recruitment comms during that reorg.

“By painting that initial picture of what we wanted the reorganized culture to be, we were able to build a culture that was constantly able to be updated and how people fit into its dynamics,” said Hawton.

Addressing the juxtaposition between reorganizing and recruiting

Amid the upheaval, it can be easy to focus on what’s new and inadvertently push the questions of current employees aside. Kerry O’Grady, director of teaching excellence at Columbia Business School, said that employees who remain in an organization after a reorg may feel left behind or disregarded if they feel the values they recognized in the company changed.

“Someone might ask why the company is creating new jobs if they just laid a bunch of people off,” O’Grady said. “What needs to occur in these situations is communication from leaders on the shift in priorities and any impact on values and the path forward.”

O’Grady remembered a past role when a layoff and reorg reallocated roles and responsibilities without fully creating a picture of what the new roles were. This led to dissatisfaction among the remaining staff and difficulty in having new employees adjust to their roles. By acknowledging shifts in expectation alignment and addressing issues with employees directly, she learned that much consternation could have been avoided.

“Executives need to use their future-minded perspective and consider how new individuals will integrate into the existing team,” O’Grady added.

Getting the balance right is a collaborative effort — HR and comms leaders should work together to ensure recruiting efforts through the lens of a reorganization are holistic, considerate of current employees, and mindful of the aspirational culture the company wants to create.

“Construct your recruiting messaging around the change” said O’Grady.” It’ll help you get buy-in and build from the context you’re seeking to rebuild from.”

Learn more about thriving amid change during Hawton’s panel at Ragan’s Internal Communications Conference from October 16-18 in Seattle. Register now!

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