An upcoming tough business decision is often the reason why people book a crisis management training course with us.
Because a difficult business move handled poorly can spiral out of control.
As we’ve seen this week.
We’ve heard of some particularly harsh business choices during the pandemic.
However, mortgage firm business Better.com lowered the bar significantly as their CEO, Vishal Garg, sacked over 900 people via Zoom.
For the purposes of the blog, we’ll avoid examining the morality of firing people en-masse three weeks before Christmas.
He has since apologised for how he handled it.
But what about the communication itself?
How can we all make difficult decisions with empathy, directness and integrity?
Read on.
Anyone who has attended our communication skills training will be familiar with our famous formula for breaking bad news.
Regret, Reason, Remedy.
Let’s take them individually.
Crucially, the word “sorry” should form part of the first sentiment expressed.
I expect Better.com’s legal team have had input here, urging Mr. Garg to avoid apologising.
But let’s be clear: ‘sorry’ is an expression of empathy, rather than an admission of liability.
We heard from Mr. Garg:
“I don’t want to do this. The last time I did it, I cried. This time I hope to be stronger.”
That tells me he’s determined to demonstrate some emotion.
However, it’s seriously misplaced.
The audience will be entitled to think:
“You feel bad? That’s it? I’m the one getting fired!”
Instead, Mr. Garg could have started:
“I’m so sorry to announce that your employment with us will be ending today.”
Still a bitter pill to swallow, but at least the regret is addressed.
And the empathy is directed towards the audience, rather than himself.
I was sacked once from a high-street job when I was 16.
I remember little about it, other than some vague mention of “senior management decisions” and “general efficiency”.
On reflection, I was likely in shock. And that was only a weekend job.
So I’m unable to imagine what it would be like to lose your livelihood.
But I do know that the presenter has a responsibility to talk plainly.
To give a reason for the decision and discuss practical solutions for the audience.
To arm them with information to help explain to loved ones what’s happened, who will be hearing it second-hand.
Mr. Garg discussed “efficiency, performances and productivity” as the main reasons behind the decision.
This was later ‘clarified’ by Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ryan, in a statement to CNN. He discussed:
“A fortress balance sheet and a reduced and focused workforce together set us up to play offence going into a radically evolving homeownership market.”
Anyone? Me neither.
That’s a statement designed primarily to restore confidence for the markets.
And a further sign that Better.com quickly forgot about their 900 newly-redundant employees.
Whether it’s communicating to the workforce or the markets, the language must be simple enough so everybody gets it first time.
Let’s give it another go.
“We recruited too many people and we’ve become less productive as a result. We’ve decided to cut the workforce so that we can better focus on big changes to our business, including threats from competitors. This is a difficult decision designed to protect the long-term viability of the business”.
It will always be difficult to balance the interest of those losing their jobs with investors needing to see confidence about the future.
But writing plainly is a good start.
In the UK, employers must demonstrate that they’ve tried to find a new role for their employees within the business.
It’s different in the US, and that led to an extremely cold ending to the call. Mr. Garg summarised:
“You’ll soon receive an email from HR with next steps, including three months’ payment.”
The three months’ payment is a start, but surely an organisation has a moral obligation to go further.
What else can they do? They could provide retraining, training grants, offer to buy back shares, or simply to ensure everyone will receive written references for future employment.
However, this may be outside of Mr. Garg’s wheelhouse, so to speak.
That’s why he should have done several things differently:
Mr. Garg deserves some credit for taking 100% ownership of the decision:
“It was my decision and I wanted you to hear it from me.”
However, by disabling opportunities to ask questions, he’s done the 2021 equivalent of making a media statement before slinking away from the press pool, behind the curtains, into his limo and back to his mansion.
A masterclass in how to fire someone (or, in this case, 900 people) very badly.
So let’s take all of these points and rewrite Mr. Garg’s statement.
Here’s how it looks:
“Thank you for joining the call today at short notice – let me get straight to the point.
“Following a very difficult trading period, I’m so sorry to announce that your employment with us will be ending today.
“Quite simply, we’ve recruited too many people and in the wrong areas of the business, which has made us less productive overall and falling behind our competition. I take full responsibility for that, and the decision we’ve made today.
“We’ve decided to cut the workforce so that we can better focus on big changes to our business. This is a difficult decision designed to protect our long-term viability.
“I understand this will be very difficult to accept given the timing of the news. I want to assure you all that we’ve done absolutely everything we can to find a position for you in the business, but we’ve been unable to do so.
“You have my commitment that we will do everything we can to help you find a position elsewhere. We’ll be making training available, offering training grants for anyone affected and we’ll be writing recommendation letters for everyone, to give you the best possible chance of finding the right job and quickly.
“You’ll also receive three months’ settlement.
“I’m here today, supported by the HR team, to answer any questions you have.”
I was privileged enough to work with John Reid, formerly head of the Michelin Tyre plant in Dundee.
Michelin made 850 people redundant in 2018 due to an increase in overseas competition and changes to European markets.
Yet Mr. Reid met with every single one of them to hear their concerns and alleviate their problems.
And by the beginning of 2020, he’d found work elsewhere for a large majority of them.
For each one, he arranged an individual leaving party, to which they invited families and friends for a send-off.
And each of them marched off site during a leaving ceremony alongside a bagpiper, marking the end of that chapter in their careers.
Some employers are unable to do that, and Covid has made things worse.
But I’ll tell you, whenever I’m in getting my tyres changed, I see the name Michelin and I immediately think of John.
Only time will tell how people view Better.com when they buy their next home.
Get in touch today if you need advice or training on making your own difficult decision.
Andrew McFarlan is Managing Director of Pink Elephant Communications.
You can read more about him here.
How to fire someone badly blog written by Andrew McFarlan.
How to fire someone badly blog edited by Colin Stone.
Photos in How to fire someone badly blog by Pink Elephant Communications / Vanessa Garcia, Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels.
Featured image in How to fire someone badly blog by cottonbro from Pexels.
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