At times management must be secretive about things I do not

At times management must be secretive about things. I do not believe that it should be a common practice, though. When employees feel like they are always in the dark they can quickly lose motivation. I\'ve worked on both sides of this situation and know what it\'s like to be told that certain things are changing but that I can\'t tell my employees.

Question:

Layoffs are a difficult topic here. If you had to lay off a group of people but couldn\'t tell anyone, how would you handle it?

Solution

As mentioned in the question, secrecy can lead to employees losing motivation. So employees dislike secrets being kept from them.

Management cannot always discuss everything with the employees. There are certain sensitive topics which have to be kept secret and the information about these topics has to be disclosed only at the suitable time.

Lay offs are always a sensitive and crucial topic for employees. The news can demoralize not only the employees who are about to be laid off but also other employees who are not being laid off.

You should hold a private meeting with the group of people who are about to be laid off. In the meeting explain the reason for the lay off clearly and properly. The employees should be treated with respect. Give feedback to your employees so that they can use it positively in the future.

Follow this with announcing the news to other employees in a townhall meeting. This will serve as a guide for the employees as to what is expected from them in terms of their role in the organization.

Never use e-mails for communicating such messages.