How to communicate effectively about redundancy

When it comes to dealing with redundancies within a firm, internal communication is often neglected. But this should always be a priority, because it creates engagement, and engagement is crucial to productivity. During and after restructures, it becomes even more important.

A redundancy round is an emotional time for the firm, both for the lawyers leaving and the lawyers staying. This is especially true if partners have to be let go, which is a bit like losing a member of the family. People need to be listened to and heard and this is especially true when they feel insecure or unsure.

It is imperative to communicate clearly what is happening and when – when people are stressed, they find it harder to take in and retain information.

‘Survivors’ syndrome’, that results from a firm making redundancies, goes through four clear stages: relief about still having a job; guilt about still having a job, when others lost theirs; envy about the settlement that departing employees got; and resentment about having to do more work for no more money and that the firm got to the position where it had to make redundancies.

Stress also increases, which has a negative impact on productivity and performance, just when firms need employees to raise their game.

How people feel affects what they do. This simple fact is obvious, yet many law firms are not especially good at emotional intelligence and the soft skills necessary to engage employees.

Failure to manage redundancy fairly and with clear communication will result in the loss of trust, which is hard to regain. Discretionary effort from employees, so important in normal times, is even more vital with fewer employees doing more work. The reputation of your brand will be damaged, and not only will talented employees leave but it will be harder to attract the new talent crucial to future growth.

Tips to successfully navigate the downturn:

• Define a clear vision for the firm;
• Create clear motivating individual objectives from financial billings targets;
• Provide support – outplacement for exiting employees and a forum for ‘survivors’ to express how they feel and generate ideas;
• Define your employer brand, values and behaviours;
• Involve employees in decision-making and communicate, and keep communicating;
• Look at how the environment in which people work can be made more inspiring;
• Give line managers training to improve their soft skills, including how to have difficult conversations;
• Create social occasions where survivors can connect and have opportunities for internal networking;
• Do an employee attitude survey and some focus groups to gauge feelings and issues to address; and
• Appoint continuous improvement advocates to promote positive change and tap into the wisdom and creativity of employees.

Like many professions and sectors, the legal profession is reeling from the changes being forced upon it because of the recession.

Enforced change caused by restructures can be a positive catalyst to improve how things are done. It is easy to think in the short term, cutting budgets and getting headcount down, with partners believing employees should be lucky to have a job. Wise firms will invest for long-term success, creating engagement and harnessing the discretionary effort of their employees, ensuring they don’t jump ship for a better deal when things improve.

Recession doesn’t have to result in reduced engagement. Engagement can increase if employees see that it is tough on the outside as well, and there is a strong sense of unity and connection inside the firm.

Rachel Brushfield is a career strategist and employee engagement consultant at Energise