Layoffs are incredibly difficult on companies and the employees left behind. They sap corporate momentum and drain employee morale. They result in questioning the viability of the company and diminish hope for the future.

Layoffs usually happen in difficult business situations. Letting go of good people simply adds insult to injury during an already tough time. It is hard to say goodbye to friends and valued colleagues, especially when it was no fault of their own. Layoffs alter the workload, add uncertainty, cause upheaval in working arrangements and can contribute to lessened commitment.

So what can a company leader do to regroup and move on? Here are 9 things a leader can do to help regroup after a layoff.

Get the group/company together

Compounding the pain of  layoffs are the feelings of uncertainty, isolation and being alone. Silence from leadership now is deafening. As an employee, when you are isolated and alone you tend to worry more and make the situation worse, losing objectivity. And, in the absence of clear, proactive communications from leadership, employees will invent the reality that fits what they can see and feel. Leadership silence and isolation fuels the rumor mill.

It is important to counteract these feelings  in the remaining employees. It is important to communicate openly and clearly to keep the morale situation from getting worse.

Get them together. Have a state of the company lunch or a morning coffee together. Getting together and sharing food or drink can help sooth raw emotion, provide a venue for dialog, re-establish shared connections and begin the process of moving on.

Acknowledge the difficulty

Losing good friends and valued employees is sad and emotionally tough. As an owner or manager, acknowledge the pain. Its tough on everyone. The loss, the uncertainty, the anger and frustration, and the reality of more work for everyone left all make for a raw situation. Unless you are a leader with no feelings it is tough for you too. Let the employees know that. Oh and you can’t be a phony. Employees can see insincerity in a leader a mile away and it stinks, especially during a tough time like post layoffs. Not much can cause employees to write you off as a leader faster than insincerity during such a time.

Make an emotional connection

Don’t hide. Don’t be a emotional robot. Don’t read a prepared statement. Don’t pass the buck to some HR person. Don’t joke around and don’t ignore the issue. Stand up and be a leader. Your employees work for you. They need to see you as a real person connected to them in a real way. They need to see you working through this with them. Speak from your heart. By being real you can gain trust and begin to restore credibility with those employees who may internally blame you directly.

Express thanks and appreciation

According to Dan Pink in his book Drive, appreciation, acknowledgement of contribution and purpose are important motivators, in some situations more important than compensation. Thanks, acknowledgement and appreciation is like a spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down. Express genuine thanks for the efforts of the group. Appreciate them individually, publicly and sincerely. Acknowledge the hard work and sacrifice that has occurred and how important that will be to move forward.

Explain why

As the owner or manager you should be able to explain, in straight forward language, why this action was necessary. Avoid jargon, and veiled terms. No buzzword bingo here. Use simple language like “sales were off 2x our projections” or “we lost the Jetson contract” (or whatever is appropriate for your situation). This will help employees understand the bigger picture they may not be fully aware of. Discuss the other actions that leadership took to help mitigate the necessity of layoffs. Unless you just like whacking folks, there should a decent list of other actions the company did to try to prevent having to lay off employees.

Discuss the plans to move forward

A layoff is tough but can be more bearable when there is reason for hope. Explain the reasons the employees should hope in the company. Don’t rely on generic platitudes like “We have a good pipeline” or “the fourth quarter always picks up”. Give the specifics of the strategy to improve revenue, profit or expenses. Discuss upcoming product plans, launches, campaigns, key contracts or joint ventures. If you can’t spell out a reason for hope with the plans you have (or you don’t have any plans at all), then this will surely be a direct invitation for your employees to update their  linked in profile. Their attitude will be “why stay if there is no hope?” You must show tangible reason for hope.

Be positive but realistic

Don’t promise the moon or paint unrealistic possibilities for the future to manipulate emotions. That will come back to bite you. Employees have good memories. Be positive but acknowledge the work needed. Remember the Stockade paradox, be realistic, facing the brutal facts, but also express your faith that the company will prevail. You also have to believe your message. If you come across as shaky, doubtful, uncertain or absurdly optimistic you will send the rest of the folks running for the exits.

Make yourself available

While the group meetings are good, many employees may want to have individual conversations with the owner or manager. Support that. Sit down and take the time to look people in the eye, answer questions, explain, reassure where you can and connect. This will pay dividends in re-committment and hope if you do it in an honest and authentic way.

Get Busy

Direct action is one of the best antidotes to fear. So make sure that the whole company is involved in the implementation phase of recovery. Discuss the strategy for improvement. Review the tactics. Make sure everyone is clear and working toward moving the boat forward. They need to see the leadership doing the same thing. This is the time to roll up your sleeves and push forward as a team. If the employees see you energetically working toward the new objectives they will get on board.

 

Conclusion

The actions, attitudes and interactions of the leader will make or break the turn-around effort of the company after a layoff. As a leader you set the tone. Employees will key off of your attitude and demeanor. They will make renewed commitments (or not) based on what they see and hear from you. So be authentic. Use this time as a rallying point for the future. These 9 ways can help move the process forward. If you do these things as a leader you have the potential to get everyone on board to go solve the real issues that still need to be dealt with in the business. Without this, well, you may get to do it all over again.