Deloitte tells staff to stop using pronouns in emails; Meta employees question motivation behind job cuts
Plus, JP Morgan’s CEO says remote workers don’t need to work for him.
Greetings, comms pros! Let’s take a look at a few news stories from the last week and see what we can learn from them.
1 . Deloitte mandates that some staff cease using pronouns in communications
Add another name to the list of companies mandating major DEI-related comms changes. Major accounting firm Deloitte commanded its employees working on U.S. government contracts to eliminate pronouns from their bios and email signatures in the wake of the Trump administration’s attacks on diversity efforts.
The instructions were sent in an email to 15,000 staff in Deloitte’s government and public services practice, which explained the move was meant to “align with emerging government client practices and requirements”.
Staff were also told on Monday that the company was planning to “sunset” its annual diversity report and wider DEI programming.
In addition to Deloitte, Goldman Sachs also ended diversity requirements for its board, directly responding to the White House’s initiatives by citing “legal developments”.
The Trump administration’s hostility to DEI initiatives is forcing communicators to pivot quickly. But that doesn’t mean there’s a path forward. Some solutions for communicators in the position of communicating DEI changes include:
- Get your leaders on board. When these big changes happen, people want to hear it from the top brass. Additionally, allowing your leadership to talk about the decision-making process can add much-needed transparency.
- Empathy is still important. Even when you’re delivering news that not everyone is a fan of, empathy should be a priority. A reframing of the news based on empathy and framing around company values are a good blueprint for delivering news of DEI cuts.
- Trust is at the root of all great comms. Transparency should be the at the root of any change comms. Share as much about the “why” as you can, and provide tangible ways forward for affected employees. That can include giving managers FAQ guides to use when talking with their teams or materials about employee resource groups that can help fill some of the DEI gaps. But without robust trust, the words and solutions you put out there will ring hollow.
Hostility to DEI on the highest levels of government is trickling down through the private sector, and communicators need to be able to pivot and adjust. Flexibility is one of the best attributes a comms pro has, and now is a great time to lean into it.
2. Meta staffers question whether layoffs were really about performance
A month after announcing a push toward better performance, Meta announced that it was cutting low performers in a new personnel strategy aimed at speeding up efficiency. However, some affected employees claim that the layoffs impacted more than just low performers and that employees with positive performance reviews were among the nearly 3,600 cuts.
One Meta employee posted on LinkedIn on Monday she was laid off after receiving an “exceeds expectations” rating on her midyear review.
“I frequently asked for feedback and was always told I was doing a good job,” Kaila Curry, an ex-content manager at Meta, wrote in the LinkedIn post. “I was never placed on a PIP [performance improvement plan], never given corrective feedback, and never properly mentored or provided clear expectations. I simply put in the work… I am not a low performer.”
Another ex-Meta employee who was laid off said the company’s assertion it’s cutting the dead wood is “flat-out wrong.”
Meta’s had many issues with employee experience and communication over the last several years, but they all circle back to transparency. If you need to lay people off to make the numbers work, that’s one thing. It’s not an easy task to communicate, but there are right ways to do it. However, framing job cuts as a way to eliminate low-performing people and then getting rid of employees that got good performance reviews? That’s a great way to tank your employer reputation.
Instead, when you’re making these tough sorts of moves, root them in transparency. Tell people why you’re making the cuts, and tie it back to the function of the business and its values. Not only will that clearly inform the affected parties, but it’ll also help navigate the way forward for those who remain.
Additionally, communicators should work with their leaders to emphasize company values in all communication. Spotify exemplified this when CEO Daniel Ek shared the reasoning for the layoff, detailed the impacts, and thanked employees emphatically all while reiterating the company’s values. Handling change and job cuts isn’t easy as a leader and communicator, but combining clarity and empathy is the way to go.
3. JP Morgan CEO Dimon continues RTO hostility amid potential attrition push
If JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has made one thing abundantly clear, it’s that he’s not a huge fan of remote work. He’s said that people who want to work remotely don’t need to work at JP Morgan, and headed the charge that led to a five-day a week RTO process for the bank. Dimon is doubling down on his stance in a town hall meeting.
Employees at the largest U.S. bank have complained on internal message boards and chats about losing hybrid working arrangements, and one group launched an online petition urging Dimon to reconsider.
When asked about the in-person work policy during the staff meeting, he said: “Don’t waste time on it. I don’t care how many people sign that f****** petition,” he said, drawing some laughter.
JPMorgan declined to comment.
Instead, Dimon demanded more efficiency and stressed that employees have a choice whether to work at JPMorgan. The CEO told them not to be mad at him, and said that it was a free country.
We’ve written pretty extensively about how RTO should be based in company culture, and that should lead communication about the process. But what about when the RTO process is about forcing attrition?
The open hostility from the top of organizations about RTO doesn’t just serve as a cultural signal. Dimon is clear that the company wants to force out employees that are tied to RTO as part of their employee experience. It’s a leader’s right to communicate how they see fit, but a skilled communicator can help refine some of those raw, off-the-cuff remarks into a more digestible format. For instance, communicators should seek frequent face-time with leadership when major employee initiatives or messaging is in the works. This way, comms can help smooth out a potentially adversarial stance and reform the messaging and wording about employee attrition to something that aligns with the company’s values.
We talk a lot here about how important it is for communicators to have a seat at the table. By bringing data and solutions about the positives of a return to the office (like improved cultural connection and more opportunities to network with leaders), you can take a negative and turn it into something positive that’s rooted in your company’s cultural norms.
- How about some good news?
- Deforestation in Colombia has hit a multi-decade low.
- The nearly extinct sombrero ground lizard is making a comeback in the Caribbean.
- A one-of-a-kind Stradivarius violin sold at auction for over $11 million, funding scholarships for Boston music students.
- Ragan Training is great for communications pros to find inspiration and resources.
- You should be rewarded for your work. Find out how to earn an award here!
Have a great weekend comms all-stars!
Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports.
Regarding pronouns — One hopes Deloitte’s move also includes some common sense; for instance, for people named Kyle, Chris, Pat and the like should have the ability to avoid confusion for those who receive their communications. Kinda like people did in the past when courtesy was not mistaken for a cultural statement.
Appreciated the examples in your article, Sean … and thanks for the good news items at the end!
Karen