Planning a layoff? Mind your manners

What to tell laid-off employees and those left behind following staff cuts

Reading about the MySpace layoff fiasco as reported by Jason Kincaid for TechCrunch reminds me how important it is for any layoff to include planned and constructive communication.

Kincaid’s account serves as a good reminder of what not to do. I’ve helped develop communication strategies for several layoffs over the years, and they take as much or more planning and staff support as rolling out a new marketing campaign.

Every layoff communication strategy should:

1. Offer a respectful tone. MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta called his company “bloated,” then leadership allegedly referred to the terminated employees as “fat” during staff meetings. Worse yet, some of those terminated employees were in those very meetings since they were required to complete their contracts before leaving, according to Kincaid.