City Hospital
Layoff Proposal to the Director
CONFIDENTIAL
Case 3.2: Communicating During a Downsizing
The Fishbowlers:
Adam Bailey, Adam Rady, Candace Hulsey, Johnathan Dykstra, Kristy Sipiorski, and Matthew Panure
Table of Contents
Executive Summary…………………….……………………………………………..P.2
Case Identification………………………………………………………………….....P.3
Assumptions……………………………………………………………………………P.4
Goals Strategy v. Tactics……………….….….….….….….….………………………P.5
Communication Goals…………………………………………………………………P.6
Why me, Why not me?….…..…..….………………………………………………….P.8
Contextual Analysis……………………………………………………………………P.10
Audience Analysis…………………………….…..……………………………………P.12
NRD(D)…………………………………………….….….…………………………….P.14
Delivery to the Director…………..……….….….….….……………………………...P.15
Timeline for the Layoff Procedure……………….………..………………………….P.16
What About Those Staying?.………………………………………………………….P.24
Phil’s 7 Questions of Life………………………………………….….….….…………P.25
Phil’s Feedback……………………………………………….….….……….…………P.26
Class Feedback…………………………….…….…….…….…..….………………….P.28
Rejected Ideas…………………………………………………….….….….…………..P.30
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………P.32
Appendices.……………………………………………………………………………..P.35
Appendix A – Meeting Agendas/Notes
Appendix B – 100 Facts
Appendix C – Phil’s Critique
Appendix D – Class Critique
Appendix E – Employee Packet
Executive Summary
Our firm, Trapped in a Fishbowl, was hired to design a communication plan for the director of a local hospital who had to conduct a mass layoff of 200 of its 1,500 employees. The main concerns that we were to address were: minimizing tension and “down-time” in the office, finding coping methods for employees post-announcement, and the affect on the hospital’s image, with both, internal and external audiences.
The majority of our time was dedicated to finding a way to best meet the needs of those being laid off. We were concerned with how the hospital was being viewed by those employees staying, but felt we needed to make concessions to those being let go first. By treating them with utmost respect, we felt that it would meet the hospital’s needs because the remaining employees and the public would most likely see the treatment of the laid off as being ethical and fair.
In the early stages we came up with our mantra, “Transformation with Reaffirmation.” This slogan summed up what the hospital was doing and would serve as a constant reminder for employees that change was coming, but that there was a reason. It also sounded more positive and focused on how the hospital would continue to be there for its employees and the public.
Much time was spent on deciding how best to tell the employees they were being let go. We chose to use face-to-face, rich, communication because of the severity of the topic. We wanted to be there to explain the need for the change, how it was being handled and how the hospital would support all of its employees.
As a group we decided it was important to try to give the employees as much control as possible. We started by first recommending the option for early retirement to the whole company. Seeing as how the layoff was to be cross-sectional, if we could find people willing to leave, it would save that many jobs for people who want to stay. It gives some employees a little more sense of empowerment and may be seen as a goodwill gesture in the eyes of the public.
Our main strategy throughout the communication plan started as, and continued to be, how to help all employees work through the Kübler Ross stages of loss as quickly as possible. All of our tactics were chosen because we felt they provided the best means to help both the employees who would be leaving and those staying work through to the point of acceptance.
Through extensive outplacement services, which include but are not limited to: job fairs, counseling, resume building workshops, and letters of recommendation, we feel that the hospital is doing everything in its power to ease the transition for all employees. We have also created an extremely detailed timeline which carefully lays out each step of the layoff so that everyone has a very clear idea as to the sequence of events for the layoff. This makes it easier to make sure that everyone is able to stay on the same page.
Another important factor is our ongoing evaluation of employees. Through our process audits we will track how all employees are coping with the change. It is crucial to keep track of how everyone is working through the layoff so that we can help those who still need support.
There is no such thing as an easy layoff, but the goal of our communication plan is to help ensure that all employees will get a strong understanding as to why the change is necessary. Furthermore, our plan will help the hospital do what needs to be done while undergoing the least amount of reputation damage.
Case Id: Case 3.2
Communicating During a Downsizing
Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to develop an action plan for communicating a difficult message in an ethical manner.
Situation:
1. You are the communication advisor to the head administrator of a major hospital in your local area. She asked you to develop a procedure for informing employees and the community about an impending layoff of 200 employees on January 15.
2. The administrator wants you to devise a plan that minimizes the amount of tension, friction and “down-time” in the workplace. Moreover, she wants you to include provisions for coping with difficulties after the announcement of the layoff has been made.
3. The hospital employs about 1,500 workers and the layoff was the last-resort measure to return the organization to profitability. The people who will be laid off will be from a cross-section of the hospital and include both staff and management.
4. The administrator has provided you a budget of $100,000 for any related expenses that may be incurred in meeting these communication objectives.
Your objectives:
1. Describe your precise plan, both on a strategic and tactical level.
2. Justify the strategic and tactical decisions you are proposing.
3. Discuss how you will present your plan to the head administrator.
Assumptions:
In our case it was important to figure out what our assumptions would be. The case stated that the “layoff was the last-resort measure to return the organization to profitability.” This was important because we needed to try to make sure our communication plan coincided with this.
After carefully reviewing the case we came up with the following assumptions. The first was that this was a for-profit hospital. Our second assumption was that this was a hospital in the state of Wisconsin. This was also important because we researched Wisconsin state layoff laws and made sure that our communication plan was tailored to satisfy all applicable laws. The laws were great tools when creating our timeline as they helped us define specific dates.
The next assumption our group made was that this was the first mass layoff that the hospital had to do. Nothing in our case indicated that this had ever taken place before, so we assumed there had been no precedent set. This was both challenging and beneficial. It posed a challenge in that we didn’t have anything to compare our plan to. It was beneficial because we had a little more freedom coming up with a plan from scratch.
Our last assumption was that this was going to be a permanent layoff. This was critical in how we communicated the change to the employees. We wanted to be sure that we didn’t implythat this would only be temporary. This is another reason for us to mention the job fairs relatively early on. This gives employees a glimpse of hope in that there are other employers looking to hire, but also adds a sense of finality to the situation.
All of our assumptions were important starting off points for our communication plan. With these in place we were able to craft a much more efficient plan.
Goals – Strategy vs. tactics
When considering the strategy and tactics of this particular case study we determined that our strategy was to ease the transition of the layoff in the best way possible for the entire company. By creating outplacement services and developing a firm foundation for the employees being laid off, we can maintain a steady level of morale among the workers throughout. We developed our strategy in the beginning of the case and spent serious amount of time with the development of the tactics.
Our tactics consisted of many different elements. We decided to develop an outplacement service that would cater to the needs of the employees being affected by the layoff. By creating this service we catered to our strategy, which was to maintain a smooth transition for all employees. One of our main outplacement services consisted of packets of information that included early retirement information, independent insurance information, unemployment data and continuous education benefits.
In addition to the outplacement packet we developed a schedule to hold job fairs. By providing them with the appropriate amount of information necessary to make the transition, we aided our layoff employees in their job search and provided them the opportunity to use those skills in our scheduled job fairs. We also decided to add a resume-building workshop to aid them in the development of their career resumes.
By implementing these tactics we felt that this was the best way to begin the process of the layoff employee’s transition to the job market. We feel that these tactics stayed consistent with our main strategy. Our goal was to be there and to provide support for the layoff employees by providing them with the necessary services to continue their careers as quickly as possible.
Communication Goals
This particular case confronted us with a very difficult task. The task was to layoff a portion of the employees within a hospital and to communicate that change as effectively as possible. There were many communication goals developed, but our main goal was to communicate this transition as efficiently as possible. We wanted to make sure to harvest the dissent and be very clear about our intentions through the process. We also wanted to be specific in the audiences that we were targeting.
We felt that creating a solid strategy and tactics was the best way to be efficient throughout our company wide change. There are many factors to consider in a case study such as this and it would have been very difficult to tarnish the hospital’s morale by leaving gaps in the communication. By developing a concrete plan, the likelihood of success increases. To be efficient we felt that a firm plan that clearly defines the hospital’s position would be the best way to approach the situation. We wanted to harvest the dissent and leave nothing to question.
In addition to creating an efficient communication plan and removing the dissent among the employees, we felt that we had several audiences to consider. We developed four main audiences which included the 200 laid off employees, the employees who accepted early retirement, the 1,300 that were staying with the hospital and the community. Communicating the change among the employees was not going to be an easy task but by clearly defining the audiences allowed us to perceive the transition in several ways.
The 200 employees to be laid off and the employees accepting early retirement were our main concerns. Our strategy and tactics were developed with this main audience in mind. The goal for this audience was to maintain a very high level of support and provide as much assistance as necessary to transition them into their future careers. With this in mind we provided many plans for assisting them in the transition.
As well as the employees being laid off, we focused on the employees that were staying. Our goal was to maintain as high of a level of morale among them as possible. By catering to the needs of the layoff employees and providing a great deal of support we would reach the 1,300 employees and prove to them our seriousness of the matter. Just as important as it was to care for our layoff employees, it was just as important to show care and concern for our employees staying with the hospital. Communicating the change among all employees of the hospital was a very important concern we took into consideration throughout the layoff process.
The last audience we analyzed as a main factor was the general public. We wanted the public to know that though we were making a difficult decision to lay off 200 employees, we still cared about the employees and the layoffs effect on the community. By providing information to the community, it was apparent that we were concerned about the hospital’s image and how this decision was going to affect the general public. Our goal was not only to communicate the change to our hospital employees but also make the public aware of the situation and how exactly we were going to handle it.
Our communication goals stayed consistent with our motto “transformation with reaffirmation.” By opening the doors of communication we proved that our goals were to maintain steady morale among all employees and individuals affected by the change.
Why me, Why not me?
One very important factor to consider in all instances of a company layoff is the morale among employees being laid off and employees staying. There is a very big questions raised among the staff about the individuals that get to keep their current career and those who are forced to search for new opportunities. It is very important throughout a layoff process that the staff knows exactly why they are being laid off. This factor will be the frontrunner for harvesting the dissent among the employees. We developed criteria to determine exactly which employees were to be laid off and which employees were to keep their careers in the medical profession.
The first factor to determine the future status of the employees was to determine which departments in the hospital we could afford to make cuts. The individual professionals that worked directly with patients were the least likely to lose their jobs to budget saving layoffs. Their status in the hospital and skill level was too valuable for the company to cut back in effort to save money. Although these types of medical professions do warrant higher-level salaries, the importance of patient care far outweighed the risk of laying off valued medical staff.
The next departments in which we decided to focus on were the expendable departments. We chose to make our company-wide cuts in areas of the hospital in which patient contact was minimal or non-existent. The cuts were to be made among certain divisions of the company in which the hospital could afford to lose and continue to function as a reputable hospital. In some instances, entire departments were going to be eliminated for the time being, due to economic status. This type of layoff strategy sends a clear message to the staff of exactly why the cuts were going to be made. If we can provide a clear definition of why certain departments are expendable, the employees will reluctantly understand the position of the hospital and move closer to the acceptance of the transition.
We also understand that within certain divisions there are opportunities to make certain cut backs in staffing. The hospital cannot simply cut several departments as a whole and maintain function ability. We were going to have to determine criteria in which we could save some employees and lay off others within one single department.
There were two very different factors in which we were going to make this decision. The first factor was going to be based on job performance. When determining which employees will stay and which will be laid off, we have decided to look through their past performance reviews. Those employees who continue to maintain positive feedback among administration and their peers will have high priority to stay with the company. These individuals are truly valued by the hospital, and we have chosen to use this as a factor in determining their future with the hospital. We will also take into consideration patient and customer complaints, as well. Those employees that maintain a high professional status within the hospital will help determine their future.
One more very important element to determine employment status issalaries. In some situations we will be forced to lay off certain employees that are currently being paid above their peak salary for that position. Job performance will be the main factor within individual departments and salary will play a deciding role if the comparison is similar.
We chose to use job performance as higher criteria than salary because of the specialized field a hospital has over other companies. Patient care is the most important goal of the company and those who believe in that value will be more valuable to the company.
It is never a simple task to determine the future of specific individuals within a company. A layoff, as difficult as it is, is intensified by all of the factors that one must examine throughout the process. Determining why some employees will be laid off compared to other employees is one very important element that, if handled improperly, can create a severe amount of dissent among the staff. Employees have the right to know exactly why they are being laid off, and just as important, why they are staying with the company. We feel very strongly that our outlined criteria are the best possible solution to this communication issue.