The Source for Communicators

Melcrums Source for Communicators - A Free Weekly E-Zine for Corporate Communicators

May 23rd, 2007 Easing the pain of job losses

As illustrated by the case studies in Melcrum's new report, Delivering successful change communication, the value of a robust communication strategy to underpin organizational change can't be overemphasized.

But sometimes it's necessary to go outside the usual channels to keep a change program on track. For example, at the UK's HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), local "change champions" have played an important role in helping employees deal with unexpected and unwelcome change.

A difficult transition
In order to support local managers during a difficult transition involving the closure of certain offices and some job losses, Russell Grossman, head of internal and change communications, recruited 150 change champions. These were managers selected from a group of 450 change leaders and nominated by their business units.

The change champions received specialist training, which included sessions on counseling and on dealing with different reactions to announcements about the closures. They were then assigned to managers who were significantly affected by the announcement.

Helping with job-loss announcements
Grossman outlines the process: “First the change champion needed to understand how the announcements affected these particular managers and their teams. The next step was to initiate a conversation with them and ask them whether they wanted some help, and if so, what sort of help they required.

"Responses varied considerably. In some cases, the phone call itself was sufficient – some managers were satisfied knowing that support was there if they needed it. In other cases, the change champion attended the briefing that the manager had with their team following the announcement."

As Grossman explains, this was a tough call, particularly when people hadn't been expecting their offices to be closed. "We trained change champions not to take people's reactions personally and to recognize that asking for more information was a sign of engagement. We emphasized that listening is 60 to 70% of communication and encouraged them to establish a dialogue with managers and employees."

To find out more, download an executive summary of the report.

See you next week.

Mandy Thatcher,
Editor
mandy.thatcher@melcrum.com

P.S. For the social networkers among you, Melcrum has just announced The Communicators' Network, a professional networking community.

Further reading
Change efforts fail to reap rewardsGetting employees engaged after change Winning grass-roots support for change