When employees witness consistent empathetic leadership, they begin to trust their leaders are honest, trustworthy, and caring. It takes some time for regular, sound leadership to demonstrate genuine care and concern, but the return on investment is enormous. Not only do employees feel more engaged and productive working for empathetic leaders, but they’re also more likely to trust the organization and its leaders when faced with difficult decisions, such as employee reductions.
Empathy in leadership is both subtle and highly impactful. It requires leading from within as a strength of emotion and thinking which when exercised can become stronger. It often cost nothing and yet pays huge dividends in building positive, lasting working relationships able to withstand the stress of layoffs and terminations. The most critical commitment an organization can make to create a culture of compassion is to hire, train, and support empathetic leaders.
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Learn more about our Career Transition Service.
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Terminations and layoffs can have a ripple effect within an organization, intimately affecting some remaining employees. Those with similar roles may hold legitimate worries about their job security. Colleagues close to displaced employees may be grieving the loss of a friend at work. Such negative experiences can be mitigated by communicating as openly as possible at termination or immediately afterwards.
If applicable, it’s important to share that your organization provides career transition services to its departing employees to help them navigate their way from job loss to successful job search. Providing such a benefit demonstrates commitment to employee well-being and reinforces trust and security for employees. Additionally, these services offer communication guidance and coaching throughout the process. An example can be found in our Manager’s Guide to Conducting Notification Meetings.
Empathy is the tie that binds an organization together before, during, and after a layoff. By demonstrating consistent compassion, showing those who must leave that their time with the organization added significant value and meaningfulness, and caring for those remaining after the layoff, you can mitigate the impact on your organization while nurturing your future employment brand.
Waldron CPI views service support through two lenses:
1) The experience of impacted individuals using career transition services.
2) The organization’s lens and the experience of HR team members and business leaders responsible for outplacement/career transition services.
Waldron CPI’s career transition/outplacement services promise and deliver a high-touch, personalized experience for each employee and provide the best results:
Departing employees will assess several alternatives for their next professional experience—including re-employment, flexible work arrangements, part-time or contract employment, consulting, entrepreneurial endeavors, or retirement.
Contact us to learn about Waldron CPI’s industry-leading results. The results help organizations optimize return on investment in offering exceptional career transition services, including reduction-in-force (RIF) planning and manager notification training.