The consultancy Leadership IQ has highlighted a genuine memo announcing lay-offs as a classic example of poor communication likely to lead to low morale among survivors.

The publishing company’s CEO sent a message to all staff, beginning with a misleadingly upbeat message about the company’s prospects.
‘We've made a lot of progress,’ the missive declared. ‘Many of our websites have matured into strong and popular brand vehicles, while ... our magazines continue to be some of the most popular and relevant titles on the news-stand today.’
The announcement about lay-offs is buried in the middle of the message, leaving a confused reader wondering whether to celebrate the potential turn-around, or fear for their livelihoods.

‘These lay-offs, which are in several business areas ... are part of a restructuring necessary to sustain our progress,’ the memo reads.

As Mark Murphy, chief executive of Leadership IQ, notes, the staff ‘will be reading it just looking for the “but”.’ He adds: 'If you're the CEO, you've still got 90% of the workforce that you have to lead ... if they think that you don't have the guts to be straight with them, they'll never trust you again.’

Recently the employee engagement specialist Sirota published a release about the importance of attending to the morale of people who survive a round of lay-offs (see HCF post 14 January 09).

The mixed messages in the publishing company’s memo are reminiscent of David Brent’s announcement in the sitcom The Office that ‘There’s some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that some of you are going to lose your jobs. The good news is that I’m getting a promotion.’