Do You Think They Suspect Anything?

Corporate downsizing, lack of funds for employee development, and a dwindling budget for leadership and succession planning is only the tip of the iceberg. Sure, all that's bad, but not as bad as the secrets you've been keeping from your workforce. "Secrets," of course, is a juvenile term for adult business, and probably too melodramatic for our purposes, but it's the first word that comes to mind for the times you suddenly unload plans to your employees (plans that will affect their lives) that have been in the works for months.

Well, layoffs,  you say, can't be announced ahead of time. I see your point, but you don't have to wait until the last minute to tell affected workers. I'm familiar with the idea of springing it on them a day or two before their forced last day to avoid having a disgruntled employee on staff any longer than necessary. But that fear is outweighed by the need to be humane. How about taking a chance, and letting them know as soon as you know so they have ample time to look for something new while still on your payroll?  I see how you worry their productivity and trustworthiness will drop off as soon as they get their walking papers, but you forget about the impact of engendering good will. While it won't be true for everyone you lay off, the impact of engendering good will shouldn't be underestimated. They'll be grateful for the heads-up, and will want to fulfill their end of the deal by competently finishing all their remaining assignments. Not doing so would amount to double-crossing a person (or group of people in this case) who are trying to be as fair as possible. Hard to believe, but I think most of your workers are honorable enough to see it that way--provided you actually are fair and give them time to find something new before the paychecks stop coming. Better yet, after they leave, you can count on them to spread the good word about your company. And, you have to admit, that's fabulous PR when a laid-off worker only has nice things to say about you.

Then, if you're not laying off employees, and deliberately giving them no advance warning, the next thing to avoid is springing assignments tied to a business shift on them a month, a few weeks, or even a few days, before they're due. They're your workforce, so trust them. If you can't tell them the whole story, at least tell them what they need to do, and when they ask why, just respond, "Well, I can't tell you that right now because it's a big secret."  Whatever sophisticated machinations your bosses are up to, don't let it ruin your workers' Friday night plans. Work around your strategy confidentiality paranoia to give employees the time they need to get their assignments done without suffering.

And, whatever you do, don't make them look dumb because you're not telling them things your customers or clients might already suspect, or maybe even know. If you're testing a new product by launching it first in select markets, but don't want to generate publicity about it before you know it's a success and will launch more broadly, tell your employees what's going on. And not just your customer-facing workforce. Telling everyone in the company is a good idea because how dumb does a worker look at a dinner party if an out-of-town guest compliments the company's new sugar-free/live forever/ herbal supplement hard candies, and your employee has no idea what her fellow dinner companion is talking about?

Even for the times a "secret" won't (and really doesn't) affect an employee's life, how respected do you think he feels when his boss suddenly mentions, after months of planning, "Oh yeah, we're launching a new TV channel?"  "Why don't you trust me?" is a question that will enter that worker's head if he's a thinking person.

Anyway, I realize there's a lot of high-level, Bond-like intrigue going on behind the closed doors of your executive suite, but try not to think of your own employee as a potential nemesis. If you do, she might just start acting that way.

With all the business and training challenges weighing on your brain, have you considered that your biggest problem might be not trusting your own workforce?  Or, is that not a problem with you because you're a veritable fount of sunshine when it comes to the strategy that will affect their lives? How much do you tell them, and why?

Comments

[G-Man]

Trust is not an issue with me. I give everyone 100% of my trust right from the get-go. If they abuse it, then it goes down to 0% and they have to work twice as hard to get it to 50%. That is, by the way, part of my "initiation/orientation" speech I give to everyone. I am a huge fan of laying out your expectations from the start. That gives the employee a foundation for many aspects of their career. I am, probably to my detriment, a proponent of information overload. I always tell everyone, do not be afraid of feeding me "too much" information. Give it to me and I will decide what is important to assimilate and what is not. I tend to do the same to my employees. However, I always preface information with a comment guiding them to what I want them to remember or what is just information for them to be aware of. The vast majority of the time, it actually is extremely beneficial to everyone, including the company. When things are starting to go downhill, I usually get an individual in my office asking what "we" can do to make it better or giving me ideas of how things could be made better. This is where I always want to be. The big problem is that with my peers and bosses, my style is not welcome and viewed as being too weak and "chummy". I don't socialize with my employees at all, but it is viewed that my sharing of information and knowledge is just as unprofessional. I heartily disagree and the performance in my department has proven that it is, at least, not detrimental. However, trying to change the overwhelming sentiment has been burdensome. I can understand why others adopt the "CIA" mentality. To me, it shows that they are the weak ones. Therefore, I push on. My parents didn't raise a quitter! Lead on!!!!!!!