PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 29/ -- Amid the thousands of layoffs announced daily are countless (major) employers left with anxious and jittery workforces.
Communications will play a huge role in determining who survives in 2009 and who does not, both for employers and employees.
If you are an employee and you can not clearly articulate the value you bring to your organization, you are in trouble.
If you are an employer, your job is twice as difficult — you MUST communicate your value externally, and at the same time keep your workforce, and your top talent, motivated and energized.
So what can you do right now?
5 (five) crucial steps include:
1. Developing a message and creating a plan to communicate that message throughout your organization.
2. Be open. Be available. Talk to people. If you are a leader in your organization, be seen. Nothing is worse than a CEO, President, EVP, etc., who stays behind closed doors and remains silent.
3. Talk to your top talent. If you think you have talked to them enough, go back and talk to them one more time. Trust me, if your top talent is nervous, and they are, and you are not communicating with them, they are looking elsewhere. As times get more challenging your top talent becomes more valuable.
4. Be honest. Do not lie. Do not sugarcoat. While it might get you through an initial tough spot, it will destroy your credibility and ability to deliver any message, either internally or externally.
5. Be consistent. Don’t purchase a plane after you have announced 50,000+ layoffs the year before, and have applied for, and received, a Federal bailout. Remember that everything you say and do as a leader sends a message. Everything.
