When companies run into trouble, the C-suite often defaults to secrecy, sharing updates on a need-to-know basis. But when that happens, people make stuff up to fill the information vacuum—and it’s never good.
While I’m never glad to see layoffs, Jack Dorsey’s email to Block, the fintech firm he founded as Square, announcing the layoff of 931 people, approximately 8 percent of the staff, meets a standard of honesty that all businesses should strive for.
The email, obtained by TechCrunch sets out the reasons for the layoffs and describes the why and the what behind the layoff. He gives three reasons (the all lowercase is in the original text):
To keep reading, click here: The Power of Honesty: What Businesses Can Learn from Jack Dorsey’s Layoff Announcement
As an employer I think it’s very important to express why employees are being terminated and be honest, not just some made up answer. I haven’t experience being terminated, but I’m sure it’s not the best feeling in the world knowing that you could lose your job at any moment. I had a friend who was at risk of losing her job at one point because the company she worked for was downsizing for financial reasons and they openly expressed that with her weeks in advanced so that she could be prepared when time came. In order for employers to build relationships with their employees they need to an open line of honest communication. From my own experience, my previous employer didn’t do the best job at communicating with me and it just called for confusion. We didn’t develop that open line of communication so there were many times where things weren’t completed correctly or at all. We eventually realized that we need to communicate with each other more to be able to work effectively and effectively and provide the client we were working for accurate financial reports. Clear communication in any workplace is key. It would be interesting to see how different communication is from office jobs to remote jobs. My boss worked remotely while I was in the office most of the time and it was difficult sometimes to communicate clearly.