Building Trust Through Transparent Terminations

Trust Crisis: The Hidden Cost of Layoffs Companies Never Calculate 87% of organizations report significant performance decline following layoffs due to survivor's guilt. AI ALPI's analysis reveals this devastating impact creates a perfect storm that erodes trust at its foundation. → Three critical trust forms damaged during workforce reductions: ↳ Operational trust: Reliability that leadership follows through on commitments ↳ Emotional trust: Interpersonal connections creating psychological safety ↳ Strategic trust: Confidence in organizational direction and decision-making → Essential strategies for rebuilding trust: ↳ Embrace radical transparency about challenges ↳ Create clear pathways for workload adjustments ↳ Implement consistent resource-focused check-ins ↳ Redefine success metrics to match new realities ↳ Deploy pulse surveys to monitor trust recovery → AI solutions transforming post-layoff management: ↳ Smart workload analysis identifies critical gaps before becoming overwhelming ↳ Sentiment analysis detects early warning signs of trust erosion Digital offboarding platforms like Leena AI offer intelligent virtual assistants that guide employees through transitions with empathy, while Workday Peakon Employee Voice gathers honest, real-time insights to improve the offboarding experience. Eightfold maintains connections with former employees through alumni networks, and Retorio uses AI-powered video analysis to tailor the process to individual needs. Organizations implementing comprehensive trust rebuilding programs see 24% better retention, 31% increased discretionary effort, and 28% stronger talent attraction despite previous layoffs. Great Recession data showed companies handling layoffs with transparency saw 20% higher productivity than those failing to rebuild trust. 🔥 Want more breakdowns like this? Follow along for insights on: → Getting started with AI in HR teams → Scaling AI adoption across HR functions → Building AI competency in HR departments → Taking HR AI platforms to enterprise market → Developing HR AI products that solve real problems #PostLayoffRecovery #HRTech #AIinHR #SurvivorGuilt #EmployeeExperience #LeadershipChallenges #TalentManagement #DigitalOffboarding #OrganizationalChange #WorkforceTransformation #HRLeadership

After numerous blue-chip companies announced layoffs in 2024, let’s have a chat...   Layoffs are one of the hardest decisions a CEO will ever make. No one enjoys it—if you do, congrats psycho. But sometimes, whether due to economic pressure, shifting strategy, or over-hiring, reducing headcount becomes unavoidable.   While layoffs might solve an immediate financial issue, the real damage often shows up later—especially among the team that stays. Morale can tank, productivity can drop, and your best people may leave because they feel overwhelmed or see no path forward. If you’re not careful, solving one problem can create two or three more.   That said, layoffs can be handled thoughtfully. A few elements make all the difference:   First, transparency isn’t optional. Employees will be watching how truthfully and clearly you communicate. Avoid mixed messages like announcing layoffs while hyping flashy AI investments. People need clarity, not spin. The goal is process fairness: employees want to understand how and why decisions were made. One study found only 1% of ex-employees treated with a high degree of fairness sued for wrongful termination versus 17% who felt mistreated. People can handle hard truths when they know the process was fair and unbiased.   Second, live your values. Misalignment between your words and actions shatters trust faster than layoffs themselves. If transparency is core to your culture, share the financial or strategic reasoning—even when uncomfortable. If you pride yourself on supporting talent, offer generous severance or outplacement services.   Third, refocus after the layoffs. Reset priorities and, if needed, company-level objectives so employees understand this isn’t just “more with less”—it’s a new reality. Overcommunicate rather than leave a vacuum. Be visible, celebrate progress, and show people the company still has a future worth sticking around for.   Culture doesn’t heal itself. Employees are watching for signals that leadership has a plan and is engaged. If you stay quiet or checked out, they’ll fill the silence with their own (often negative) stories.   There’s no perfect way to do a layoff, but companies that handle them well treat people—those leaving and those staying—with respect and clarity. Ask yourself: Have I been clear about why this happened and what’s next? Am I showing up for my people, or hiding from the tough decision?   Because here’s the truth: A layoff might fix a financial problem, but if you’re not careful, it can break your culture—and that will cost you far more in the long run.

You can’t rebuild trust if you’re still trying to protect your image. Trust can be rebuilt. But not with spin. And not with silence. I worked with a guy who inherited a team the business no longer trusted. Trust had been fractured. Badly. The relationship was strained. Expectations were low. Every update was met with doubt. The team had stopped treating deadlines like commitments. Dates slipped. Promises were broken. Commitments ignored. The business had learned not to count on them. He didn’t launch a trust campaign. No 10-step process. He practiced extreme transparency, especially when things weren’t going as planned. If something might be late, he reported it. If a commitment was at risk, he highlighted the risk. If the plan needed to change, he negotiated it with the business. He shared everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly. No delays. No coverups. No surprises. He made a simple vow: “Nothing should catch them off guard. If it might go sideways, they’ll hear it from me first. If actual performance varies from the plan, they’ll know about it.” At first, they were surprised by the candor. Then, they came to expect it. And slowly, they began to trust the team again. Not because he said all the right things. Because he did the right things. Because he was honest and honored their commitments. Consistently. Proactively. Without spin. Trust isn’t rebuilt by avoiding bad news. It’s rebuilt by refusing to let bad news be a surprise.

Layoffs end in a day. The culture impact lasts much longer. Layoffs are devastating for those impacted and take their toll on the remaining employees and the culture. After layoffs, rebuilding trust must be a priority. While it can feel next to impossible, being intentional matters. Leading with empathy, consistency, and transparency goes a long way. Rebuilding trust isn’t an HR assignment, it is the responsibility of all leaders. Here are some steps to help your team heal and move forward. 1. Check-in regularly, individually and often. One group huddle will not be enough. 2. Acknowledge emotions, and let your team know it’s ok to express how they feel. Don’t underestimate the grief caused by a layoff. 3. Share what you know and admit what you don’t. Avoiding tough questions will only make things worse. And putting a spin of the truth doesn’t help either. 4. Create space for feedback and act on it. Open the dialogue and your team will likely surprise you with helpful ideas and solutions. 5. Listen with empathy. This is where listening to understand lives. Resist the urge to do more telling than listening. People want to feel heard and understood. The strongest leaders don’t expect people to quickly “move on” after a layoff. They face the truth, invite participation in rebuilding, and lead with empathy. In these moments, they are actively rebuilding trust and engagement. Why This Matters Layoffs shake not just strategy, they destabilize confidence, collaboration, and emotional safety. If the aftermath is where leadership truly begins, then it’s also the moment to choose how you rebuild with intention, empathy, and transparency. I’d love to hear from others: How have you helped rebuild trust and culture after a team reduction? What’s worked and what surprised you?

Restructure your teams with integrity... Code for: don’t be a d*ck. Being in the people space, I regularly hear stories of leaders getting layoffs horribly wrong. We’ve all seen that cold, cutthroat type of change that leaves people baffled about where they stand and what’s next. The main issue for these leaders usually comes down to: > Afraid of getting it wrong but won’t acknowledge the confidence gap > Lack of competence and support in delivering difficult change > Wanting to lead but not knowing how > Overwhelmed by the impact on valued colleagues caught up in the process > Fear of disrupting momentum elsewhere in the business > A gap between what’s been communicated outwardly and what’s actually unfolding These dynamics trigger survival behaviours so even well-intentioned leaders can come across as cold or uncaring when leading a redundancy process. Very few are deliberately trying to be difficult from my 17 years experience. The best founders and leaders I know don’t treat this as a spreadsheet exercise. They: ➡️ Build a solid business case ➡️ Ensure comms is transparent ➡️ Align the leadership team ➡️ Seek guidance on process & delivery ➡️ Execute directly but with compassion ➡️ Hold space for difficult emotions And most importantly, they communicate like humans, inside and outside the process. They know this is an inflection point for everyone involved, especially for your culture. Do it right and you build trust and retain momentum. Do it wrong and you risk legal, reputational, and cultural damage. This is what I mean by human-first transformation. This is the work I do with leaders navigating difficult change. Follow for more on how you can optimise your workforce without sacrificing your connection to your people. Let's Go #layoffs #opentowork #resilience