A friend of mine works at a financial firm that had big layoffs last week. On Friday, after 4 brutal days of layoffs, the COO held a town hall with several hundred people at the corporate headquarters.
Out of that speech, here's the line that my friend remembered:
"As you know, we have a lot fewer people now, so everyone here will have to work harder and longer hours."
Message to COOs (and other executives): if that's what's in your head, better to keep your mouth shut. All the time you and your staff spent putting the powerpoint together, arranging the room and AV equipment, and assembling everyone for the town hall would be better spent focusing on business problems.
I'm sure nice words surrounded that sentence -- things like "Our people are our most valuable asset" and "Market conditions forced us to make these difficult choices" -- but none of that rings with authenticity. The bit about working harder? That sounds very real.
I doubt many people physically walked out, but I'm sure a large percentage mentally did. As soon as the market turns, those people will walk out. They're fired up all right.
A speech like that isn't communication and it isn't leadership.
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