Communicating Redundancy: The Case of Accident Group Company

Abstract:     
The paper explores the management of communication during redundancy. Communicating redundancy is equivalent to communicating bad news messages, which is difficult to do. The paper shows that most managers tend to avoid interaction with redundant employees, as they do not want to see their pain. However, empirical and academic studies indicate that the best approach is to have an open and transparent communication process with those affected, through interaction. Interacting with the affected employees during this difficult time gives them a sense that the organisation does care for them. Interacting with employees also affords them interactional justice, which helps them in having answers to questions such as ‘Why me?’

Number of Pages in PDF File: 9

Keywords: redundancy, communication, bad news, interaction, interactional justice

JEL Classification: M12, M14, M51

working papers series