Co-authored by Keith Swenson and Dan Weinfurter

Dee Mand, an employee at Too Hard Corporation (THC), blew out the candles to her employee-appreciation cake on her fifth anniversary. She wished for another job, and by the end of the month she quit.

THC, a supplier of fitness equipment to corporate gyms, had paid better than market bonuses for four years, but this year Dee didn't get a check. Her boss said the company's key clients had a bad six months and orders had plummeted, or that is what he heard. Ironically, the company expected financials to bounce back in the next six months. But Dee didn't know that.

So Dee took a job at office chair supplier Too Soft Enterprises (TSE), which needed someone with Dee's experience but was also going through a sudden down cycle. On her first day (and every day for a month) TSE bombarded Dee with information on how leadership was handling the unexpected decline in sales. The overload was causing her colleagues' morale to sink. Dee decided this was company was in serious trouble and the job was a mistake. She quit, and TSE never appeared on her resume.

Finally, Dee took a job at mattress manufacturer Just Right! Inc, and found that they too were going through a period of weak sales. But, on the first day, her manager clearly articulated the company's strategy and how the work Dee will be doing supports this strategy. And, on a regular basis she receives information about changes in strategy through the company's intranet site, leadership town hall meetings, and emails. During particularly difficult months, her manager gathered her department to explain how the changes would affect their work.

Dee may be fictional, but her experiences realistically reflect the importance of communication during times of change. Today's business climate has put company leadership (like those at THC, TSE and Just Right!) between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, we have a constantly changing business environment pressuring companies' strategies and financials, and forcing them to continually adapt. On the other hand, is the raging talent war, which is based on steadfast factors (such as retiring baby boomers).

When any company faces tough or ambiguous times (whether caused by internal or external factors) getting communication "right is challenging. Ineffective communication can lead to low productivity, poor performance, depleted morale, and even in some cases, the departure of key talent. In today's tight labor market, the need to retain the best talent makes it all the more critical to communicate, and do it well. As a result, human resources and line managers implementing change are asking themselves: What do I tell? When do I tell? Who do I tell? How do I tell?

These questions are always asked, formally or informally, when planning any change management initiative. But in uncertain times, there are few answers - period. Most companies tend to wait until all the answers are in place, and communicate too little along the way. Others practice "extreme communications, telling employees so much that they are overwhelmed or stop paying attention.


What is the formula for the right amount of communication? We think there is a lot to learn from Goldilocks. Yes, that Goldilocks, of fairy tale fame. At the heart of her story is the idea that there is a "just right state - not too much and not too little. Finding this "just right level of communication is key for companies undergoing any kind of change. But finding is not as easy as it seems. Let's take a look at a couple of situations:

Scenario One: Consider a large auto-part company* that was conducting a proactive assessment of its human resources function. The CEO decreed that only the first step of the HR initiative would be communicated to those who were participating. And those people would only be told about their role, not the reason for the assessment or how the results would be used. As Captain said in Cool Hand Luke, "What we have here is a failure to communicate.

The potential danger was a workplace phenomenon that few people like to acknowledge: lack of information causes an inevitable buzz around an office, and it is often negative. In this case, buzz could cause embarrassment for the HR function, unnecessarily undermine their authority, and cause low morale and decreased productivity. In addition, there would be a benefit for HR's clients to have known that the company and the function were being proactive to serve them better. The "just right approach would have been to communicate with HR's clients and give more context about the project to the individuals participating in data gathering.


Scenario Two: In another case, the head of HR at a financial services company was told that her group wasn't performing well in corporate communications. So the HR head implemented change and started to communicate about everything: what the leadership team was doing each day, where they were going, and with whom they were meeting. It turned out that HR emails started to feel like spam to the employee population. People stopped reading.

The "just right approach would have been to identify key issues to be communicated and the specific audiences to target with a communications initiative. Taking the time to consider your audiences ensures that the relevant messages are communicated to the right people in the right manner.


These were two very different situations. Yet, there are some universal principles learned from our management guru Goldilocks that can help navigate you to the "just right level of communication in most change management situations. Here are the three key questions to ask, and the guidelines for how to answer them:

-  Who? Take a 360-degree look at the issue to determine who has a stake in its outcome. Communication is not "one-size-fits-all as messages need to be targeted to different audiences. There is a "just right message for each audience segment.

-  What? Tell people what they need to know to do their job. Look for opportunities to tell them about company developments that will help them feel like owners.

-  When? The ideal time to provide information is when you can tell people what they can do about it. The best information is actionable. If there will be job cuts, tell affected people when you can say whether there will be chances to apply to other departments, whether severance will be available or there will be outplacement assistance.
 

That being said, there are a couple of things to be aware of:

-  The power of "I don't know: Don't always wait to communicate until you know all the answers, especially during an ambiguous time of change in an organization. Sometimes people are better off knowing that management doesn't yet know the answers. People will always fill in the blanks. And out of natural fear of the unknown, the "fill-ins can paint a more negative picture than reality. Equally important, leaders must take care not to provide inaccurate information. Leaders risk destroying their credibility when they provide incorrect information or appear to stumble or back-pedal.

-  The power of being "In the know: Information that is taken for granted by those "in the know could be completely unknown to others. It is naturally difficult for management to put themselves in the shoes of others to determine what needs to be communicated. But it is critical to do so as communication from leadership helps people feel and act like owners. If others ask them what is happening at their company during tough times, they are be better off stating, "Management is figuring it out as we speak rather than "I don't know, no one tells us. And just that difference alone can help retain people.

As a way to illuminate these concepts, consider the following example: A client spent a half hour one afternoon, after a broad communication on a change in business strategy, informally answering employees' questions in the lunchroom. The "in the know HR team was surprised to find the very personal concerns people had about how this change would affect their daily lives and their raises just hours after the announcement. The CEO simply said that those decisions hadn't been made, but they would be communicated when they were. This event built trust and stopped any false rumors about decisions that hadn't even been made.


The Benefits
The business benefits attributed to this type of trust and the "just right level of communication during change management initiatives are massive. At the basic level, people will know what they need to do their jobs. But communication's most critical role is maintaining morale and productivity as well as retaining talent. And those are just to protect the downside or potential negative impact of poor communication, such as the departure of key talent. There is also a great, overlooked upside potential to communication that can lift morale and productivity (through the simple bites those "in the know can sometimes forget to share). This includes celebrating company milestones and sharing company initiatives that show dedication to employees and a better workplace (as in the HR assessment example).

But as Goldilocks, who found the porridge either too hot or too cold, and the beds too hard or too soft, people will have different preferences - as will companies. While there are some universal elements to good communication, the tone (formal or informal) and the delivery method (via letter, email, FAQ, meeting, voicemail, podcast) will depend on the culture of your company.

In addition, communication will vary based on what stage your business is in. Start-up cultures depend on a high level of communication to create the ownership needed to get a venture off the ground. On the other hand, at a more mature, publicly-traded organization, messages need to be aligned and balanced with company news that are covered in public forums, whether through investor reports or the media.

Successfully implementing change can be a daunting task for even the most experienced and competent organizations. The amount and rate of change is not expected to diminish in the near future. So, how can companies make it through? Provide employees with whatever level of security possible in the form of communication.

Employees want to know that their company will give them the information they need when they need it in order to continue to perform their jobs effectively. Leaders, who carefully consider the concerns and anxieties of individuals during periods of change, and who communicate clearly and effectively while implementing changes, can expect strong cooperation and positive outcomes.