Managing the delivery of bad news is an underrated leadership skill, and right now, those skills are being tested to the limit.

In 2023, Google, for years ranked as one of the top United States companies to work for, laid off 12,000 workers via email. The fallout was swift and brutal as employees took to social media in protest. Years of carefully cultivating a reputation as an employee-centric company, complete with climbing walls and free massage, were wiped out with one click of a send button.

And yet, the actual blog post issued by CEO Sundar Pichai later that day informing employees of the decision was in many respects a model of how to communicate bad news: it provided context, acknowledged that it was a difficult decision, accepted responsibility and expressed sincere regret while being simultaneously clear and direct. For those left behind, Pichai painted a positive picture of a tighter, leaner business ready to face the future.

The problem was clearly not the bad news but the execution of it. Google’s promise to help affected employees rang especially hollow for those who woke up to the news on social media. Of course, Google is by no means alone in having a mass layoff hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, and two years on, a volatile and uncertain operating environment is spreading the layoff contagion well beyond the tech sector.

The missing piece of the puzzle – respect

What was missing here was the key ingredient for delivering bad news, whether it’s a layoff, a poor performance review, or a missed promotion: respect for the people concerned and a deep appreciation for the effect the news will have on them.

Part of the problem is the all-too-human tendency to avoid delivering bad news in the first place. For this reason, say experts writing in the Human Resource Management Review in 2023, much of what we’ve learned about the science and art of delivering bad news comes to us from the medical fraternity (who have to deliver bad news whether they like it or not) and not from management studies.

Those studies that do exist tend to focus on the sender’s perspective, with the emphasis on negative dynamics rather than achieving positive outcomes. Only 22.77% of the over 600 articles reviewed by the authors examined the recipient’s perspective, pointing to a huge gap in the literature around the delivery process and the interpersonal dynamics at play – a factor that may account for the tendency to “just get it over with” when it comes to delivering bad news.

The secret sauce: View it as an evolving interaction rather than a singular event

Given the need for a more dynamic and nuanced approach to managing difficult workplace communications, the authors propose framing the delivery of bad news as a dialectic process – an evolving interaction rather than a singular event. In simple terms, this means thinking of delivering bad news as a dynamic back-and-forth conversation that unfolds over time rather than a once-off event.

Viewing the breaking of bad news as a process involving exchange, reaction and adjustment between the sender and the recipients allows leaders to be more empathetic and responsive, anticipate emotional responses, support people more effectively after the news is delivered and create space for healing, clarification, or even negotiation.

This approach is baked into the labour legislation of many countries, including France, the Netherlands, and South Africa. In these and many other countries, organisations are required to give employees notice of impending action that may negatively affect them, including dismissal, retrenchment, and voluntary retirement, obliging organisations also to consider how bad news is delivered.

The senders of bad news can learn from the experience

The good news is that research also shows that mastering the art of delivering bad news can have significant benefits for the sender, too. Apart from the satisfaction of mastering a key leadership skill, managing bad news has been shown to enhance a leader’s legitimacy and build credibility and trust, the currency of all good leaders.

Here are AltoPartners’ top tips on how to show leadership, build trust, and create a foundation for future resilience when delivering bad news.

#1 Get your communications team involved early

Treat communications as a strategic partner, not an executional lever. While human resources are routinely involved in announcing layoffs, comms teams tend to be brought in only once the news has backfired. Your comms team will be invaluable in mapping out the process, especially if the bad news needs to be carefully sequenced to comply with regulatory and reporting requirements to various stakeholders.

#2 Frame bad news as part of a larger story

Another reason to involve the comms team early is to develop a broader organisational narrative that resonates with organisational values (e.g., adapting for future success, making difficult but necessary changes). Research shows clearly that people tolerate pain better when they understand the “why” behind it, and storytelling techniques can enhance understanding and acceptance of bad news.

#3 Engage in dialogue, not monologue

Treat delivering bad news as a conversation, not a speech. How leaders act after delivering bad news matters just as much as the moment itself. Allow space for employee responses – questions, frustrations, suggestions – and respond with empathy rather than defensiveness. But, as Sean Devlin, writing for Ragan Communications, points out, it’s important to shift the focus to the future so as not to get bogged down debating a decision that’s already been made: “When bad news is handed down, it’s not the time to debate the merits or lack thereof of the situation. It’s time to plan the path forward. Rather than soliciting feedback on the decision itself, acknowledge the impacts but plot out what comes next… People need clarity about what happens next, not an invitation to re-litigate the decision.”

#4 Be transparent but strategically hopeful

Don’t sugarcoat reality, but do offer a pathway forward. And if you say you will support affected employees, be clear about what that support looks like. Broken promises at this point affect not just employees who will be leaving, but it looks bad to those staying behind.

#5 Demonstrate fairness and respect

Explain clearly how decisions were made and what steps were taken to mitigate whatever precipitated the bad news. If the retrenchment process isn’t legislated in your country, ensure that procedures are perceived as fair to avoid damaging trust in the long term. This is especially important, given that we know that just observing unfair treatment can lead to negative perceptions among bystanders. ​ #6 Acknowledge emotions openly and honestly

Validate emotional reactions (anger, sadness, fear, regret) rather than brushing them off. Show that you understand and care. “I know this is hard” is much better than “let’s move forward quickly.” Then there’s the stress and guilt experienced by those who deliver the news. Effective leaders acknowledge this and support their teams.

#7 Invest in leader training

Train executives, managers, and team leaders to have difficult conversations. Bad news delivery should be treated as a core leadership competency, not something to be improvised. This kind of training has also been shown to reduce avoidance and improve fair treatment when delivering bad news. ​

#8 Equip your line managers with practical guidance – the importance of key messages, scripts and feedback loops

Your line managers are key to determining how the news lands with their direct reports. How well that goes depends on how well prepared they are. This is a very granular process, and leaders should insist on the detail – for example, if employees are not first-language English speakers, what’s the plan to ensure that a solid Q&A session can take place between a manager and their direct reports? Similarly, what happens if managers get questions they can’t answer? Is there a functional feedback loop to channel those questions, or are they required to wing it and risk their own credibility? And will the FAQs be updated as new questions are raised, so that everyone stays on message?

#9 Use clear language

Don’t hide behind legal jargon or corporate speak. It’s okay not to have all the answers and to say so, provided you explain what you’re doing to get the answers and then commit to providing them as the situation unfolds.

#10 Bad news is an integral part of “business unusual”. Stepwise protocols help to manage it

While many organisations have a crisis comms plan, not many have a set of protocols for delivering bad news. As the authors of The delivery of bad news: An integrative review and path forward note, the absence of standardised protocols for delivering bad news in management limits practical guidance for managers.

One possibility is the adaptation of established medical protocols, such as SPIKES, an acronym that helps healthcare professionals guide the process of breaking difficult news to patients and their families. It stands for:

Setting - making sure the way in which the news is delivered is appropriate

Perception - asking what the listener thinks is going on

Invitation - ask for questions

Knowledge - give the information

Emotional responses - acknowledge feelings

Summarise / strategise - summarise the information, talk about steps going forward

Leaders should challenge their own comms and HR teams to develop similar protocols based on brand values to help managers prepare for delivery, manage recipient reactions, and discuss next steps, making both the giving and the receiving of bad news an altogether more humane experience for everyone concerned.