It’s 2 p.m. For three days, we’ve been pushing this conversation away, but we’ll have to tell him. The craziest rumors run in the service, fueled by an outside person who describes the apocalypse: the project stops, no bonus and no promotion. Very involved, some will experience a professional and personal tsunami. A manager can take out the big voice, reframe, direct, make complicated choices but when it is explained, it passes. How to do when the Comex expresses itself in mode: “Manage yourself to announce it?” Sing “It’s a blue house, clinging to the hill. We get there on foot… ”The colleague will not understand why Maxime Le Forestier guides him towards the benefits of the collective which can solve everything. It is alone that he suffers. Bad plan. Email him? Cowardice is worse. But the stress is sometimes unbearable for the manager, greeted by such a kind smile. “How am I going to tell him?” “You have to be as human as possible”, answers Arnaud Collery, coach, co-founder and CEO of Humanava who gives six pieces of advice.
Visualize before having this conversation
“When we have to announce something, we must first think about the place”, indicates the author of Reinvent your life (Editions Ideos, 2022). The first task of the manager is therefore to identify whether he will see his colleague during a lunch, in a café, in a park. The expert prefers meeting outside the company. “Like an athlete who visualizes his descent on skis, visualize the place and imagine your conversation.” Attention: this place must correspond to the personality, to the ecosystem of his colleague. Then, wonder about the process: “I like the idea of walking while talking.” Otherwise, sit side by side? Face to face ? Third advice: “Be empathetic, direct and above all transparent.” Do not procrastinate, nor play riddles. Do not smash the colleague in five words: “Your promotion is no” and run away. The speech is prepared with tact and precision. It is then necessary to “take the time for the person to express their emotions”. Do not rush her, let her express her feelings, her amazement, her fears, her anger. She’s crying, so what? When you give years or incredible intensity to a job and you hear that the project stops or that the reward will not come, it is normal to experience a storm. Arnaud Collery also advises the manager to bring his colleague “a little more in relation to his life”. Customize. A fortiori when we announce a dismissal, but it is valid for any big disappointment. Not necessarily the affordability of a blue house in San Francisco, if he’s a sand yachting madman. “We can also bring him a book. No one will be fooled, but giving something personal at such a time can be good for the recipient.” Tact and empathy. Sixth advice: “Whatever happens, see him again. At least twice, even five minutes. Make an appointment before leaving him.” The objective is to see how he “digests” this news, if we can do something and how we leave. “Through such an approach, the manager’s sense of commitment is real.”
Avoid the coffee machine
“The world of work is not the world of Care Bears”, confirms Tania Mintsa, consultant chief happiness officer (CHO, Corporate Happiness Manager). Like Arnaud Collery, she insists on the framework where the conversation will take place. “Take care to find yourself in a safe and secure place! Do not announce the news in front of the coffee machine or in plenary meeting in front of all the colleagues.” Second advice: the tone. “You announce bad news, be firm but not moralizing, inquisitive or even too friendly.” Third advice: the bottom. “Stay factual and argue, be solution-oriented and don’t forget ‘the after'”. Even if the person leaves, they can become a future client and remain an employer brand ambassador. Fourth advice: the shape. “The key word is benevolence. Stay human. Show empathy and put yourself in his shoes for a moment.” “The problem with the internet start-up craze isn’t that too many people are starting businesses, it’s that there aren’t enough people hanging on because there are many moments filled with despair and agony when you have to fire people, abandon projects and deal with difficult situations. But that’s when you find out who you are and what your values are.” This was the conclusion of Steve Jobs, founder of an extraordinary community and native of San Francisco.