How Much Honesty Do I Owe My Employees?

Dear Liz,

I've worked for my company for six years. I was a researcher for two years, then I became a Team Leader and for the last two years I've managed our Research and Planning department.

I manage a fantastic team of six people. I am very proud of our team. For months there have been rumblings that the company might outsource its research, planning and forecasting departments, which are service providers to the rest of the company.

In December my boss let me know that it's official.

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Our department will begin to move out-of-house in the fall of 2017 and the department won't exist by early 2018.

I have an employment contract that I negotiated when I was promoted to the manager role. I will be covered with a severance package, but my employees do not have employment agreements.

My boss told me not to say anything to the team because he doesn't want to start a rush for the exits. I can understand that but I feel that ethically I owe my teammates as much advance notice as possible that their jobs are going away.

My boss says that the outsourcing vendor may offer my team members jobs, but the vendor hasn't even been selected yet and there's no guarantee that any of them will get hired by whichever vendor we choose.

What is my ethical duty to my employees? How should I proceed?

Thanks,

Greg

Dear Greg,

It is surprising how little we talk about managerial quandaries like yours, considering how often managers run into ethical dilemmas.

By any ethical standard, you owe your employees advance notice that their jobs are going away. Your boss does not understand that this situation crops up in business all the time and is easily surmounted.

You can explain to your boss how countless other organizations have handled this issue in the past.

You don't want to surprise your employees with the news "Guess what? Your job won't exist after next Friday!" but you also don't want to give them the news "Your jobs will all be eliminated over the next 12 months, but that's all I am at liberty to share" which would only freak them out and destroy productivity for no gain.

Here's how to handle your situation. You will meet with your team and let them know about the gradual outsourcing of your department's functions.

You will give them a rough timeline. You will let them know that after the vendor is chosen, some of them may be offered jobs with the vendor and some may not.

You will tell them what kind of severance package your company will offer them if they stick around long enough to get laid off. Often a severance package is based on years of service.

Many managers in your shoes also offer "stay bonuses" that pay some or all employees for remaining with the company through a transition period. You and your boss can decide together whether that sort of bonus program is appropriate in your situation.

Forewarned is forearmed, as the old expression goes! Filling in your employees on the company's plans for your department empowers them by giving them the ability to decide between staying or leaving.

If some of your teammates quit their jobs before the transition you can use contractors and temps to fill in for them. It's not ideal but it's a better solution than lying by omission to your valued teammates every day between now and the end of their jobs!

You have a professional and personal reputation to maintain. You cannot sully it or wreck your trusting relationships with your teammates by intentionally keeping them in the dark.

Sit down with your boss and explain that you cannot destroy the trust you've established with your teammates by remaining silent until the last possible minute. That isn't necessary, anyway.

I have seen employees give a tremendous effort to a transition project knowing that they'd be unemployed when the transition was over. Trust your employees to do the same thing!

All the best,

Liz