Outsourcing & Divestment – Employee Communications (1)

Employee communications are key to a successful outsourcing or divestment plan.

This is the first in a series of HRAskMe.com nuggets on the subject of employee communications associated with a outsourcing or divestment.

Laying the foundation:

• Decisions to outsource or divest an important asset obviously will be preceded by changes to the business environment.
• For example – Our former employer operated a small off-shore tanker fleet to move bulk product. Management was aware of coming changes to technology and government regulations that would require very significant investments to upgrade the fleet. Concurrently there was significant spare capacity in the shipping business making private operators very competitive. Recognizing these realities management knew that our fleet might be at risk. 
• Management took the decision to be very forthright with crew about the challenges to be faced. No options for the fleet were discussed during these employee forums. At about the same time management communicated a set of HR principles that would be applied to employees should something as significant as divestment be decided.
• We found that these efforts created a solid foundation for future communications about options and the decision making process.
• It was important for employees to understand the WHY before we moved on to the WHAT and HOW.

Contact me at HRAskMe.mgb@gmail.com if you want to explore this topic further.