By the time employees hear they are at risk of redundancy, HR and leaders may have been living with the detail for weeks. But for the person receiving the news, everything can change in a single sentence. That’s why communicating redundancy to employees needs thought, care and an understanding of how people actually hear difficult news.
My conversation with Katie Murray reminded me that this is never only about the formal steps. It’s about the person sitting across the table from you, what they deserve from you in that moment and how the whole experience feels – not just whether the right boxes have been ticked.
Katie spent 20 years working in HR before moving into HR copywriting so she brings a really interesting perspective. She has managed redundancy processes, supported line managers and sat in those difficult meetings. Looking back, she shared some examples that show how much communication matters.
When things go wrong, ownership matters
One of Katie’s stories was the kind that makes any HR professional’s heart sink.
During a redundancy process, she had prepared envelopes with individual redundancy pay details. She thought she had checked them but one employee received the wrong information.
His concern wasn’t just that he had seen someone else’s details – it was that the other person might see his.
“You can absolutely understand why that would be an issue for him,” Katie said, “and why he would be concerned about that.”
A few days later, she went into a follow-up meeting and he was understandably angry. His body language said everything.
“I walked into the meeting and thought, I’ve got two options here.”
So before they began, she said:
“Before we even start today, I want to hold my hands up and apologise, profusely, for what happened the other day. I thought I checked it. It is inexcusable that I didn’t make sure that it was right and I’m very sorry.”
That apology changed the meeting.
“Just those few words set the tone completely,” Katie said. “His behaviour changed immediately.”
They went on to have one of the most productive conversations they’d had.
What struck me was Katie’s willingness to own it. She could have explained how busy she was or how many letters there had been but she didn’t, she recognised that the individual had been let down.
As Katie put it: “He wasn’t let down by the process. He’d been let down by me.”
That matters because communicating redundancy isn’t just about the planned message, it’s also about how we respond when something goes wrong.
How a redundancy consultation meeting checklist can support the conversation, not replace it
Katie also shared a very different example: a consultation meeting that lasted about two minutes.
Technically, the right person was in the room because they were the employee’s line manager. But the relationship between the manager and the individual wasn’t strong and the meeting became focused on ticking the process box rather than meeting the person where they were.
“There was a lot of anger kicking around in that room,” Katie said. “There was a lot of upset. There was door slamming because the person who was delivering the message just, in a lot of ways, wasn’t the right person to deliver it.”
That’s an important reminder. When planning redundancy consultation meetings, it isn’t enough to think about who should deliver the message on paper. You also need to think about the relationship, the manager’s confidence and whether they are the right person to lead that particular conversation.
That doesn’t mean structure is the problem. Structure can be really helpful.
Katie talked about using templates and being challenged by someone who asked: “Why have you got a template? Is it because I’m not important enough?”
Her answer was brilliant.
“I have a template because everyone is important. You are important and so is the next person that I’m going to speak to.”
That’s exactly how I see it too.
A redundancy consultation meeting checklist can help managers cover the right information and avoid missing key points, especially when they’re having several emotional conversations in one day. But it should never make the conversation feel robotic.
The checklist is there to support the person leading the meeting so they can stay present with the person in front of them.
Preparing managers for redundancy consultation meetings
A big part of redundancy communication is preparing line managers for the reality of these conversations.
Not just the documents and the process but the reality.
Some managers will naturally be empathetic while others will be more process-focused. Some will feel they need to have every answer because their team usually expects them to know what’s happening.
But redundancy is one of those situations where guessing, bluffing or thinking aloud can make things worse.
Katie made the point that some of the best outcomes come from being honest enough to say:
“Actually, I’m not sure. I want to go and check that … and I will come back to you.”
That is often much more reassuring than trying to answer something too quickly.
The important thing is the follow-up, ensuring that if someone says they’ll come back with an answer, they come back. In a redundancy process, trust is built or damaged in those small moments.
Silence fills the gaps
One of the strongest themes in our conversation was the danger of silence.
Katie’s first experience of redundancy came during her university placement year. The company was closing one site and there was a 90-day consultation happening elsewhere before redundancies were made in her own office.
She remembered how that communication landed.
“They had stone-cold silence for 90 days.”
That really stayed with her – and it’s something HR teams need to be mindful of.
There is often a fear of saying too much or saying the wrong thing but saying nothing can be just as damaging. When people don’t hear anything, they fill the gaps themselves, often with the worst-case scenario.
As Katie said: “A void of information actually makes things worse.”
This is why communicating redundancy to employees needs to continue beyond the announcement and the formal meetings. People may need reminders, FAQ updates, check-ins and simple reassurance that they haven’t been forgotten, even when there is no new information to share.
Katie put it so well: “Delivering it once doesn’t make it land. Delivering it once creates a whole bunch of questions.”
For HR and leadership teams, announcement day can feel like a milestone because the news is finally out in the open. But for the people receiving it, that may be the first moment they are trying to make sense of what this means for them.
Normal conversations still matter
Something strange can happen when a redundancy process starts. The informal conversations that used to happen can suddenly stop.
Managers become awkward, colleagues don’t know what to say and people at risk can start to feel as though they have already disappeared from the organisation.
Katie described managers who think: “Oh, I can only talk to them if we’re in a consultation meeting now.”
Her response was clear: “No, that’s not it. That’s really not it.”
Of course, managers need boundaries. They need to understand what belongs in a formal meeting, what can be answered informally and what needs to be taken back to HR. But avoiding someone altogether is rarely the answer.
People at risk of redundancy are still employees. Nothing has been finally decided and even where the outcome feels likely, the way they are treated during that period matters.
Flexibility within the framework
Redundancy needs consistency but consistency doesn’t mean treating everyone identically.
People will need different things from the process. One person may need more meetings, while another may need time to process before they can ask questions. Someone else may want a companion in the room but not necessarily when financial details are being discussed.
Katie gave a thoughtful example of this. When someone had brought a colleague as a companion, she would explain that the next part of the meeting involved finances and give them the choice.
“Very happy to have your companion here. Equally, if you would prefer to discuss that without them at that point, happy to do that as well.”
That small moment gives the individual some control in a process where control can feel like it has been taken away.
And often, that is where good communication sits – not in big gestures but in noticing what the person might need and being willing to flex within the framework.
Think about what happens after
Towards the end of our conversation, Katie made a point that is easy to miss when you’re in the middle of managing the process.
She said HR teams need to think about “how do you need the business and the leadership team and the HR team to be viewed when you’re done?”
Because most redundancy processes don’t affect everyone. There will be people who remain – and they will remember how their colleagues were treated.
They will notice whether managers stayed visible, whether communication was thoughtful and whether the organisation handled difficult decisions in a way that matched its values.
As Katie said: “A lot of people think about how do we get through the actual process? They forget about how do we embed the next bit.”
In other words, the communication doesn’t end when the formal process does.
There is no perfect way to communicate redundancy. It is always going to be difficult.
But there are some things that make a real difference:
- Preparing managers for the emotional reality, not just the process
- Keeping communication open between meetings
- Using templates and checklists to support the conversation, not replace it
- Being honest when you don’t know the answer
- Following up when you say you will
- Thinking carefully about who delivers the message and how it might land
Because communicating redundancy to employees is not just about what is said in the formal meeting. It is about the whole experience around it.
And as Katie’s stories showed so clearly, people remember the tone, the care, the apology, the silence, the awkwardness and the moments where someone made them feel like they still mattered.
About the Guest
Katie Murray is a HR copywriter with 20 years’ experience working in HR, mainly in generalist roles alongside specialist work in areas such as benefits. She now uses that background to help HR businesses and people-focused organisations communicate clearly, thoughtfully and with the people receiving the message in mind.
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