Recently, I witnessed a leader suggest to an employee that a major job duty would be outsourced. While the leader had not meant to imply that the employee would be laid off his words had a profound effect on the employee. The employee immediately began to panic that they would be laid off now in a time when their family was barely making ends meet.

As managers, supervisors, and leaders what we say right now to employees is especially important. These are scary times and employees feel unsure about their financial future. It is in this time that we need to be especially vigilant in thinking things through before we speak.

As a leader you should:

1. Be Honest - While there may be limits on how much information you can release, you should make sure that any information you can release is factual. Don’t tell employees lies just because you think it will make them feel better.
2. Be Positive - Employees right now are scared. Scaring them more is not going to help with their productivity. Find the good in all situations so that they may have a shred of hope about their future.
3. Communicate - Most people would rather be stabbed in the front than stabbed in the back. Communicating fully with employees may soften the blow.

Conversely, there are some things that you should absolutely not do right now:

1. Don’t Speculate - Employees have enough scary scenarios going around in their heads. The last thing they need is for you to add more to their worries.
2. Don’t Gossip - Gossip from a leader is going to be viewed as fact. You must rise above the urge to gossip and stick to the facts.
3. Don’t Make Promises - With all of the uncertainty it’s quite possible that you may not be able to keep promises you make even if they’re meant in earnest at the time. The more false hope you give the angrier employees will be when that promise is broken.

It’s a hard time to be an employee right now but it’s an even harder time to be a leader.