CARE-ing Communication - Delivering Bad News with Finesse

The first quarter of the year is a time for new beginnings, and a reflection on the year past.  In fact, a large majority of companies conduct their employee performance reviews during this period for just this reason.  For most companies, 2009 was a year of struggle, with everyone seeming to be forced to do more with less.  Layoffs and job loss abounded, and those left in their roles were working harder than ever before to help their organizations succeed. 
 
But how do you tell someone that although they worked hard, their performance was not effective?  How do you break the news to employees who have already sacrificed pay raises and bonuses, and have been working longer hours and performing additional duties, that their work was good but company performance did not rebound, and as a result there will be no salary increases, no bonuses?  How do you tell an organization that has been struggling to survive and succeed over the last year that even though everyone did everything right, and the economy seems to be improving, your organization is going to have to eliminate more positions in order to survive?

When delivering bad news, whether to an individual in a performance review, to a large employee group, or even to family members or friends, the important thing to know is that it is often the manner in which the news is delivered that is remembered, much more than the actual news itself.  With the right delivery, even negative news can have a positive outcome.  There is a simple formula to follow:  take CARE when delivering bad news.
 
Confidence - Plan your presentation before delivery. Be calm and deliberate as you speak to your audience, which will convey your confidence that even though the message has a negative connotation, you are confident in an ultimately positive outcome.
 
Authenticity - Be yourself, even in the awkward position of being the bearer of bad news. By embracing the reality of a negative truth, and yet remaining consistent to core values, you will impart empowerment rather than helplessness to your audience.
 
Rationale - Do your research. Know your data. Give your audience the factual reasoning that resulted in the decisions being shared with them. Once people have an understanding of the why, then they can move on to the what's next.
 
Empathy - Even though you are in the very uncomfortable position of being the bearer of bad news, the truth is it's not about you. You have had time to plan, to become confident in your course of action, to absorb the reality of the facts and impending negative outcome. Your audience has not had the same benefit of time. Understand that they are being dealt a blow, and in that moment, it's all about them. By conveying this understanding to you audience, you will help them move more quickly through any feelings of hurt or anger over the bad news, and on to their next steps forward.
 

When people are given unexpected news that will have a negative impact on them, and CARE is not taken in the delivery of that bad news, there are two natural human responses. If the bad news is a result of a person's poor performance, they may respond with embarrassed anger or possible defensiveness from an overexalted view of their own performance. If the bad news is unexpected, and something they had no real personal control over, they may respond with hurt and fear.  Both of these responses can cause your audience to shut down, and become focused on their negative emotions about the bad news.  However, if CARE is applied when delivering bad news, the receiver is more likely to acknowledge the situation and their emotional response, accept the change and then step forward into what can I do now?