“We’re Restructuring”: The Comms Guru Guide to Announcing the News Nobody Wants to Hear

There are certain phrases employees generally don't enjoy hearing.

“Can I have a quick word?”

“We need to talk about your objectives.”

“There's been a problem with payroll.”

And, sitting proudly near the top of the workplace anxiety chart:

‍“Today, we're announcing some changes to our organisational structure.”

Ah. A restructure.

Few words have quite the same ability to transform an ordinary Tuesday morning into an organisation-wide game of Is It Me?

Suddenly Teams goes suspiciously quiet. Private WhatsApp groups become extremely active. People who haven't spoken for six months are messaging each other: “Have you heard anything?”

And somewhere in Internal Comms, somebody is staring at a draft announcement containing the phrase “right-sizing our operating model to support future growth” and wondering whether it's too late to become a florist.

Restructures are difficult.

Sometimes they're necessary. Sometimes roles change. Sometimes jobs disappear. Sometimes entire teams are reorganised.

Internal communication cannot make those things painless.

But it can make an enormous difference to whether employees experience the process as clear, respectful and human or confusing, evasive and terrifying.

So, how do you communicate the news nobody particularly wants to hear?

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This isn't just another comms campaign

Before we get into messaging, channels, videos and FAQs, one very important point: if a restructure involves potential redundancies, communication planning must sit alongside the correct HR, employment-law and consultation processes, and not gallop cheerfully ahead of them waving a launch plan.

This blog is about good internal comms. It is not offering legal advice.

In the UK, Acas says employers should tell affected employees as soon as possible when redundancies are being considered and explain why, how many redundancies are proposed and what happens next. Consultation should take place before decisions about redundancies are made and must be genuine and meaningful.

There are also specific legal requirements around collective consultation. Currently, where an employer proposes 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within a 90-day period, collective consultation requirements apply.

Your HR and legal teams need to establish what can be said, to whom, when and through which process. Comms then has another very important job: Making sure it sounds like one human being talking to another.

Because “legally correct” and “well communicated” are not automatically the same thing.

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The first rule: remember what employees actually hear

Leadership may think it's announcing:

“A proposed organisational redesign to ensure the business remains competitive in a changing marketplace.”

Employees hear:

‍“I might be losing my job!”

That's the context for everything that follows.

Which means this is not the moment for a leisurely seven-paragraph introduction about macroeconomic headwinds, strategic optimisation and the exciting future ahead.

Get to the point. Quickly. People need to understand:

• What's happening?
• Why is it happening?
• Who might be affected?
• What has already been decided?
• What has NOT yet been decided?
• What happens next?
• When will I know more?
• Where can I ask questions or get support?

Your carefully crafted corporate narrative is competing against someone's mortgage payment.

Think, write and act accordingly.

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Please don't call redundancies “an exciting new chapter”

There is a particular form of corporate communication that deserves to be fired directly into the sun. It's the relentlessly upbeat restructure announcement.

You know the sort…

“We're delighted to announce an exciting evolution of our operating model which will create a leaner, more agile organisation…”

Delighted? People may be losing their jobs, Brenda. Read the room.

This doesn't mean leadership should communicate like everybody's attending a Victorian funeral. The organisation may genuinely have a positive future. The restructure may genuinely make it stronger. There may genuinely be opportunities.

But tone matters. If employees are worried about their livelihoods, relentless positivity can feel insensitive or even dishonest. So, acknowledge reality…

‍“We know this news will create uncertainty and concern.”

Perfectly reasonable.

“We appreciate that some colleagues will have difficult questions.”

Human.

“This is an exciting opportunity for everyone.”

Perhaps put the keyboard down for a minute.

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Tell people what you know. And what you don't

One of the biggest communication temptations during restructures is trying to make everything sound more certain than it is.

Don't.

Employees can smell corporate fog from several postcodes away. If something hasn't been decided, say so. If consultation is genuinely underway, make that clear. If you don't yet know precisely how individual teams will be affected, say: “We don't yet have that answer.”

Then add: “We expect to be able to update you by [date].”

That second sentence matters enormously. Uncertainty is uncomfortable. Indefinite uncertainty is much worse. One of the most useful things Internal Comms can build during a restructure isn't simply a messaging plan.

It's a certainty map:

We know this.

We don't know this yet.

This is being consulted on.

This decision has been made.

You'll hear more about this on Tuesday.

That helps stop speculation filling every information vacuum you accidentally create. And believe us, it will.

Nature abhors a vacuum. Employees adore filling one with screenshots and theories.

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Announcement Day is a choreography exercise

The wording matters. But so does the order.

• Who hears first?
• When?
• From whom?
• Through which channel?
• What happens five minutes afterwards?
• What can managers answer?
• What happens if somebody is on holiday, on a night shift, driving, working remotely or simply isn't sitting at a laptop at precisely 10:03am?

A restructure announcement needs to be choreographed carefully.

For example, depending on the circumstances and legal/consultation requirements, you may need a sequence involving leadership, affected employees, employee representatives, managers, wider teams and other audiences.

This is where HR, Legal, Internal Comms and leadership need to be extremely well aligned.

Because nothing says “we've got this under control” quite like an employee receiving a company-wide announcement about changes affecting their role before anyone has spoken to them personally.

Acas recommends meeting with all employees affected by proposed redundancies, not just those immediately at risk, explaining the reasons, scale and next steps and encouraging questions. It also recommends continuing to keep employees informed throughout the process.

This isn't a normal product launch. There is no prize for creating a teaser campaign.

“Something BIG is coming Monday!”

No. Absolutely not. Put Canva down.

Managers need to know first

Picture the scene. Company announcement lands at 10am. Employee turns to manager at 10:01. “What does this mean for our team?”

Manager: “Erm... I've just seen the email too.”

Wonderful. [Insert eye-roll emoji.]

Managers are one of the most important communication channels during any organisational change, yet they're frequently treated as another audience rather than part of the communication infrastructure.

They need preparing. Properly. Not three minutes before everyone else.

Give them the context behind the change, the agreed narrative, what is and isn't confirmed, likely questions, escalation routes, support information and clear guidance on what they must not speculate about.

Acas specifically recommends ensuring managers leading consultation meetings are trained, fully informed about the proposals and process, able to explain the plan clearly and equipped with Q&A material.

And allow them to be human. Managers don't need to become talking corporate PDFs. If somebody asks: “Is my job safe?” and the manager genuinely doesn't know, the correct response is not: “We're currently exploring a range of opportunities to optimise our organisational design.”

The correct response is: “I don't know yet. I appreciate that's difficult, and I'll share the answer as soon as I can.”

Much better. Fewer syllables, too.

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Your FAQ is about to become the most popular document you've ever written

Nobody cares about your FAQ until they really care about your FAQ.

During restructuring, they really care.

Build it around the questions employees are actually asking, rather than the questions the project team wishes they were asking.

That probably means covering things like:

• Why is this happening?
• Which roles or teams are affected?
• How will consultation work?
• When will decisions be made?
• How will selection work where applicable?
• Are alternative roles available?
• What support is available?
• What happens to people who remain?
• Where can I ask a confidential question?

And keep updating it. A restructure FAQ shouldn't be a beautiful artefact frozen in time. It should be a living record of what employees need to know.

If the same question is being asked repeatedly, that's not an annoying employee problem. That's a communication signal.

Listen to it.

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Don't forget the people who are staying

Restructure communication understandably focuses heavily on people whose jobs may be affected. As it should.

But eventually there's another audience needing serious attention: everyone else.

The people remaining after a restructure can experience guilt, anxiety, increased workload, reduced trust and uncertainty about whether another round is coming.

They've also just watched colleagues and friends go through something difficult.

Then organisations sometimes cheerfully announce: “Now we can move forward!” Can we? Could everyone perhaps have Thursday afternoon first?

CIPD notes that redundancy can lower morale and productivity, which is one reason compassionate handling matters throughout the process. For remaining employees, communication needs to answer a different set of questions.

• What does the organisation look like now?
• Has my role changed?
• What are our priorities?
• Who makes decisions?
• How will workloads be managed?
• What happens to projects owned by people who have left?
• And the giant elephant standing on the conference-room table: “Is that it, or are there more cuts coming?”

If leadership genuinely believes the restructure is complete, say so.

If it cannot promise that, don't.

False reassurance has a nasty habit of returning later with a baseball bat.

The rumour mill will always be faster than you

Internal Comms has many competitors.

Email overload. Poor attention spans. Meetings. TikTok.

But during a restructure, your greatest competitor is:

‍Janet heard from Steve that Finance has been told the Manchester office is closing.

Good luck beating that on open rate!

Rumours thrive where information is scarce, slow or untrusted. You will never eliminate them completely. Don't try. Instead, create reliable places where employees can check information quickly.

That could include a dedicated intranet hub, frequently updated FAQs, manager briefings, regular email updates, employee Q&As or a clear route for confidential questions.

And when a widespread rumour is wrong, correct it. Quickly.

Don't spend four days debating whether acknowledging it will “give it oxygen.”

It's already wearing expensive trainers and running laps around the building.

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Video can help, but use it carefully

Video can be extremely powerful during organisational change because employees can see and hear leaders directly.

Tone. Body language. Emotion. Sincerity. Empathy.

You know, all the things that disappear from an email.

A short leadership video can explain the business context and acknowledge the human impact far more effectively than a 1,400-word memo.

But there are rules.

• Don't over-script it.
• Don't make it glossy for the sake of being glossy.
• Don't add upbeat corporate music underneath an announcement involving job losses unless your ambition is to create the world's bleakest recruitment advert.
• And don't use video where a private human conversation is required.

Video is excellent for providing context, leadership visibility, answering common questions and giving regular updates. It is not a substitute for personal communication with affected employees.

Human first. Channel second.

Always.

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Consultation means listening, not waiting for your turn to talk

This is particularly important where redundancies are proposed.

Consultation is not: “Here is the decision we've already made. Any questions?”

Acas describes consultation as talking and listening to affected employees, including discussing alternatives that could avoid or reduce redundancies. Employers do not have to accept every suggestion, but they should genuinely consider them.

That's an important communication principle even beyond the legal requirements.

Employees may have ideas. They may identify consequences leadership hasn't considered. They may spot operational problems. They may suggest alternatives.

So, create genuine feedback loops.

Listen. Respond. And where suggestions aren't adopted, explain why where appropriate.

Nothing destroys trust quite like asking for employee input after everybody has realised the answer was already laminated.

Don't disappear after the announcement

This might be the most common restructure communication failure of all.

Day One:

• CEO announcement.
• Town hall.
• Video.
• Manager briefing.
• FAQ.
• Intranet hub.
• Approximately 7,000 (long and unnecessarily corporate) words of communication.

‍Day Nine:

• Tumbleweed.

Meanwhile employees remain in consultation, uncertainty continues, rumours grow and everyone is wondering what happened.

Communication needs to continue even when there isn't a dramatic new development. Sometimes the update is simply: “Consultation is continuing. We know people are waiting for answers. There are no new decisions to share today, and our next planned update will be Friday.”

That is still useful communication.

Silence is rarely reassuring during uncertainty.

A simple communication rhythm can make an enormous difference:

What has changed since the last update?

What hasn't?

What happens next?

When will we hear again?

Rinse & repeat.

It won't remove uncertainty. But it makes uncertainty more manageable.

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Think campaign, not announcement

This is where proper change comms and campaign planning come into their own.

A restructure isn't one message. It's a journey containing different audiences, different emotional states and different information needs.

Before announcement, communication may focus on preparation and manager readiness.

During consultation, it needs clarity, listening, FAQs and regular updates.

When decisions are confirmed, people need personal information, support and practical next steps.

Afterwards, remaining employees need help understanding the new organisation, rebuilding confidence and reconnecting with strategy.

That's a campaign. Not an email.

And this is precisely why trying to invent restructure communications at 4:47pm the night before announcement day is generally considered suboptimal.

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Tone of voice matters more when the message is difficult

Anyone can sound human when announcing free ice cream. The real test of an organisation's tone of voice comes when the news is difficult.

Do you suddenly become strangely legalistic?

Does every sentence contain “therefore”, “notwithstanding” and “operating model”?

Does the CEO who normally says “Hi everyone” suddenly begin: “Dear Colleagues, Following a comprehensive strategic review…”

Employees notice.

Good tone of voice during difficult change should be:

• Clear.
• Calm.
• Honest.
• Compassionate.
• Specific.
• Not matey.
• Not flippant.
• Not euphemistic.
• And definitely not stuffed with corporate jargon designed to make unpleasant news sound nicer.

Calling job losses “workforce optimisation” doesn't make them less painful. It just makes you sound frightened of the word “redundancy.” And a bit callous.

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Check the health of your comms

A comms health check before major change can save a lot of pain!

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Here's something worth considering before the next restructure, merger, transformation or major organisational change arrives.

• Would your existing communication ecosystem actually cope?
• Do employees trust your channels?
• Can you reach frontline workers quickly?
• Is the intranet easy to navigate?
• Are managers credible communicators?
• Do leaders have a recognisable voice?
• Can employees ask questions?
• Do you know which channels people actually use?

If the answer to several of those is: “Hmmm”, then the middle of a restructure is not the ideal moment to discover it.

A comms health check can identify weaknesses before you're relying on those channels to carry the most sensitive communication your organisation may deliver all year.

It's the communications equivalent of checking the lifeboats before you've hit the iceberg.

Much less exciting. Significantly more useful.

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The bottom line

Nobody enjoys communicating a restructure. Nobody enjoys receiving one. There isn't a magical combination of words that makes potential redundancy feel pleasant. Your job isn't to make difficult news sound good. It's to make difficult news clear, respectful, timely and human.

• Tell employees what you know.
• Tell them what you don't.
• Explain what happens next.
• Equip managers properly.
• Create genuine opportunities to ask questions.
• Keep communicating throughout the process.
• Support the people affected.
• Remember the people who remain.
• And resist, with every fibre of your professional being, the temptation to describe the whole thing as: “An exciting transformation journey.”

Because during difficult change, employees don't need spin.

They need clarity. They need compassion. They need leaders they can believe (in). And they need communication that treats them like adults rather than stakeholders being shepherded through Slide 67.

Get that right and you won't make restructuring painless. But you can make it feel fairer, more human and considerably less chaotic.

And when you're announcing news nobody wants to hear, that's a pretty important place to start.

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