Displaying Fairness While Delivering Bad News: Testing the Effectiveness of
Organizational Bad News Training in the Layoff Context
Managers are often underprepared, as a solution bad new training integrating concepts from
healthcare and justice theory.
Lay-offs, negative feedback, negative hiring, no promotion, warnings are examples of bad
news. This is stressful for both sides, the employee's self-esteem could feel hurt and uncertain
about the future, managers could feel responsible for harm, be afraid of damaging their own
image, guilty, and afraid of negative responses.
Introducing organizational bad new training
The bad news delivery component of training. Decreasing the stress and uncertainty of the
manager will improve his performance. The manager needs to clear about his role, sometimes
giving bad news but for a greater good. Specific knowledge about behaviour is needed for a
sense of control over the situation. Their goal is to aid in acceptance and preserve positivity in
the employee. SPIKES, used in healthcare:
S: setting up (the situation before hand)
P: perception (how aware is the patient)
I: invitation (do you want to hear the bad news)
K: knowledge (deliver the bad news
E: empathy
S: strategy (what will we do now, follow-ups)
For management it is a little different:
1. Setting up
2. Deliver bad news immediately
3. Detailed explanation for the bad news
4. Empathy
5. Information about what now
6. Summary of the conversation
The fairness component of training. Interpersonal sensitivity and fairness, procedural fairness
seems to be crucial for favourable reactions. This refers to the processes and procedures used
to come to the decision.
Procedures are fair if they are used consistently across persons and time (consistency) and
without any bias or self-interest (bias suppression), if they are based on accurate information
(accuracy), represent the needs of all parties involved (representativeness), and follow moral
and ethical standards (ethicality).
To implement the consistency principle while giving bad news, managers should communicate
the news in an unambiguous and coherent manner throughout the conversation, and they should
demonstrate bias suppression by appealing to the facts instead of attributing the bad news to the
employee’s personality.
To promote representativeness, managers should offer two-way communication and give
employees the opportunity to voice their views; accuracy should be fostered by providing
adequate and reasonable explanations of the bad news; and the principle of ethicality should be
Organizational Bad News Training in the Layoff Context
Managers are often underprepared, as a solution bad new training integrating concepts from
healthcare and justice theory.
Lay-offs, negative feedback, negative hiring, no promotion, warnings are examples of bad
news. This is stressful for both sides, the employee's self-esteem could feel hurt and uncertain
about the future, managers could feel responsible for harm, be afraid of damaging their own
image, guilty, and afraid of negative responses.
Introducing organizational bad new training
The bad news delivery component of training. Decreasing the stress and uncertainty of the
manager will improve his performance. The manager needs to clear about his role, sometimes
giving bad news but for a greater good. Specific knowledge about behaviour is needed for a
sense of control over the situation. Their goal is to aid in acceptance and preserve positivity in
the employee. SPIKES, used in healthcare:
S: setting up (the situation before hand)
P: perception (how aware is the patient)
I: invitation (do you want to hear the bad news)
K: knowledge (deliver the bad news
E: empathy
S: strategy (what will we do now, follow-ups)
For management it is a little different:
1. Setting up
2. Deliver bad news immediately
3. Detailed explanation for the bad news
4. Empathy
5. Information about what now
6. Summary of the conversation
The fairness component of training. Interpersonal sensitivity and fairness, procedural fairness
seems to be crucial for favourable reactions. This refers to the processes and procedures used
to come to the decision.
Procedures are fair if they are used consistently across persons and time (consistency) and
without any bias or self-interest (bias suppression), if they are based on accurate information
(accuracy), represent the needs of all parties involved (representativeness), and follow moral
and ethical standards (ethicality).
To implement the consistency principle while giving bad news, managers should communicate
the news in an unambiguous and coherent manner throughout the conversation, and they should
demonstrate bias suppression by appealing to the facts instead of attributing the bad news to the
employee’s personality.
To promote representativeness, managers should offer two-way communication and give
employees the opportunity to voice their views; accuracy should be fostered by providing
adequate and reasonable explanations of the bad news; and the principle of ethicality should be
