3 Steps to Handle Closing Your Business

18 Apr 3 Steps to Handle Closing Your Business

When it comes to selling your business, you can’t ignore the human aspect involved. Whether you’re selling your business on good terms or in the midst of a financial crunch, it is important to consider how your employees will take the news. How you handle telling them will be key in how smooth (or bumpy) the selling process may be. Here are the three must-do steps to break the news without losing your best employees before you’re ready.

1. Gather as much information as you can. Are your employees transferring over to the new company? Are you closing and terminating all positions? When will the transition take place? Knowing as many details you can is important to understand the right time to tell your teams. You can imagine for an employee, having the news that your position may be cut, is jarring and can be life-changing. You want to be prepared to answer as many questions as you can. This is especially important if your employees will be able to remain in their positions under the new company. The last thing you want to do is to seem uncertain about what will happen next because this will only breed uncertainty in your workplace and will push employees to begin looking for new positions.
   
   
2. Tell your team all at once. Rumors during this time can destroy the morale within your company. You want to avoid breaking the news in a piecemeal fashion. Though this may seem more convenient, it only opens the door for the news to spread with inaccuracies. You want to have control over the situation and the best way to do this is to tell the entire staff, at the same time. Following up with written information that outlines important dates and/or tasks to do would also be helpful.
   
   
3. Be available for questions. It is important to understand that this can be a challenging time for your staff, especially if they will be asked to work under a new company. Telling them all at once of the impending changes is vital, but so too is making yourself available for questions as they arise during this time of transition. You don’t want your employees to feel that they have been left out in the cold and do not have the administrative support they need to navigate their changing work landscape.

Following these three steps can help you deliver the news in a respectful way and give your employees the information they need to know what to expect.