Business ethics: how to forge trust

An article in The New Yorker tells about the precarious situation of managers, who during this time of "wobbly economy" are loaded with the nasty job of announcing to their underlings the names of those who are layed off and those who are spared (this time!). The article deals with the question of how managers can keep up trust and motivation among the employees that are left. I'm sure some of the business CEO:s and management researchers expressing their worries have the best of intentions - but the road to hell is paved... Of course, it's quite all right that employees are told about the reasons for lay-offs, and if there is more to come. Discussion is good. But I don't know; when I read this I am reminded of just how uncritical management theory tends to be, well-meaning on the surface, but general structures and attitudes are left unquestioned:

“It seems to me that the main job of any leader is to help define reality,” Professor Bennis said. Leaders who can help employees understand the reasons for layoffs, and also acknowledge the pain incurred, will have a better shot at rebuilding trust and motivating those who remain.

Employees need to hear right away where cutbacks are being made, and whether additional reductions are coming. Many employees wonder about the fairness of layoffs, and managers can go a long way toward re-establishing trust if they can describe sacrifices of their own, like pay cuts or forgone bonuses.

Help define reality? That is nice, of course, when discussions are open. But here it seems all too cleafr that the aim of the managers' efforts is to make employees feel at ease with lay-offs - which in turn will have a positive influence on performance. To me, this has the ring of persuasion, rather than discussion (in which managers may feel just as alienated as the rest of the personnel). And the end of the quote, the idea that managers should emphasize the sacrifices they have made, is simply grotesque.

But of course, the wobbly economy will dictate the actions of business firms. Or whatever...