It was unusually quiet as I placed my key in the door lock.  The normally brightly lighted porch was dark, but I assumed that the bulb must have burned out.  As I opened the door and reached for the light switch, I was startled by a loud chorus of voices.  “Surprise!  Happy Birthday!”  Shaken, I looked around the room at the laughing faces of close friends and family who had successfully taken me by surprise.
 
We may tolerate or enjoy surprises in our personal lives, but surprises in the work environment are not always welcomed by employees.  A good manager or supervisor will exercise caution when introducing the element of surprise.  Let’s take a quick look at several situations in which a surprise can hurt morale, reduce productivity, or even produce potential liability for an employer.
 
Terminations
An employee that is surprised by having his or her employment terminated is an employee that is more likely to seek to recover perceived damages from the employer.  At the very least, the Human Resources department may spend considerable time replying to government agencies’ requests for an explanation of the cause for termination.  The supervisor responsible for managing the employee may also find himself or herself investing several hours to produce after-the-fact documentation as well as attending hearings.  Hours of unproductive time are generally spent following up on a surprise termination.
 
Before terminating anyone’s employment, ask yourself these questions:  Is the employee fully aware that termination at this time is a very real possibility?  Does the employee understand exactly what the issue is that could end the employment?  Has the employee been warned (preferably in writing) and given an opportunity to correct the performance or behavior?  If you cannot answer yes to all three questions, you will create a potential surprise termination.
 
Layoffs or Reductions in Force
Employers have traditionally viewed the reduction of the work force as best accomplished by implementing the ambush method.  On payday, at the end of a work week, the employee typically received a notice along with the paycheck saying something like, “Today is the last day of your employment.  If the company experiences a higher demand for the product or service than can be met by the remaining work force, some of you will be called back.”
 
Though the surprise reduction in employees may not create a high liability risk coming from the departing employees, it will have a terrifying impact (as will the surprise termination) upon those valuable employees who still remain with the company.  Employees who were loyal and committed to the company begin to feel unappreciated and may think they work for a company that is unstable.  As a result, they may reduce their productivity.  The highly skilled employees who can potentially find jobs elsewhere will frequently begin job hunting and may leave if they perceive that the new employment appears to be more stable than the present job.  No employer wants to lose the most skilled and loyal employees.  So how can this be prevented?
 
In a recent book, the author addresses the myth “that most employees become angry when receiving the news that they have been laid off.”  He explains as follows.  “From the perspective of employees, layoffs have a new character.  More managers are briefing employees regularly about the economic status of their companies.  This raises awareness and actually prepares employees for what might happen to them.”[1]  He contends that the informed employees will be less likely to personalize the layoff because they understand the business rationale for the decision.
 
In conclusion, an organization protects itself when management does a good job of communicating about potential future decisions.  Good communication eliminates the destructive element of surprise.
 
Organization and Policy Changes
Rightsizing, downsizing, and reorganization are terms that indicate radical change for employees.  Even if the changes will benefit the employees, surprising the employees with the changes will have a negative impact.  The same is true when introducing new policies or operating procedures.  Acceptance of change by employees directly corresponds to how much communication precedes the change.  Morale will be least affected when the employer seeks to keep the employees informed and is willing to encourage and give timely response to feedback from the employees.
 
Disciplinary Actions
Surprising an employee with a disciplinary meeting and a document to the personnel file is generally going to strain the relationship between the employee and the supervisor.  It also has a potential to spill over to the other employees and create the perception of unfairness.  Supervisors should first verbally warn the employee that the consequences of continued poor performance or unacceptable behavior will result in a disciplinary meeting.  Tell the employee how long he or she has to correct the deficiency.  Let him or her know that when that deadline occurs and the stated expectation has not been met, that you will be meeting with him or her and at the very least, a document will be placed in his or her personnel file.  Fairness and courtesy ought to be incorporated into the supervision of employees.  It will buy a great deal of good will and boost morale.
 
Documents to Personnel Files
Do not surprise an employee by placing a disciplinary document or any type of critical or potentially damaging information into the employee’s personnel file, unless the employee first receives a copy of the information.  Most jurisdictions allow the employee to access the information that has been placed in the file.  Some states require the employer to produce a copy of everything in the file if the employee makes that request.  In some cases, adding documents to the employee’s file without the employee’s knowledge may create liability for the company.  At the very least, an employee who discovers that his or her personnel file contains previously undisclosed uncomplimentary documents will feel betrayed and find it difficult to demonstrate loyalty to the company.
 
Conclusion:
Here are some brief tips on how you can minimize surprises in your work place.

1. As much as possible, involve the employees in developing ideas for change.
2. Introduce change by calling it a thirty-day, sixty-day, or ninety-day experiment, after which you will evaluate the success of the experiment.  This makes it sound like the change is only temporary and resistance from employees will be minimal.  If the change is a flop, it saves face for management and allows a graceful return to the previous status.  If it is a success, the employees will likely embrace it and management will look like geniuses.
3. Use a variety of communication channels to inform all employees.  Maintain five or more methods simultaneously.  A few ideas are: newsletters, e-mail, memos in pay envelopes, bulletin boards in lunch rooms, appearances and brief speeches by Senior Management at employee functions, and a news information site on the company web site just for employees.  Be innovative and experiment with opportunities to improve your efforts to inform your employees.  They will never get tired of feeling like they are in the loop.
4. Respond promptly to employee feedback on all issues.
5. Correct employees immediately upon discovery of performance or behavior issues.
6. Give employees a fair opportunity to meet your expectations before initiating disciplinary actions or terminations.
7. Have a Human Resources professional review your plans before you begin the implementation process.