Marcia Beckner:
Welcome to Nonprofit CEO Spark, the podcast for bold leaders ready to navigate growth and change with energy and confidence.
I’m Marcia Beckner, nonprofit founder, former executive director, and culture strategist with nearly 20 years in the social impact world.
Each week, I help nonprofit leaders stop spinning out, set boundaries, and design inclusive cultures where all staff can thrive.
If you’re ready to reignite your leadership without sacrificing your wellbeing, hit subscribe and let’s spark your next chapter together.
Welcome back to the Nonprofit CEO Spark Podcast. I’m your host, Marcia Beckner.
Today’s episode addresses one of the most challenging moments nonprofit leaders face: communicating with the team after a restructure, a layoff, or a staffing change.
Now, while leaders often spend significant time preparing for the departure conversation, many spend very little time preparing for the stay conversation with the employees who remain.
Yet that conversation often determines whether trust grows or erodes in the following weeks and months.
Here’s the problem. Several of my clients are navigating restructures right now, and the most common emotion I hear is not anger, it’s uncertainty.
Employees are asking themselves what comes next, whether the organization is stable, whether additional changes are coming, and whether their own position may be at risk
And I understand this feeling personally.
The Marissa Story
Years ago, while I was leading my nonprofit, I traveled to meet with a potential strategic partner, and during the meeting, I spent most of the day working with a senior executive designing this partnership, and let’s just call her Marissa. That’s not her real name.
She was enthusiastic, collaborative, and fully engaged in planning how our organizations would work together.
We discussed timelines, implementation strategies, and future opportunities. Everything appeared normal and positive.
I flew home that evening, and then the next business day, I received a call informing me that Marissa was no longer with the organization, and that I would be working with someone else entirely.
I was stunned, and it wasn’t because the leaders should never be let go, but because the change felt so abrupt and unexpected.
My mind immediately started filling in the blanks. Was it a performance issue, a disagreement, financial challenges, a leadership conflict? Like I had no idea.
And that experience taught me something important.
Why Uncertainty Hurts More Than Bad News
When information is missing, human beings naturally create stories to explain and fill in what might have happened, and most of these stories are wrong, and many are worse than reality.
The same thing happens inside organizations. When leaders remain silent after a staffing change, employees do not stop talking.
They simply start guessing.
Research on trust, psychological safety, and organizational change consistently shows that employees can handle difficult news better than prolonged uncertainty.
I’ll say that again. Employees can handle difficult news better than prolonged uncertainty.
The real problem is not always the staffing change itself.
The real problem is the ambiguity that follows
So here’s a solution to consider. The solution is not sharing confidential personnel information that you’re not supposed to talk about.
The solution is reducing unnecessary uncertainty. Employees do not expect leaders to have every answer immediately, but they do expect leaders to communicate honestly, consistently, and promptly.
The goal is not perfect certainty, the goal is clarity.
And one of the most important distinctions leaders can make is understanding that confidentiality and silence are not the same thing.
You may not be able to discuss private personnel matters, but you can communicate what employees need to know about the future.
A Three-Step Framework for the Stay Conversation
So I wanna offer you today a three-step conversation framework to help the employees who are staying.
Number one, acknowledge the change quickly. Communicate as soon as possible.
Gather the team, acknowledge that a change has occurred, and address the reality of the situation.
When leaders avoid the conversation, employees often assume there is more happening behind the scenes than there really is.
Like, people are working with their staff, you know, colleagues, and then the next day, that staff colleague is no longer there.
They were let go, but nothing has been shared. There’s no announcement made. It’s almost as if, like, they’re here one day, gone the next.
And this leaves people very uncomfortable and uncertain if the leaders don’t address that this has happened and just, instead of just staying silent, staying silent.
This leads into number two, addressing the uncertainty. Speak to the questions that employees are already asking themselves.
Think about that in advance. Share what you know today, what remains uncertain to you, and when people can expect additional updates.
People don’t necessarily need, like, guarantees, but they do need clarity and a sense that leadership is being as transparent as possible about what comes next.
And three, paint the path forward. Help employees understand what remains unchanged, what is changing, and what the priorities are moving forward.
When people have a clear direction, they spend less time worrying and more time contributing to the mission.
And when leaders communicate this way, here’s the result.
They may not eliminate disappointment, grief, or concern. However, they significantly reduce rumors, strengthen trust, preserve engagement, and create psychological safety during a period of uncertainty.
Employees feel informed, respected, and connected to the future of the organization
The Leadership Difference & Closing Thoughts
So imagine two companies facing the same staffing change.
In one organization, there is silence, speculation, and confusion, and in the other, leaders communicate clearly, answer questions honestly, and explain the path forward as they know it.
The restructuring may be equally difficult in both of those scenarios, but the employee experience is dramatically different.
The difference is not the restructuring itself. The difference is the leadership response.
Here’s your par- spark plug shift. If your organization is experiencing a staffing change this year, do not only prepare for the exit conversation, prepare for the stay conversations.
Culture is shaped not only by how people leave, but also by how the people who remain experience what happens next.
And that’s our episode for today. I’d love your feedback.
Please share with another executive director or leader going through difficult staffing changes or restructure or layoff so that they can think equally about the exit conversation as well as the stay conversations, which are what really matter to propel your mission forward.
Thanks for sharing. Please review. If you like this podcast, I would love a review on any of the podcast platforms that you listen to.
And until next time, remember you are meant for great things, and you don’t have to burn out to prove it
Thanks for listening to today’s episode of Nonprofit CEO Spark. If you’re ready to turn burnout into boundaries and build a healthy, happy culture where everyone, including you, can thrive, visit culturecares.com to learn how I support nonprofit organizations like yours.
If this episode brought you value, share it with a fellow leader navigating stress and overwhelm.
And remember, you are meant for great things, and you don’t have to burn out to prove it. Until next time, keep leading with courage and confidence
