Finance leaders at the 2026 Finance Indaba discussed the importance of empathy, transparent communication and practical support when businesses face difficult financial decisions.
Finance leaders must balance business sustainability with the impact of decisions on employees and their families, particularly when organisations face financial pressure and consider retrenchments, attendees at the event heard.
David Chadinha, CFO of EAZI Access; Joseph Sitati, CFO of Harley’s Healthcare Cluster and Edna Sathekga-Montse, group chief transformation and sustainability officer at African Bank, shared their experiences of managing workforce reductions, financial pressure and organisational uncertainty.
Their discussion examined how finance leaders can communicate difficult decisions, involve employees in improving business performance and support those affected by restructuring.
“It's our civic duty to try every possible angle to prevent retrenchment, because we know how traumatic it can be for employees, their families and the people they care about,” David said.
Finding alternatives to job cuts
He described how EAZI Access responded to the financial pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic by introducing salary reductions rather than retrenching employees.
“The business relied heavily on revenue to sustain its asset-intensive and labour-intensive operations. Management introduced salary cuts ranging from 25 percent at the highest levels to five percent for the lowest-paid employees,” David said.
“The company also suspended pension fund contributions and applied for the Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS).” According to David, these measures helped lower-paid employees maintain their earnings.
The arrangement included a commitment to restore salaries as revenue recovered to a level that could sustain the business. As restrictions eased, the company focused on generating revenue and all 700 employees remained employed throughout the process.
“It's important to find innovative solutions for the business that don't involve retrenchment, and to restore salaries as revenue returns to sustainable levels,” he said.
Meanwhile, Joseph recalled a similar experience at a bottling company where the board decided to retrench approximately one-third of its workforce. The head of finance proposed that affected factory employees and drivers take two-thirds of their pay instead of losing their jobs.
“Members of management also agreed to defer part of their remuneration until the business recovered. Within six months, no one had left through the proposed retrenchment process, and salaries had begun returning to previous levels,” Joseph said.
He said the lesson here was that the CFO used empathy to guide discussions with company leadership and employees.
Communicating difficult decisions
Edna said leaders needed to explain restructuring decisions in language employees could understand, without obscuring the seriousness of the situation.
She emphasised that management should thoroughly assess the business’s circumstances and explain the financial, economic, operational or technological factors driving the decision. “People don't need to agree with the decision, but they need a compelling explanation that helps them understand why there was no other way forward,” she said.
David chimed in and explained that uncertainty could be particularly stressful during restructuring. He advised leaders to communicate what they knew as early as possible, remain honest about unresolved issues and provide regular updates.
“Employees often notice changes in leadership behaviour and business decisions, making direct and consistent communication important even when all the answers are not yet available,” he said.
Supporting employees through the transition
For Edna, an organisation’s responsibility extended beyond informing employees of a restructuring decision. It also needed to consider the emotional and practical support required by those affected.
She explained that employee assistance programmes and counselling and wellness support could help employees manage the consequences of job losses and communicate the situation to their families.
“Organisations could also explore redeployment opportunities or consider whether former employees could provide services within their supply chains. Such arrangements could allow people to draw on their existing knowledge of the business while pursuing alternative sources of income. Organisations need to help colleagues understand what comes next, whether through redeployment, alternative employment or opportunities within the supply chain,” she added.
Employee insights can reduce costs
Joseph, however, described how employee input helped the bottling company identify operational savings during its financial difficulties.
He said that factory employees identified opportunities to reduce water consumption during cleaning processes, while others suggested ways to reduce bottle breakages. These ideas came from employees who understood the production process through their daily work.
“The company also introduced an arrangement under which truck drivers could gradually acquire ownership of the vehicles they operated. The structure gave drivers an incentive to maintain their trucks while allowing the business to reduce certain ownership and operating costs,” he explained.
“These initiatives demonstrated the value of involving employees in improving business performance, particularly when management needed to reduce costs.”
Maintaining dignity when retrenchments are unavoidable
The panellists acknowledged that some circumstances would still require workforce reductions. When a governing body decided that retrenchments were necessary, finance leaders had a responsibility to implement the decision while treating affected employees with dignity.
Joseph described negotiating continued medical aid cover for retrenched employees where premiums had already been paid for the year. He also suggested working with partners to provide training that could help employees transition into new roles or businesses.
“Finance leaders could seek help from communication specialists when delivering difficult messages, rather than assuming they had to manage every aspect of the process themselves,” he said.
