Member Exclusive: Internal leadership memos that work

Use empathy, authenticity and candor to connect with employees and deliver hard news. Here are examples.

By Sean Devlin, editor, Ragan Communications

Done well, internal memos provide a powerful comms pathway from leadership directly to employees.

Here are some examples that effectively get to the heart of a situation and let employees know where leadership is coming from.

Related Article: Check out the story on Ragan.com for more tips on how to nail messaging in memos.

AT&T shifts to a "market-based" culture

AT&T recently conducted an employee survey that led CEO John Stankey to release an internal memo addressing the company’s shift in priorities and culture. Not an easy message to share, to be certain.

Stankey uses directness to cut through to the fact that changes are being made to make AT&T a stronger overall business.

I understand that some of you may have started your tour with this company expecting an “employment deal” rooted in loyalty, tenure, and conformance with the associated compensation, work structure, and benefits. We have consciously shifted away from some of these elements and towards a more market-based culture — focused on rewarding capability, contribution, and commitment. We believe this is the only way to succeed in the dynamic, technologically driven markets where we operate. I know change like this is difficult and can be unsettling for some. However, as General Eric Shinseki so eloquently stated, “If you dislike change, you’re going to dislike irrelevance even more.” Many of your survey comments indicate agreement with this notion — a desire for our company to evolve to better support our customers and each other.

If you are of the small minority that shared comments similar to, “I have heard this nonsense before and I’ll ignore things until this goes away…” or “things were just fine the way they were…” there might be a disconnect between you and your current professional choice. It takes every one of us, moving in the same direction, to win against the competition, sustain our business, and create rewarding and interesting challenges for employees who want to work in a market-based culture. Changes to compensation, pensions, benefits (paid time off, care leaves, mental health support), delayering, work locations, and workplace environment are all in service of this change.

Starbucks addresses job cuts and restructuring with empathy

Starbucks’ 2025 internal memo on restructuring and job cuts from CEO Brian Niccol works well because he’s thorough, is empathetic to the plight of laid-off employees and accepts responsibility for the decisions being made.

The best leadership memos are written in a way that makes them identifiable with a specific person rather than just an amorphous C-suite. Personalized touches with commitments to the future of the business are a good way to navigate a tough situation like job cuts.

In January, I shared that we were evaluating the role, structure and size of our global support teams to help us deliver on our “Back to Starbucks” plan and position the company for future success.

The leadership team has finished that work, and this week, we will communicate the changes we’re making. This includes the hard decision to eliminate 1,100 current support partner roles and several hundred additional open and unfilled positions.

We are simplifying our structure, removing layers and duplication and creating smaller, more nimble teams. Our intent is to operate more efficiently, increase accountability, reduce complexity and drive better integration. All with the goal of being more focused and able to drive greater impact on our priorities.

I recognize the news is difficult. It is not a decision the leadership team took lightly. We understand the real effect this has on partners’ lives and their families. We believe it’s a necessary change to position Starbucks for future success — and to ensure we deliver for our green apron partners and the customers they serve.

Amazon tackles RTO with authenticity

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been with the company for a long time, and that helps him effectively weave the company’s culture into his writing in this 2024 memo about the company's return-to-office policy. 

The more a memo is draped in a company’s norms and values, the more authentically it’ll come across. Furthermore, using language that employees in your space can relate to (in this case, Jassy calls Amazon the “world’s largest start-up”) help drive that message home.

When I think about my time at Amazon, I never imagined I’d be at the company for 27 years. My plan (which my wife and I agreed to on a bar napkin in 1997) was to be here a few years and move back to NYC. Part of why I’ve stayed has been the unprecedented growth (we had $15M of annual revenue the year before I joined—this year should be well north of $600B), the perpetual hunger to invent, the obsession with making customers’ lives easier and better every day, and the associated opportunities these priorities present. But, the biggest reason I’m still here is our culture. Being so customer focused is an inspiring part of it, but it’s also the people we work with, the way we collaborate and invent when we’re at our best, our long-term perspective, the ownership I’ve always felt at every level I’ve worked (I started as a Level 5), the speed with which we make decisions and move, and the lack of bureaucracy and politics.

Our culture is unique, and has been one of the most critical parts of our success in our first 29 years. But, keeping your culture strong is not a birthright. You have to work at it all the time. When you consider the breadth of our businesses, their associated growth rates, the innovation required across each of them, and the number of people we’ve hired the last 6-8 years to pursue these endeavors, it’s pretty unusual—and will stretch even the strongest of cultures. Strengthening our culture remains a top priority for the s-team and me. And, I think about it all the time.

We want to operate like the world’s largest startup. That means having a passion for constantly inventing for customers, strong urgency (for most big opportunities, it’s a race!), high ownership, fast decision-making, scrappiness and frugality, deeply-connected collaboration (you need to be joined at the hip with your teammates when inventing and solving hard problems), and a shared commitment to each other.

Spotify humanizes an organizational reshuffle

This layoff notice from Spotify at the end of 2023 is an example of empathetic leadership communications in practice.

CEO Daniel Ek describes the situation, explains why the company is cutting jobs, and thanks the affected employees for their contributions in a genuine manner. In times of major change, humanizing leaders can help foster a sense of authentic connection among employees and executives around common goals.

This brings me to a decision that will mean a significant step change for our company. To align Spotify with our future goals and ensure we are right-sized for the challenges ahead, I have made the difficult decision to reduce our total headcount by approximately 17% across the company. I recognize this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions. To be blunt, many smart, talented and hard-working people will be departing us.

For those leaving, we’re a better company because of your dedication and hard work. Thank you for sharing your talents with us. I hope you know that your contributions have impacted more than half a billion people and millions of artists, creators, and authors around the world in profound ways.

Have an example of an effective memo you'd like to share? Send us a note at [email protected].