How to Build Loyalty After Layoffs Amelia Warren Tyagi, author and co-founder of the Business Talent Group, weighs in.

Q: How do you build loyalty after a round of layoffs?

A: First, you have to treat people very well on the way out, says Amelia Warren Tyagi, author and co-founder of the Business Talent Group, an executive search firm in Los Angeles. "Everyone in the company is watching this process closely and judging management's conduct," Tyagi says. "Are you giving fair notice? Adequate severance? Articulating without equivocation why these particular employees are being let go? Helping people to understand that these decisions are not arbitrary--or, worse, that they are some kind of personal vendetta--is crucial."

Next, tell those who remain their workload will not increase to cover the loss of staff. "To do otherwise," she says, "is a crushing blow to morale." For example, if you close your Chicago office, make it clear that you won't be aggressively pursuing business in the Chicago area anymore. If you trim the financial department from 10 to eight employees, say that you're also reducing back-office procedures by 20 percent. And then do it.