Why you should stay upbeat during economic downturn
"Don’t worry – be happy," advises Adrian Cropley,
Director, Cropley Communications, who says that communicators can calm employee fears during unstable economic times by choosing their words wisely.
If you want to see a portrait of leadership in difficult times, you could do worse than look at financial institution ANZ's CEO Mike Smith. He recently announced a 23% fall in annual profit growth for the bank, but did so in a way that the Australian Financial Review newspaper described as "extremely relaxed".
Smith said: “We foresee that there will be a downturn, (but) we don’t foresee a recession.” Comparing the current siuation ANZ faces to his time running HSBC in Argentina – where there was a new crisis every day – he said "our current (economic) situation is quite benign."
Choose optimism, not strife
It's worth taking more than just a leaf out of Smith’s book. His optimism is just what internal communication advisors should be incorporating into their communication to employees.
Just because business goals may be being reconfigured in these changing economic times doesn’t mean we can stop communicating strategically with our employees. The opposite is true: if we don’t talk to our internal audiences effectively, they'll stop listening to us.
Talking negatively in negative times is a sure-fire way to cease our influence with employees.
Part of communicating effectively, of course, is being honest about the future of the organization – essentially, not sugar-coating, but conversely not delivering a consistently down-beat message. Talking negatively in negative times is a sure-fire way to cease our influence with employees.
Choose your words carefully
Instead, we should keep the focus of our internal communication on the customers, and how employees can still make a positive contribution to the prospects of the organization.
Keep in mind that while internal stakeholders will want updates on how their organization is faring during downturn, unless the end is nigh they'll want to hear more about – and share their thoughts on – how they can help get it out of difficulty.
Pumping out a lot of messages about crisis and recession and inadvertently using words that stoke an emotional reaction may lead to unintended behavioral changes, including striking fear into employees and stopping them from collectively focusing on improving the situation.
How to calm employee fears
Communication professionals should also make it a priority to be clear in their messages – to be extra-specially focused on communicating the organization's strategy for growth and what it implies for each and every employee group. Also, be careful not to accidentally use words or sentiments that scare workers or prompt them to lose hope.
Here, then, are 7 ways that internal communication professionals can help "restart the motor" of an organization, if fear has taken hold:
- Increase your line-of-sight communication – that is, the amount of communication to employees that makes direct reference to your organization’s goals and strategy.
Inadvertently using words that stoke an emotional reaction may lead to unintended behavioral changes.
- Boost your feedback channels with your employees – sound out their issues and concerns and pass the information back to the leadership with advice that tells them how to engage employee groups in focusing on the new strategy. If possible, follow up by coordinating business-goal meetings between leaders and individuals.
- Ensure your target audience is segmented into employee groups that share present-day needs and wants – then customize your messages to each group.
- Spend time communicating to mid-level managers – in troubled times, employees will often turn to their direct managers for support and information.
- Be seen to advocate equally and impartially to both your organization’s leadership and employees.
- Be honest and balanced – don’t succumb to the temptation to sweep negative news under the carpet – but don’t get it all over the rug either.
- Simply be real, providing facts, insights and understanding to employees. This builds a true picture of trust and more importantly, calm.
Adrian Cropley is also Melcrum's BlackBelt and Change masterclass trainer in Australia.
Have your say
How do you ensure that your leaders and managers don't inadvertently use words that "stoke an (unintended) emotional reaction" from employees? What stops you from being a transparent communicator – is it tough to get the CEO to divulge potentially sensitive information to employees?
What words do you use to communicate potentially troubling information around your company – how do you avoid overly negative employee concerns? Share your thoughts with us below.
Recommended resources:
Golden rules for great change communication
Executives fear poor decisions from recession inexperience
Tips for taking risks during a recession
ONLINE LIBRARY 
Access all Professional Development articles