TOP TIPS: The 10-point guide to effective employee communication during a company crisis
Whether a business crisis is accidental, financial, legal or otherwise, all affected companies need to maintain effective communication with external and internal stakeholders, as well as a successful managerial and operational response. Here are 10 practical steps to help ensure effective employee communication in times of crisis.
Employees are a key stakeholder group that must be communicated with during a business crisis. Any company that fails to do so puts the entire crisis response at risk. The following tips are designed to help decision makers at all levels manage potentially crippling adversity and actively preserve and even enhance the company’s reputation and competitiveness.
1. Plan ahead and be prepared
A successful response to a business crisis typically demands making
and effectively communicating far-reaching and emotionally difficult
decisions
while under pressure and perhaps lacking complete or fully accurate
information. Proper crisis preparedness planning therefore inevitably
calls for putting
the necessary organizational structure, processes and tools in place
before a crisis hits.
Develop, implement and continuously improve a crisis communication strategy and matching crisis communication plan tailored to the company’s needs. Assign responsibilities and thoroughly train the designated employees and their back-ups. Put communicators on the corporate and, if applicable, the regional and local crisis management teams. Conduct vulnerability audits and use the findings to build realistic crisis scenarios upon which recurring media training and crisis management drills are based.
Effective employee communication is indispensable to minimizing crisis-related damage.
Remember that effective employee communication is a crucial component of any comprehensive crisis management strategy and indispensable to minimizing crisis-related damage, seizing the opportunities a crisis may present and converting resulting organizational change into competitive advantages.
2.
Maintain ongoing dialogue
You have a much greater chance of achieving your communication objectives
if there’s already an ongoing and constructive dialogue with
your stakeholders long before a crisis occurs. Unfortunately, many
companies
fail in this and
also lack an issues management program and a risk-communication
strategy.
In-depth stakeholder analysis is a prerequisite for compelling and targeted stakeholder communication. Use automated Internet and intranet monitoring to identify and better understand stakeholder needs and customize your external and internal crisis communication accordingly.
If employees are used to regular communication through certain channels, use them in times of crisis along with communication tools that were developed for specific crisis situations.
3. Talk to employees
first
Whenever possible, internal crisis communication should precede
external crisis communication. It’s vital employees don’t
hear negative crisis-related news from outside sources first,
as it may alienate them
and hinder the successful crisis response and recovery.
Engaging in honest dialogue fosters better understanding and employee support.
Engaging in an honest dialogue with as many employees as possible also fosters better understanding and employee support for possibly unpopular yet necessary steps company leadership may have to take to manage the crisis and secure the future of the business.
Whichever method of internal crisis communication a company may choose, the more upfront management is about what is happening, the better-informed and more entrusted employees feel. Those employees who are communicated with in an open, timely and truthful way are not only able, but also often willing to represent their company and support its goals internally as well as externally. This is especially true in a crisis.
4.
Eradicate uncertainty
Underestimate the importance of effective employee
communication during a crisis and you
may suffer significant
economic damage
due to, among other factors, a lack of trust, low morale
and the subsequent loss of trained and dedicated employees.
In a crisis situation, it’s necessary to increase the internal communication frequency since employees have a high demand for updated information as well as the desire to provide continuous feedback. Ask these questions before communicating with employees during a crisis and as part of the post-crisis evaluation and ongoing crisis preparedness planning:
- What is the desired outcome of the communication?
- What will be communicated?
- Who will initiate the communication?
- Which groups of employees will be communicated with?
- How and / or where is the communication going to happen?
- When will the communication take place?
Ask these questions after communicating with employees during a crisis and as part of the post-crisis evaluation and ongoing crisis preparedness planning:
- Was the communication objective met?
- How can we do better?
5. Tackle employees’ questions
Employees’ questions
and concerns should be anticipated, identified and responded to on
an ongoing basis. Because
employees’ trust in management’s
ability to handle the crisis is crucial,
even those questions and concerns that
seem unimportant or
inconvenient should be addressed.
Especially in cases where the company may be responsible for any harm to employees and their loved ones, consider communicating regret and empathy as well as a clear explanation of the steps the company is taking to deal with the situation and to prevent recurrences.
However, don’t base the messages on the views of management alone. Be sure to take into account the perceptions, opinions and expectations within the different stakeholder groups. Also bear in mind any legal and other restrictions on the dissemination of certain information relating to the crisis.
6. Create communication
allies
Don’t forget that employees have a vested interest in working with
management to prevail over the crisis – many
are eager to put in extra time and
effort to turn the ship around.
Guide employees in their effort to speak up for the company. Empowering employees to take charge in times of crisis creates valuable communication allies who reinforce messages internally and also carry them into the community.
Remember that despite the wealth of technology at the disposal of today’s communicator, face-to-face communication between supervisors and their direct reports remains one of the most effective tools.
7. Be consistent in messaging
With the goal of coherent messages and
simultaneous communication
in mind,
many companies implement
a one-voice-policy: It means
only appropriately trained and designated
employees, who are electronically
linked with senior management
and one
another, may act as company
spokespersons.
The one-voice-policy may be difficult to uphold in times of crisis because employees have a natural tendency to talk about stressful work-related events with family and friends, perhaps criticizing management’s handling of the situation.
A disgruntled employee talking to the media may, however, pose a much more serious risk. Not only would this behavior sabotage the company’s one-voice-policy, but it may also threaten the entire crisis response.
8.
Convince leaders on feedback
Employees
appreciate and increasingly demand
feedback options such
as face-to-face meetings and two-way
intranet-based communication. But
the best-laid crisis communication
strategy may
not work
if feedback is not included in management’s
decision-making. Use the following
three arguments if you need to convince
senior managers
of the
value of
employee feedback:
- Employee feedback allows you to track whether messages have reached the intended groups of employees and achieved the desired results.
- It enables you not only to track employees’ opinions, perceptions and expectations, but also may reveal what colleagues and external stakeholders are saying to employees.
- Employee feedback often contains valuable information and suggestions for minimizing damage, seizing opportunities and preventing future crises.
9. Involve senior management
Business crises can cause immense pressure and uneasiness for
employees. To prevent rumors, false information and
panic, senior management must be involved in providing
distressed employees
and managers with
relevant information,
guidance and motivation.
Aside from communicating with employees through traditional channels, intranet-based crisis blogs are becoming increasingly popular. Executive or CEO blogs are an excellent listening tool that allows senior managers instant two-way communication with employees around the globe. They can aslo easily be updated during a crisis and create an intranet-based record of opinions and facts that helps to control rumors and speculation.
10. Consider external
help
No matter how much emphasis
a company places on crisis
prevention, it
will never be
completely safe
because
crises are part
of the organizational lifecycle.
The key to business survival therefore lies in maximizing
the company’s
crisis preparedness. If you
don’t have the necessary
theoretical knowledge or crisis
communication experience, consider
retaining qualified external
consultants. They can assist
in boosting the company’s
crisis readiness as well as
its ability to effectively
respond to and quickly
recover from business crises.
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