Crisis communications
10 ways to involve your people

Rob Shimmin, Managing Director, EMEA at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, has advised companies across Europe on crisis management. Here he explains why employees can be your secret weapon in the war against misinformation.

During a company crisis, people at the top are usually desperate to get the right message out to the media, investors and customers. But in the heat of the moment, they often neglect a significant and powerful group of people who can convey that message: their employees.

This is a risky strategy, because you instantly alienate people who could be on your side, lose out on their goodwill and ignore vital communication channels to customers. So here are ten ways to get your employees’ support in a crisis.

1. Don’t leave it to chance
Make employee communications part of your crisis planning. Decide who will be responsible for co-ordinating the internal and external messages, who you will need to inform and how you will get the message across.

2. Keep people in the loop
While company execs are frantically negotiating with lawyers over the correct wording for the press release and trying to reassure shareholders, employees will also be waiting for news. And if they don’t get their information direct from the company, they’ll get it from other sources such as internal gossip or the papers. These sources could be inaccurate or biased against your organisation. So it makes sense to communicate your message quickly and clearly to internal people. That way you have control over what they hear and can correct any misunderstandings or wild speculation.

3. Give employees the chance to help
If you don’t inform your employees about the crisis, they can feel nervous, disenfranchised and unable to help. Sometimes they will feel angered by the fact that their bosses are talking to the media and not to them. If at all possible, add a call to action to the information you provide. This call to action can be as simple as a request to focus on reassuring existing customers and maintaining their confidence in the service or product.

4. Speak with one voice
Bad news travels fast, and faster still if it is on the internal grapevine. Therefore it is essential that a crisis with the potential to cross borders is managed internationally. Employment laws differ tremendously country-by-country. So if you start negotiations with the German works council months before you talk to people in the UK, you can guarantee the news will spread. The answer is to speak with one voice, disseminating the news to staff in all countries affected by the changes.

5. Plan for leaks
Be aware that what you tell staff has a high probability of being passed to the media. Some might suggest that a sophisticated approach would be to anticipate that an internal memo will be leaked, and use this method to get messages out to the media. Don’t bank on this happening, but be prepared in case it does.

6. Get a direct line to your customers
The key advantage in involving employees in your communications is that it enables you to communicate directly with your customers. When a crisis hits, customers will contact front-line employees and demand answers and reassurance. If you don’t involve employees, they will pass on information based on guesswork and, worse, may convey their own dissatisfaction and frustration. But if you’ve briefed them on what to say, the entire workforce is geared up to transmit the right messages to customers and help restore faith in your brand.

7. Have a two way dialogue
Good internal communications isn’t just about ensuring you get your message across loud and clear. It’s about listening, too. And that’s especially important during a crisis. Put systems in place so that people can give their response - and make sure you acknowledge what people are telling you!

8. Maintain morale
A crisis can quickly spiral out of control if employees feel particularly threatened. Their quality of work declines, revenue declines, and the business goes into freefall. Avoid this situation by giving employees the facts and telling them how they can work constructively to overcome the current crisis.

9. Reassure people
When a company’s in crisis, some employees may think about jumping ship, and it’s your best people who will jump first, because they are the most mobile. A crisis is often a defining moment for leaders, and employees look very carefully at how leaders respond to a crisis. So if you want to keep your most talented people, sharpen up your internal communications so that people are reassured and want to stay with you. If you deal with the crisis well, you can generate long-lasting credibility with that audience.

10. Repair your brand together
Finally, think about the effect of a crisis on your brand. It can take years to build a brand and seconds for a crisis to destroy it. This applies to your internal audience as much as to people outside. Take care to handle the crisis in a way that fits with your company values. That way, the employees who hold the corporate memory of your brand will stay with you to help you rebuild and restore the brand.

rob.shimmin@uk.ogilvypr.com
+44 1580 713 900