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A growing role for corporate leaders: communicating during difficult times In his book Winning,
Jack Welch, former chairman of General Electric, sets forth eight rules
for effective leadership. Along with advice about risk-taking and decision-making,
Welch stresses the importance of communicating, especially during tough
times. “Your people should always know where they stand,”
says Welch. “They have to know how the business is doing. And sometimes
the news is not good – such as imminent layoffs – and any
normal person would avoid delivering it. But you have to fight the impulse
For many corporate leaders, there is no shortage of hard messages to be delivered. Everyday, it seems, the media recount the latest round of workforce reductions, plant closings, and product recalls. Employees, investors and other stakeholders increasingly demand not only information, but also explanations and plans for corrective action. Framing hard messages and helping leaders deliver them in the right way to the right audiences during difficult times is an area in which Caponigro PR has extensive experience. The firm has worked with a variety of clients to develop and implement communication strategies during economic downturns, layoffs, senior management changes and major lawsuits. In the following
Q&A, Senior Vice President Chuck Ragains shares insights into how
organizations can communicate effectively during times of adversity. |
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| Q: | What
advice from a public relations perspective would you give to companies experiencing
tough times? |
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| A: | Each
company’s situation is unique, of course, but one principle that applies
almost universally is that a well-conceived, well-executed communication
program can have a positive impact no matter how dire the situation. It
can help motivate employees, reassure investors, and retain customers. That’s
why we usually counsel clients to include an aggressive communication component
as a key part of their strategy for recovery, if they don’t already
have a program in place. |
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| Q: | But
isn’t the natural tendency to adopt a lower profile during times of
adversity? To say less rather than more? |
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| A: | That
may be the initial inclination, but taking the “no comment”
approach usually generates more questions, rumors and speculation –
in short, making a difficult time even more difficult. Today, enlightened
companies understand that they are under intense scrutiny from a greater
number of publics – investors, customers, employees – not to
mention the news media and a lengthening list of government agencies. It’s
no accident that companies that regularly appear on “best managed”
and “most admired” lists practice proactive communications with
all of their constituencies during good times and bad. |
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| Q: | What
benefits can a company expect from a communications initiative during tough
times? |
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| A: | Done
effectively, a program of this type can help an organization build –
or rebuild – support and goodwill among all of its publics. Tough
times mean more questions and more challenging questions. Your publics want
and expect answers. You can score points for credibility and character when
you step up and talk about the adversity you’re experiencing and what
you’re doing to overcome it. An expanded communications effort also
can help restore an organization’s focus. It’s easy to lose
sight of your mission when you’re struggling to maintain profitability
or defend market share; there can be a tendency to stray away from the principals
and values that form the foundation of the business. Communication initiatives
are opportunities to get back to basics. |
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| Chuck Ragains can be reached at ragains@caponigro.com. | |||||||||
