All of the meat processing companies have been slow to grapple with the growing pink-slime hullabaloo, even though there doesn’t seem to be much evidence that their products are particularly unhealthy, said Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who specializes in food safety and food poisoning cases.”My only complaint about this product is I think they could have been more up-front with the public,” Marler said. “When companies are not open about what their product is and what it contains, positive and negative, people get concerned and assume the worst.”
The meat industry failed itself by not staying abreast of social media and online forums for signs of trouble, said Jonathan Bernstein of Bernstein Crisis Management in Sierra Madre.
“They lost control of the message,” he said. “Perception is everything. If enough people perceive that something is wrong, it’s wrong. Reassurances that something’s safe from groups that are now distrusted are useless at this point.”
The story of reputation management in a crisis is fairly common: a businesses finds themselves in the center of a controversy spinning out of control on the web.
The generally begins with an executive who happily fell asleep one night, only to awake the next morning with dozens of emails in the inbox and a team anxiously awaiting a “master plan” that will save them. The executive finds themselves wasting valuable time researching facts they should have known, trying to educate themselves on basic best practices, and hesitating to take action due to a fundamental lack of understanding.
This article takes a good look at why real reputation management is not just SEO, but an integrated and holistic communication strategy that ties into multiple parts of a business. By examining questions regarding reputation management to avoid a crisis elements, a business can have a healthy and positive online footprint that grows into a strong business asset.
REMEMBER, In a crisis, the simplest actions become the most important ones.
While this exercise is written for a larger organization, all of the questions leading towards a good reputation management plan are valid regardless of whether your company has $25k or $500m in revenue.
via barryhurd.com
When mistakes are made, fight the urge to defend and minimize. Spinning and shaping a message to look “positive,” only makes a leader look weak, evasive and less than honest.
Realize that no matter how hard your organization works, mistakes will be made. Most people understand this. You won’t get points for it, but you won’t be vilified if you communicate in a straight up fashion: “We screwed up. This never should have happened. We’ve got to get this right. The stakes are too high. We apologize to the American people.”
Final advice: “Go with your gut when communicating under pressure.
Ask yourself, “If I were on the other end of this message, would it seem credible to me? Would I believe the person saying it?”
If your answer is no, you can be confident your communication strategy is on a very dangerous path.”
Steve Adubato speaks and coaches on leadership and communication. He is the author of the book, “What Were They thinking? Crisis Communication: The Good, the Bad and the Totally Clueless.”
Sometimes questions are more important than answers. In a crisis situation, you need to know the questions to ask before you have answers to questions.
This starts with the many “What ifs” that need to be asked as you develop the crisis plan or plans for your company, institution or organization. Never rush in believing you have all of the answers. You may have overlooked some important questions that need to be asked.
Fred Thompson, former managing partner of the Earle Palmer Brown public relations firm, says when you think you are in a crisis you need to ask yourself three questions:
- “Who has the most to gain or lose in this situation?” Prioritize the issues.
- “Is there a fundamental misunderstanding?” A basic misunderstanding might be resolved by an explanation or presentation of the facts.
- “Can this be ended with an apology, admission or wrongdoing or simply saying ‘we screwed up’?” This could create conflict with the legal counsel who may want to avoid any such admission or statement of regret.
Thompson believes answers to these questions will define the strategy to best deal with a situation before it turns into a crisis.
Andrew Stern, chair of Sunwest Communications, Dallas, believes in asking a number of questions before a crisis as part of being prepared. “If a crisis is ready to happen, you don’t have time to go through steps one through four. You must be prepared in advance. The plan should have a scenario so that when a potential crisis is ready to happen, every member of the team knows instinctively what to do,” says Stern. Here are some questions he asks:
- Does the situation stand the risk of escalating in intensity?
- How intensive can it become and how quickly?
- What can we endure?
- Does it present hazards to people off-site (away from the workplace)?
- To what extent will the situation be reported by the news media?
- To what extent will the media coverage be monitored by government agencies?
- Will local news media call to inquire?
- Will there be regional, national or international coverage?
- Does the organization typically report whatever kinds of incidents occur to local, state or federal government agencies or officials?
- Are injuries or deaths involved?
- Will the crisis interfere with operations?
- Will business be conducted as usual despite the situation?
- Will people be interrupted in doing their normal duties?
- Will work come to a halt?
- Will outside organizations be affected?
- Will this crisis affect the reputation and good image the company has with customers and the public?
- Will it affect the confidence people have in the institution?
- Will sales or products or services be impacted?
- Did the crisis happen because of anything the company did? Or did it just happen?
- Is the company the victim of external forces and events beyond its control?
- What extent could the company be injured financially? Politically? Sales and profits?”
Start making a list of questions you need to ask.
Note: Rene A. Henry is vice president-public relations for Innovative Communication Corporation, a privately owned telecom and media company with operations throughout the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Belize, France, Sint Maarten, Saint-Martin, Guadeloupe and Martinique. He also is the author of six books including “You’d Better Have A Hose If You Want To Put Out the Fire – the complete guide to crisis and risk communications,” “Marketing Public Relations – the hows that make it work!” and “Offsides! – Fred Wyant’s provocative look inside the National Football League.”
by Rene A. Henry, Fellow PRSA, © 2001
6-14-5
The real-time Web has opened an opportunity for anybody to inject ideas into a breaking news story and generate tons of media coverage. I’ve been a communicator for two decades now, and I have never seen a technique as powerful as newsjacking. But it has primarily come up under the radar because it relies on a new communication speed that most organizations reserve only for crisis communications. I’ve noticed corporate communicators in large organizations unwilling to understand and take advantage of real-time communications, often becoming prey to smaller more nimble players.
As journalists scramble to cover breaking news, the basic facts — who/what/when/where — are often fairly easy to find, either on a corporate website or in competitors’ copy. That’s what goes in the first paragraph of any news story.
The challenge for reporters is to get the “why” and the implications of the event (which often goes into the second and additional paragraphs). Why is the company closing its plant? The corporate website may offer some bogus excuse like “because it wants to spend more time with its family.” Competitors may quote some expert’s speculation on the real reason, but a reporter can’t cite that without adding something self-demeaning like “according to an expert quoted in the New York Times.” Journalists need original content — and fast.
If you are clever enough to react to breaking news very quickly, providing credible content in a blog post, tweet, or media alert that features the keyword of the moment, you may be rewarded with a bonanza of media attention.
Paris Hilton was arrested with her boyfriend in Las Vegas in August 2010, he on misdemeanor DUI charges, she on felony drug-possession charges.
In a tweet to fans on September 1, Hilton said: “These rumors going around are so ridiculous, untrue and cruel. I’m not going to even pay attention to them, because I know the truth.”
Whatever, Paris. I could not care less about the perils of being Paris, except for what happened soon after the story broke — which I absolutely love.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. spokeswoman Jennifer Dunne told the Associated Press that Hilton was to be barred from Wynn Resorts properties, Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.
Newsjacking.
Don’t have a holiday or awareness week to target with your news? Why not just create your own!?! Tell us what unusual steps you have taken to make your less-than-newsworthy-news moreso! PR Discussion Board
PR Newswire carried this HOT story today: “Agency and Partners Kick-off Lightning Awareness Week“
WASHINGTON, June 16 /PRNewswire/ — Every crack of thunder that echoes from a storm is caused by lightning jetting across the sky or to the ground with a potentially lethal force. along with its government, academic and private partners are educating Americans on the dangers of lightning and ways to stay safe during its annual Lightning Safety Awareness Week, June 19-25, 2005.
Cloud-to-ground lightning strikes within the United States an average of 25 million times every year. A single bolt, with a length that can exceed five miles and a width of one to two inches, can generate 100 million electrical volts and a temperature near 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Lightning is a potential hazard to people outdoors and indoors and results in millions of dollars in economic losses,” said Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), director of NOAA’s National Weather Service. “Lightning kills an average of 67 people in the United States each year and can result in property loss, damage to aircraft and electronics, and can be the spark that ignites devastating wildfires.”
Exceeding the number of fatalities are the estimated 600-700 lightning survivors that are left with debilitating health effects each year. “While about 90 percent of those struck by lightning survive, they frequently have permanent after effects such as chronic pain, brain injury and thought processing problems,” said Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Illinois.
Reduce your chance of being struck by moving inside a substantial building or hard-topped metal vehicle when thunderstorms threaten. Once inside, avoid contact with plumbing, corded phones, or anything plugged into electricity.
“Casualties are more likely to occur during the summer months and in open areas such as golf courses and playing fields, but lightning’s deadly strike can hit anytime during the year and in all segments of the nation,” said John Jensenius, a lightning safety expert at the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Gray, Maine.
NOAA’s National Weather Service is the primary source of weather data, forecasts and warnings for the United States and its territories. NOAA’s National Weather Service operates the most advanced weather and flood warning and forecast system in the world, helping to protect lives and property and enhance the n ational economy.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation’s coastal and marine resources.”
By Barbara Puffer
6-16-05
I’ve been paying attention to the things that command attention, both of myself and others, and I’ve made a list of 21 techniques that work. This list is far from all of them I’m sure, but it should be enough to get you started …
1. Be wrong
The world is full of people trying to do the right things. It’s become so common that many of us are bored by it. We long for someone that’s willing to do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, be the wrong thing. If you have the courage to be that person, you’ll find lots of people paying attention to you.
2. Be right
You can also gain attention by being right … but only if you’re more right than everyone else. Run a mile faster than anyone else, explain your topic more clearly than anyone else, be funnier than everyone else. Embody perfection, and people will take notice.
3. Communicate what others can’t
As writers, we take ideas from our heads and put them on the page. Sometimes we forget how difficult that is for some people and how valuable that makes us. Lots of people would give anything to be able to say what they mean. But they can’t. So, they turn to songs, books, and art that communicate for them. Be a producer of those things, and you’ll never lose their attention.
4. Do something
Everybody online is trying to say something important, but very few are trying to do something important. If you want attention, dare not to just give advice to others, but to live that advice yourself. Then publish it to the open web.
5. Surprise people
Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick, say that one of the best ways to set yourself apart is to break people’s “guessing machines.” Take a surprising position, making outlandish analogy, or otherwise do the opposite of what you normally do. As long as it’s unexpected, people will stop and pay attention.
… if I were hiring a “Universal PR professional” to guide strategic communications in 2013 and beyond, here are some of my best practice tips to shape that PR person’s role:
- Be proactive and don’t wait to be asked. Today, we are looking for people who will raise their hands to get involved. For example, with the development of a social media policy, training initiatives and governance (new responsibilities that require PR to participate). You should never wait for someone to give you the assignment, especially if you identify an area in your department or company that needs support. Propose new ideas, do the research, and offer your assistance. The initiative you take will make you stand out among all the rest.
- Start with good communication on the inside. Take the time to discover how to be more efficient and productive with your teams. Make suggestions beyond simply using email communication on how to finish your projects on time and under budget. Use social collaboration tools on the inside of your company for better internal communications and then take the time to educate your peers on new ways to work together to increase overall productivity.
- Test technology … always. Don’t be behind the curve, instead stay ahead for advancement. Be ready to answer those leadership questions asking “why” and “how” your brand should participate in new social communities. Take the time to “Tech Test” in different areas including collaborative platforms, applications, monitoring software, influence tools, etc., which will make you a more valuable asset to your organization.
- Listen to be heard and to be relevant. Gathering customer intelligence is the best way to internalize information and then use it to communicate with meaning, through offline and new media channels. Since I started in PR, I was always told to listen first to solve problems. This is much more apparent today, as a result of social media. By truly “listening,” we can help people and build stronger relationships with our constituents.
- You are always on! Social media doesn’t sleep, so your organization’s readiness is key. Creating the social media crisis plan (integrated into an overall crisis plan) requires knowledge and skills. It’s imperative for you to build a system that catches negative sentiment early on before it escalates, and to put processes and people in place for different levels of escalation through new media
Read full article by Deirdre Breakenridge on PR 2.0 Strategies
Clearly, there are basic ‘hygiene’ factors that companies need from their comms people: strong written/verbal skills; excellent conversational and presentation skills; an eye for design; awareness of communication technology trends and corresponding audience reach strategies.
However, a good PRO will always stand out on a number of more complex, intuitive and leadership levels and I would proffer the following attributes:
1) Acts as strategic and trusted advisor to the leadership team (including the CEO, CFO and commercial and functional heads); contributes with authority to strategic corporate discussion and works on his/her track record to be viewed as a contributing equal;
2) Through accumulated insight and marketplace persceptiveness, may be in a truly unique position within any organisation to ‘Bring the Outside World’ in to corporate thinking, ensuring sound future governance and guiding strategies that help protect any company’s future ‘Licence to Operate’ in the open, global marketplace;
3) Is an astute and credible diplomat, able to navigate elegantly through all layers and across all organisational silos to inform, to encourage collaborative thinking and to galvanise operational solutions to any issues or opportunities faced by a company in its public and employee dealings;
4) Intuitively understands and bridges the interdependency between internal and external reputation and has astute command of the theory and tools/practice of its delivery;
What attributes would you add to this list?
Letter from Executive Director Terry A. Scrogum to Illinois Arts Council grant applicants, sent August 17, 2009:
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Dear Applicant:
At the end of July, Chairman Madigan emailed you about the status of the Illinois Arts Council’s FY2010 budget. This email will further update you and it is not good news.
Unfortunately, our budget has been reduced more than originally expected and the total Council budget of state dollars is now $7.8 million. We have lost over 60% of our budget in just three years. This drop will be very negative for the individuals and organizations that receive funding from the Council.
As we have struggled with the devastating reality of this enormous cut, we have had to make some very tough decisions. We are suspending many programs and greatly reducing others both in number and amount of grants. In times when funds for the arts are more available (because they are never plentiful), it is less difficult to make decisions about allocations. When times are harsh and funds are scarce, every decision has negative and potentially far-reaching results.
Our process for making choices incorporated feedback we received during our strategic planning process of 2006, one in which many of you participated. As we traveled around the state and studied the results of surveys and other information gathering tools, it was very clear that you valued the operating grants as key to the health of the arts community in Illinois. We also recognize that artists are obviously the keystone to the creation of art.
With this in mind, we have suspended the following programs for FY2010: Artstour, Literary Awards, Ethnic and Folk Arts Master/Apprentice, and Youth Employment in the Arts. All open deadline programs which include Arts-in- Literacy, Governor’s International Arts Exchange, Short Term Artists Residency, and Special Assistance Grants, have been suspended or greatly reduced. We use the term “suspended” advisedly – we remain hopeful that Council funding will be restored in the future and we can once again fund a broader array of grant opportunities. Our commitment to the importance of individual artists remains steadfast — we will continue to provide direct support to individual artists in some form although the Artists Fellowship program for FY2010 has been suspended.
In addition to updating you, I wanted to prepare potential FY2010 Program Grants, Partners in Excellence, and Community Arts Access awardees for the shock that is coming when award letters are opened. The grant reductions were considerable after the Blagojevich administration slashed our program budget by 30% in FY2008. But those reductions are minor when compared to what is coming as a result of an additional 50% cut in our programs by the legislature plus another 8% reduction in funds imposed by the Governor.
This year is bleak and next year, as Chairman Madigan stated, will be bleaker still without additional revenues. This year’s state budget has benefitted from one-time federal stimulus money – new dollars that will not be available in FY2011. Arts people both by nature and necessity are optimists, and while I remain optimistic that the future of states arts funding will improve, I feel I must tell it like it is.
Tough times like these only reinforce the IAC’s resolve to do everything in our power to support you in what you do for the people of the state. We will not give up in our commitment to see the arts recognized for the key role they play in a healthy and productive state, one that has the arts as a central priority. And we thank you for the incredible work you do and for the unwavering commitment you have to the arts in Illinois. We will be in contact about future developments.
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All businesses are vulnerable to crises. You can’t serve any population without being subjected to situations involving lawsuits, accusations of impropriety, sudden changes in company ownership or management, and other volatile situations on which your audiences — and the media that serves them — often focus.
The cheapest way to turn experience into future profits is to learn from others’ mistakes. With that in mind, I hope that the following examples of inappropriate crisis communications policies, culled from real-life situations, will provide a tongue-in-cheek guide about what NOT to do when your organization is faced with a crisis.
To ensure that your crisis will flourish and grow, you should:
Play ostrich
Hope that no one learns about it. Cater to whoever is advising you to say nothing, do nothing.
Assume you’ll have time to react when and if necessary, with little or no preparation time. And while you’re playing ostrich, with your head buried firmly in the sand, don’t think about the part that’s still hanging out.
Only start to work on a potential crisis situation after it’s public!
This is closely related to item 1, of course. Even if you have decided you won’t play ostrich, you can still foster your developing crisis by deciding not to do any advance preparation.
Before the situation becomes public, you still have some proactive options available. You could, for example, thrash out and even test some planned key messages, but that would probably mean that you will communicate promptly and credibly when the crisis breaks publicly, and you don’t want to do that, do you?
So, in order to allow your crisis to gain a strong foothold in the public’s mind, make sure you address all issues from a defensive posture — something much easier to do when you don’t plan ahead. Shoot from the hip, and give off the cuff, unrehearsed remarks.
Let your reputation speak for you
“Doesn’t anybody know how important we think we are?” you complain. You: big business Goliath. Me: member of public who doesn’t trust big business. You lose.
Trust the media like the enemy
By all means, tell a reporter that you think he/she has done such a bad job of reporting on you that you’ll never talk to him/her again. Or badmouth him/her in a public forum. Send nasty faxes. Then sit back and have a good time while:
- The reporter gets angry and directs that energy into REALLY going after your organization.
- The reporter laughs at what he/she sees as validation that you’re really up to no good in some way.
Get stuck in reaction mode, rather than get proactive
A negative story suddenly breaks about your organization, quoting various sources. You respond with a statement. There’s a follow-up story. You make another statement.
Suddenly you have a public debate, a lose/lose situation. Good work! Instead of looking at methods that could turn the situation into one where you initiate activity that precipitates news coverage, putting you in the driver’s seat and letting others react to what you say, you continue to look as if you’re the guilty party defending yourself.
Use language your audience doesn’t understand
Jargon and arcane acronyms are but two of the ways you can be sure to confuse your audiences, a surefire way to make most crises worse. Let’s check out a few of these taken-from-real-situations gems:
“The rate went up 10 basis points.”
“We’re considering development of a SNFF or a CCRC.”
“We ask that you submit exculpatory evidence to the grand jury.”
“The material has less than 0.65 ppm benzene as measured by the TCLP.”
To the average member of the public, and to most of the media who serve them other than specialists in a particular subject, the general reaction to such statements is “HUH?”
Assume that truth will triumph over all
You have the facts on your side, by golly, and you know the American public will eventually come around and realize that. Disregard the proven concept that perception is as damaging as reality — sometimes more so.
Address only issues and ignore feelings
“The green goo which spilled on our property is absolutely harmless to humans.”
“Our development plans are all in accordance with appropriate regulations.”
“The lawsuit is totally without merit.”
So what if people are scared? Angry? You’re a businessman, not a psychologist — right?
Make only written statements
Face it, it’s a lot easier to communicate via written statements only. No fear of looking or sounding foolish. Less chance of being misquoted. Sure, it’s impersonal and some people think it means you’re hiding and afraid, but you know they’re wrong and that’s what’s important.
Use ‘best guess’ methods of assessing damage
“Oh my God, we’re the front page (negative) story, we’re ruined!”
Congratulations — you may have just made a mountain out of a molehill….OK, maybe you only made a small building out of a molehill. Helpful hint: you can make the situation worse by refusing to spend a little time or money quietly surveying your most important audiences to see what THEY think and if it matches the perception created by the media.
Do the same thing over and over again, expecting different results!
The last time you had negative news coverage you just ignored media calls, perhaps at the advice of legal counsel or simply because you felt that no matter what you said, the media would get it wrong. The result was a lot of concern amongst all of your audiences, internal and external, and the aftermath took quite a while to fade away.
So, the next time you have a crisis, you’re going to do the same thing, right? Because “stuff happens” and you can’t improve the situation by attempting to improve communications — can you?
© Jonathan Bernstein. All Rights Reserved.
Veteran crisis management professional Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Communications, Inc. and publisher of Crisis Manager, an award-winning free email newsletter written for “those who are crisis managers whether they want to be or not.”
Jonathan has also written several important manuals and reports. For more information visit TheCrisisManager.
Richard Rawlinson, Ashley Harshak and David Suarez from Booz & Company have written a good article with some tips and results from a recent survey that their organization has done on change. No question, boards and senior management have really focused on change management so much more and given it the proper attention it deserves with regards to corporate strategy.
You can check it out here.
They also produced another article that might be of interest: “Change Management Graduates to the Boardroom: From Afterthought to Prerequisite” (PDF), Booz & Company white paper, June 2008: Results of the Booz & Company survey on change management (mentioned in this article) of 350 senior executives who have led major transformation initiatives at large organizations worldwide.
At the Blog Business Summit this week my blogging Yoda’s Robert Scoble, Buzz Bruggeman and Anil Dash tackled the thorny topic of crisis communications. They emphasized how blogging can help when things get bad by projecting a human face or voice for an organization and by providing a forum for soliciting specific feedback from customers. In the immortal words of the Hulkster, “Amen brother.”
Read full article on Steve Rubel’s Micro Persuasion blog.
The Levick Strategic Communications desktop reference instantly assists C-Suites, boards, and counsel during the first moments of a crisis. It discusses what happens next after a crisis first occurs, the ongoing communications risks involved, and the steps to take to minimize and, in some cases, transform the crisis into opportunity.
The Crisis Communications Desktop Reference is fully searchable and downloadable, rich in best practices and tips for two-dozen diverse crisis and litigation challenges, from bet-the-company lawsuits to wholesale blog assaults on corporate reputations.
The Desktop Reference is available for download on the Levick website: http://www.levick.com/crisis_communications_desktop_reference/
I’ve quoted my friend and mentor, David Berlo, numerous times in this column. Here’s one of his more curious gems. “The key to being effective is sincerity,” he said, “and if you can learn how to fake that, you’ve really got it made.” He was joking, of course. But like the old saying goes, there’s a bit of truth in every joke.
Key to Leadership
I was reminded of David’s quip recently when I attended a presentation on a report entitled “The Authentic Enterprise.” It was published two years ago by the Arthur W. Page Society from a study that examined the role of senior communicators in the 21st century.
Based on comments from numerous CEOs and chief communications officers, the report summed up the study’s pivotal finding like this – “In a word, authenticity will be the coin of the realm for successful corporations and for those who lead them.” The report goes on to say, “Demands for transparency are at an all-time high, and give no sign of ebbing.”
Reality is Fabulous
Perhaps it’s not surprising that businesses have struggled with the elemental need to be straight shooters. It’s certainly not new – just look at what Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden more than 150 years ago …
“Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous. If men would observe realities only, and not allow themselves to be deluded, music and poetry would resound along the streets. Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downward through the mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition, and delusion, and appearance, till we come to a hard bottom and rocks, which we can call reality.”
Despite the apparent yearning for greater authenticity … or sincerity … or reality, some skeptics think it’s mostly a hoax. They argue that when stakeholders – inside or out – say they want more authenticity, all they’re really looking for is consistency. I guess they haven’t run into as many consistently inauthentic “spinners” as I have.
A Choice and a Voice
Still, the remark made me examine what I mean when I use the word authentic. It was easier to grasp its significance by describing what I mean by IN-authentic. Here are some words and phrases that come to mind – doubletalk … misdirection … sanitizing bad news … glamorizing good news … manipulating the truth … distorting the facts … empty jargon … phony platitudes. It’s rarely an outright lie – just an artful shading of reality. Sound familiar? From where I stand, that’s a whole lot more sinister and unsavory than merely being inconsistent.
Professional communicators have a choice and a voice. We can play along and help our organizations engage in “shams and delusions” that strain credibility – or we can be champions of authenticity. Promoting the latter, the Page report says, “If we choose this path, we can transform our profession, open up new and meaningful responsibility and learning, and create exciting new career paths for communications professionals.” Now that’s something to look forward to – sincerely.
Les Landes, Landes & Associates
Buy Les’s webinar replay: Getting to the Heart of Employee Engagement
Words and phrases including “blog,” “wiki” and even “chat room” make some business leaders nervous. They’re not sure what to make of these new social media. The technology seems mysterious and a bit scary to people who are still trying to find their way around the Internet or figuring out how their BlackBerry works.
If the wild world of online media makes you hyperventilate, relax. Take a deep breath. Despite the hype around Skype, behind the stress caused by RSS, it all comes down to a fundamental process as old as humanity: communication.
What really matters is how well you communicate with employees, customers, shareholders, the community and other important people. The methods you use, while important, are secondary to the quality of communication.
A recent illustration of this principle involves computer maker Dell. Unhappy customers took their complaints about Dell’s products and service to the “blogosphere” – that online place where everyone with a laptop and an Internet connection can share their opinions with the world. Despite the outcry over problems with Dell, which quickly reached hundreds of thousands of people thanks to blogs with names like “Dell Hell,” the company resisted joining the virtual discussion.
Apparently, however, the pressure became too much. A few months ago, Dell created “Direct2Dell,” a blog intended to improve communication with customers about issues ranging from the company’s battery recall to new products. The company’s critics considered the action too little, too late and charged Dell with paying lip service to open communication with customers. On the surface, bloggers said, Dell seemed to be improving communication, but in reality “Direct2Dell” represented more of the company line.
Last week, Dell posted a new “Online Communication Policy” and held a news conference to announce it. The policy, aimed at Dell employees, recognizes the value of online communication tools, lays out expectations of employees who use them and states the company’s commitment to “transparent, ethical and accurate” communication. Translation: no more company PR disguised as real, direct dialogue.
Time will tell if Dell’s policy makes a difference, but for now the bloggers are skeptical. “Dell Hell” creator Jeff Jarvis wrote, “Isn’t it always a company’s policy, in any interaction – by blog, telephone, or letter – to be open and honest?” He wondered if Dell’s 500-word policy might have been boiled down to three words: “Tell the truth.”
What can your company learn from all of this? It doesn’t matter if you choose to communicate through blogs, chat rooms, e-mail or good ol’ face-to-face interaction. What matters is that you communicate honestly and as completely as possible. The latest technology won’t save you if your stakeholders feel you’re not being truthful with them.
It’s the quality of communication that ultimately matters.
- Make a list of critical vs. non-critical activities. As in, which ones will impact my customers and the current or future survival of my business? Then, focus only on those essential activities. Eliminate, delegate, or postpone everything else.For me, that meant I cancelled a bunch of non-essential social, community and volunteer activities. This is a great way to find out what you’re really, truly passionate and energized about. I found I easily ditched my boring Dreamweaver course but nothing was going to get between me and my djembe drumming class (great therapy!).
- Figure out what you can reasonably do and what you can’t, with the understanding that you need to get some rest and take extra care of yourself during a stressful time. I had over a thousand emails/alerts in my inbox, most of them to satisfy my endless cravings for information. Without mercy, I deleted everything that didn’t require action.
- Set expectations up front. For me, clients consistently identify reliability as one of my core brand attributes. While waiting for hours in the hospital, I sent each of my key clients (and suppliers) a personalized but brief note. I let them know I had a family situation and that I expected to meet my deadlines, but there was a small chance I may need a bit of extra time. All thanked me for letting them know. Turns out I met every deadline.
- Be authentic (but not needy). Many of my client and peer relationships have turned into valued friendships. People in my network genuinely wanted to know how I was doing. Although it would’ve been easy, I refrained from giving them an aloof, conversation-closing “everything’s fine.” I showed them the real me and shared what I truly felt – fear, hope, exhaustion, gratitude, imperfection. In less than 30 words (they want to know you’re OK, but enough already).
- Ask for help from your support system. It doesn’t need to be big. It doesn’t need to be lasagne. Despite my fierce need for independence, I asked my mastermind group, my friends and some of my close clients to send their positive, healing thoughts, if they were so inclined. They were grateful to feel like they could help. I was grateful to feel supported. Strangely, it made us all a little closer.
My second job was in a large corporate environment, and I had been given the responsibility to produce the employee magazine. I was writing a typical article about a committee’s planning efforts so that everyone in the organization had a feel for what was happening. I asked what the team was doing, who was on the team and when they expected to finish the work, and I got a blank stare from the manager who was my source. She said she didn’t want to put a date out there because the team might be held accountable to that date.
That’s when I first learned the truth about truth: it’s a moving target. And it’s why so many brands are so bland. When there’s no truth – no authenticity – there’s no focus, there’s no goal, there’s no accountability to the brand.
It’s happened time and time again since that day…a client, for example, will boldly make a claim that is different and relevant, only to back down when it’s put in writing for all to see. “I’m not comfortable with that” is the common response (usually during the second or third round of the approval process, just before the piece goes to print) because they realize they can’t guarantee the claim operationally.
As communicators – as brand warriors – we have only one choice: speak up, loudly and often, and demand our co-workers or clients be true to the brand. It’s the T in a D.I.R.T.Y. brand. And it’s what will help us move out of the tactical conversations and be part of the strategy conversations in our organizations.
A few years ago, I was facilitating a brand discernment process with a group of employees at a small bank client, when the receptionist asked if she’s supposed to hold the vice-president accountable to the brand. I said “absolutely” and the whole room went quiet. A smile slowly crept over the face of the vice-president, a quiet man who completely bought into the premise, and he said “yes, you should.”
It’s difficult to demand authenticity across an organization. If the brand is understood by everyone, positive brand management examples are shared with everyone, and there’s buy-in at the top of the organizational chart, however, it’s easy to be a brand warrior.
And there’s nobody more empowered to be the brand warrior than the communications professional. You can use your skills to:
• thoroughly explain the brand,
• demonstrate how others are living the brand,
• help the leadership craft a brand story and
• take it to the market.
And keep telling the story so others know how to tell the story, too.
By Mark True
Many executives and politicians spend so much time trying to figure out what reporters want in the form of answers to questions that the news makers lose sight of the primary goal: your message should be a reflection of good things you want to communicate about yourself and your organization. Of course you have to take into consideration what is of interest to the media and to your audiences, but don’t forget the most important constituency in the messaging process: yourself.
Whether you are facing a crisis in the media or the local society reporter wanting to write a puff piece on you, you should always be on the offensive, advancing positive things about yourself. Once you get in a reactive mode, you are stuck in a defensive mode. In this capacity you are forever trying to avoid getting hurt or to minimize pain.
Why be so pessimistic? No matter how cynical the reporter is or how negative the story may be, you always have a chance at getting some of your positive message points out. But not if you don’t even try.
Remember, if you know the media want to hear a certain message from you and your audience wants to hear a certain message from you, don’t give it to them unless it is also a message that you absolutely want communicated. If your message doesn’t appeal to all three constituencies, it is a failed message point, so scratch it.
When most people get an interview, the following goes through their heads:
-I’m just happy to get this interview.
-I’ll be happy to get THROUGH this interview.
-I’m most concerned with the questions.
-I’ll be happy if I don’t embarrass myself.
-Maybe this interview will help me, my company, or product. I’ll worry about that later.
-I guess this will just be good to have on my web site.
Don’t be like the masses. Successful people leverage media interviews.
As for the definitions of leverage, in the physical sense, leverage is an assisted advantage. As a verb, to leverage means to gain an advantage through the use of a tool. You are doing both with interviews. You have an advantage because you were just given a platform to speak to thousands or millions of people. If you were given a platform like that, would you just throw it away? If I told you that I’d give you a free 30 second ad on cable news, I bet you’d spend weeks trying to figure out how to make something great for that ad. Any time you are featured in the media, it is a potential ad for you or your company. I’m not saying you should sound like an ad, but understanding this concept is half the battle.
As a verb, we said that leverage means to gain a advantage through the use of a tool.
Can you guess the tool here?
The MEDIA!!!