For companies and the media, ten years of economic growth has seen a raft of good news stories about growth, profits, opportunities and expansion into new markets. The economic downturn has created a new challenge for the public relations profession – how to communicate bad news.
Danny Rogers, editor of PR Week last month bluntly divided economic cycles into good news (in an upturn) and bad news (in the downturn). He went onto say that good news typically comes in the form of promotional messages, and during upturns PR usually reports into a marketing division. The communication of bad news, on the other hand, usually comes from board-level and takes the form of crisis management or keeping staff informed of major restructuring.
The challenge for PR professionals is for many it’s been a long time since they’ve regularly dealt with issues/crisis or internal communication of bad news. At n2n we’ve seen increasing demand for services in this area over the past few months and recommend a few key principles in communicating changes due to the downturn.
- Adopt a proactive communication strategy when facing redundancies and site closures: Involve your communication team ahead of time to ensure a planned approach to communication.
- Be open and honest: people are realistic and appreciate the truth.
- Deliver news face to face wherever possible: Move away from pushing information purely through channels such as an intranet, email, and newsletters.
- Engage executives: communicating major change should be led from the top (CEO), however executive teams and line managers will have a role in communicating practicalities of the change and answering questions and concerns
- Be prepared: for media interest in major company announcements or redundancies, including if the story breaks before it is communicated internally.
- Timing: ensure that your employees and other key stakeholders have the chance to hear major announcements from you first (rather than via the media)
Note: this is a general guide, not a detailed check list. There are many variables that have an impact on how communication is managed during restructures and redundancies. Speak with your PR team for ongoing guidance and support.
