Any company will have its share of high and low moments, but middle market firms that operate with less room for error than the largest organizations may face graver consequences. Any negative event, such as a terrible quarterly performance, the loss of key people, a failed process or product, legal difficulties, or necessary wage freezes or layoffs, is bad enough on its own. What makes these occurrences unrecoverable, however, is when one bad moment leads to a spiral of trouble.
To avoid such an outcome, top management at every middle market firm must develop a solid crisis communication plan. Because they are dealing with fewer employees and silos than larger competitors, middle market executives should assume that bad news will spread throughout the organization quickly and cause anxiety, speculation, and damaged morale among the work force. A crisis communication plan protects against any single negative event leading to long-term dysfunction.
Here are three ways that internal crisis communication should be handled at middle market firms:
Know Your Audience
In order for your employees to better understand and accept bad news, it's imperative to determine the best approach for delivering the message, and that largely depends on who you're talking to. Key factors to consider are the collective personality and the preferred communication style of the relevant group of employees. Explain the situation using different points of emphasis and different perspectives to best connect with a particular employee set, but be sure to give your audience enough information so that they cannot speculate and draw the wrong conclusions — that's often how damaging rumors arise.
You might communicate differently with employees depending on what type of company you are or what individual department you're talking to. At companies in fields such as engineering or consulting, for instance, a direct approach would be best for analytical minds, but at a marketing agency or hospitality firm, an approach that doesn't dwell on hard figures and focuses more on the bigger picture might bring a better result. For firms with different personalities across departments, executives could split up and deliver the news to the different groups and use an appropriate style for each. Alternatively, the news could be delivered through departmental meetings done in quick succession.
Assume Responsibility
You want employees to have enough information to minimize anxiety and speculation while also persuading them to buy into any remedial plans that management wants to carry out. Accomplish this by being willing to answer any questions, and most importantly, accepting responsibility for the situation.
It may not be easy to admit to those you lead that something has gone wrong, but sometimes shouldering the blame is the best policy for saving face with your employees. By showing your personal stake in the outcome of the problematic issue, employees should better empathize with the situation.
When answering questions from employees, there's no shame in saying "I don't know" when that is the case, but be sure to follow up on any outstanding questions. Keep in mind, though, that it's important not to make promises that you can't deliver. If you don't have a good answer for somebody, be up front with them. Still, it's best to update employees often, even if there isn't any major news to report, just to keep lines of communication open.
Be Accessible
To maintain employee commitment and morale — and preserve upper-management credibility — you need to offer feedback channels to handle employee complaints and any suggestions on overcoming day-to-day challenges. Even if they want to remain anonymous, employees need to feel that they have a voice in the process.
Employees who feel like they're lacking a voice may even worsen an already-negative situation by taking their complaints outside of the company (and to the media, in a worst-case scenario). But by having internal feedback mechanisms in place, executives can make sure that employees keep their concerns "in the family" and emphasize that leaking information outside the firm will only sabotage efforts to get the firm back on its feet.
It's up to executives to get employees to buy in and keep the right attitude. When adversity strikes, it's essential to emphasize that your company has done many good things in the past and that a single negative event doesn't have to define the organization. Stay hopeful that your firm can return to its former standing and your employees will follow suit.
What sort of information should be kept solely in upper-management circles during a crisis? Let us know what you think by commenting below.
Rob Carey is an NCMM contributor and a features writer who has focused on the business-to-business niche since 1992. He spent his first 15 years at Nielsen Business Media, rising from editorial intern to editorial director. Since then, he has been the principal of New York-based Meetings & Hospitality Insight, working with large hospitality brands in addition to various media outlets.