We recently helped a company navigate employee communications about a planned merger with another company. When the CEO contacted us, he said he had scheduled a town hall to meet with the employees of the other company and realized he needed help with messaging. He knew that the staff would be nervous, and rightly so – combining two companies is never stress-free, especially when job overlap is a possibility.
The kicker? He called us late on a Thursday afternoon, and the town hall was planned for the following Monday.
But we were ready. In many ways, helping clients prepare for difficult employee communications is similar to training them to handle a tough media interview. In fact, whenever we do media training, we tell clients that the tips and techniques we’re teaching them don’t just apply to an interview but to any professional situation where they need to clearly convey complex messages.
While customers may be the priority on a day-to-day basis, employees are the life blood of any company. Their expertise and dedication to their jobs are what make companies successful. When there’s a merger, the fact is that not everyone may retain their positions – some may leave voluntarily and others may face a job cut. Communicating to them in a thoughtful way is essential.
While every situation is different, there are basic guidelines that apply to communicating to stakeholders in any difficult situation. Here are a few:
- Get professional help: No matter how well you know your business and all the issues surrounding a particular situation, having an experienced communications team to guide you through preparations is invaluable. At RoseComm, we not only help clients workshop messaging but we act as an objective sounding board, showing you sides to an issue you may never have considered.
- Lay it all out: When we provide communications counsel to clients, we start by telling them that they can’t hold anything back from us. What are the skeletons in the closet? We can’t help you communicate if we don’t know the full picture – the good, the bad and the ugly.
- Know what you can say and what you can’t: There are some things you won’t be able to say, either because of certain restrictions or simply because you don’t know. Be clear about those and settle on how you’ll answer well before you face your audience.
- Tell the truth: It can be tempting to shield stakeholders from bad news. But most will appreciate your honesty. They’ll know what to expect and be in a better position to make decisions about their own future.
- Practice: Once you’ve thought through your key messages and answers to tough questions, practice. Just as we do with mock interviews during media training, we often play the role of the audience, throwing the toughest questions at our clients and critiquing their answers.
- Be human: Practicing key messages and answers to tough questions doesn’t mean you should be robotic in your delivery. You can remain authoritative while still revealing to stakeholders just how seriously you consider the situation.
- Keep talking: Don’t have one session with stakeholders; plan to have an ongoing dialogue with them. Assure them that you will continue to update them as plans develop. Let them know who they can talk with privately – whether it’s you, another executive within the company or the HR director – if any questions come up along the way.
In the end, the CEO told us the town hall couldn’t have gone any better. All of the preparation, he said, not only helped him refine the messages but gave him a sense of calm confidence that he carried into the meeting and conveyed to everyone in the room.
What are some best practices you recommend for handling sensitive communications?