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July 11, 2005
Coordination of external and internal communications helps both in the end
I've been noticing a growing awareness within companies of the need to do a better job of coorindating external and internal communications as of late. While this may seem like an obvious thing to some of you, I have seen plenty of cases in my years in the business where companies do a poor job at this. If you're on the corporate side and reading this, here are some things to keep in mind if you're trying to make the case for better coordination:
External media coverage should never be used as a substitute to effective internal communications. Companies cannot rely on employees reading things in newspapers or seeing them on TV, as it diminishes trust between management and employees and catches employees off guard. Organizations must do their best to ensure that employees hear about it from the company first. In cases of privately held companies not subject to fair disclosure regulations, it is often appropriate to communicate with employees hours or even a day before a major external announcement. Especially when news is big, we advise companies to prepare managers and supervisors with talking points and give them the chance to ask questions and ensure they understand what's happening so they can adequately answer employee questions.
External and internal communications strategies must be developed and executed in tandem. We advise organizations to regularly coordinate and plan internal and external communications strategies to ensure maximum benefit of each. Especially in larger organizations, this is often easier said than done. One strategy that often helps are weekly discussions of upcoming announcements or issues that may surface to ensure the appropriate employee communications can be ready to go if and when needed. It is usually not sufficient to simply email or post an external press release to employees; rather the information contained in the release should be rewritten in language appropriate to the internal culture and should be supplemented with additional information that might not be relevant detail to outside audiences.
Strategic seeding of letters to the editor, op-eds or feature stories can reinforce internal strategy. When organizations are trying to make certain points or explain changes in strategy via internal communications, the information is also often of interest to external stakeholders. Points of view on industry issues or how the organization is responding to a market dynamic can make for interesting op-eds or feature stories if a good relationship with the journalist is already present. Letters to the editor (usually from the CEO or chairman) to address negative coverage or correct misleading coverage can make employees feel like they’re being stood up for.
Companies should share significant media coverage with employees, whether it's positive or negative. Whether it's postings on bulletin boards, electronic distribution of scanned clips or summaries of major media coverage, we advise companies to share what the outside world is saying about them on a regular basis. Especially in cases of negative coverage, companies have the opportunity to provide a different viewpoint and help employees respond to informal inquiries from family and friends who may ask about negative coverage. Organizations reluctant to share negative coverage often forget that employees will see it anyway and that they can use that opportunity to build increased credibility with employees by showing they are committed to talking about both the good and the bad.
Effective internal communications strategies can have positive impact on external media coverage, especially during times of bad news. Although companies typically try to prohibit employees from talking to the media, it often happens. Especially during times of layoffs, restructurings or scandals, the news media is likely to ambush employees and ask their opinion about what's happening. Our experience has shown time and time again that when companies do a good job explaining current events to employees and give them ample opportunity to engage in conversation about it, media coverage of ambushed employees is more balanced and positive and is characterized by comments such as "Although I didn't like the news I heard, the company was respectful and honest in how they communicated it to us and helped us understand what the person impact would be on me."
Posted by Christopher at July 11, 2005 10:11 AM
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Comments
Christopher,
I just came across this excellent post. Coincidentally, I wrote today in my blog http://commakazispeekez.blogspot.com/
about Abbott's apparent failure to coordinate communications to employees regarding pending layoffs. The emotional carnage is as real as it was preventable.
Posted by: Tom Keefe at July 22, 2005 9:07 AM
Just read a few good articles on this topic on http://www.simply-communicate.com (I have a subscription but there is useful free information on internal communications too). The gist was that internal and external communication have to be synchronised because otherwise messages will leak out of your company in ways you have no control over. In fact, if your message is badly communicated to your employees, it is more likely to be sniffed out by the press.
http://www.simply-communicate.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=72
There's also an excellent article on communicating with your employees during times of crisis, especially mergers and acquisitions - http://www.simply-communicate.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=55
Posted by: Heather Clay at August 1, 2005 11:10 AM