Manage your communication

All communication - internal and external; explicit and implicit - can impact the way your brand is perceived and need to be effectively managed.

Two bits of poor communication from this week.

A leading professional services firm has just laid off 200 workers as it tightens it's belt in the face of the current crisis. The CEO, in an internal email to staff, apparently said:

"While I am unable to guarantee that we won't need to make further difficult decisions as events continue to unfold, I would like to reassure you that the overall health of the business is very sound."

Let's remove the corporate double-speak. With this message he is effectively saying - 'no one's job is safe but we're [the partners] alright jack'!

What was this message supposed to do? It certainly isn't reassuring to staff, if anything it is quite the opposite. It comes across as cold, clinical and unfeeling - perhaps even a little insensitive.

The same message could have been delivered in a far warmer, more effective way which built equity in the brand. The starting point might have been to ask whether email is the correct medium for this message. Perhaps staff meetings and a chat might have been more effective.

But if email it had to be, how about something along these lines:

"In common with most businesses whose focus is on financial services, the current global crisis, has knocked us about a bit. Thankfully ours is still a healthy and robust business, and that is in no small part as a result of the efforts of everyone in the team. We recognise that all of you are who make us who we are, and so we are working to preserve jobs against an eventual upturn in conditions. But we can't hide from the fact that a downturn in revenue has meant we have had to let some people go. This impacts us all - both those who have gone and those remaining - and is always difficult and regrettable. We can't guarantee that there will be no further job losses if the crisis continues to bite, but we can guarantee we will do everything we can to make sure further job losses are a last resort."

With some time I could polish this and even streamline it, but you get the idea - human, warm, honest, transparent and empathetic communication, builds brand and culture. It does however require some thought (and of course it must be true).

The second poor communication is implicit. As the TV stations enter the non-ratings Easter hiatus, one of the first actions from the 7 network was to pull is regular 'hit' programming (after all, why squander a good program when it doesn't count for the ratings). But they did so without really telling anyone. So many people sat down to their regularly weekly fix (of whatever) only to find a repeat from a couple of years ago. So much for the resolution to last week's cliff-hanger ending - and when will the regular programs be back?

This is all a little bit patronising for the viewers and sends a very strong message - 'we don't value or care for you; you are simply a set of eyeballs we can use to sell advertising to; we'll be back to you in a few weeks when we need you again'.

It does nothing positive for the 7 brand.