June 12th, 2008
Damage control takes many forms in
an organization. While the concept is the same, it's how the initiative
is executed that really makes the difference.
A public relations nightmare involving
internal scandals, staff suing for wrongful dismissal or product recalls
are all drastic situations that need to be calmed, and quickly corrected,
before escalating into something worse.
What usually happens involves not so
much a response but a totally diluted and sometimes mis-informed response
to the situation that makes matters worse.
This is usually from a lack of communication
between staff and management. The taller the structure, the more of
a gap that extends between those in their ivory towers and those in
the rank-and-file.
When management is asked to respond
to a situation they know nothing about or are only given minor details
(rather than expanding or delving into the heart of the matter), false
accusations, judgements and decrees are issued due to this huge communication
gap.
It's especially dangerous when it involves
the media. Take for instance the situation involving Tim Horton's and
the staff member who got fired for merely giving a $0.15 timbit to a
whining infant back in early May.
It wasn't so much the issue of the
timbit giveaway but how the management handled the situation. The District
Manager was even quoted in the paper for saying they have zero tolerance
for frivilous give-aways like that.
But when it was presented to the papers
and the public got wind of it, you can bet your horses that Tim's was,
and probably still is, reeling from the aftershock of this negative
press.
The issue here is that there's little
communication (or there was little time for greater details) between
the store operator and Tim's district management.
More times than not, management is
asked to respond to a situation they know nothing about, just as in
the case of the terminated staff member.
But they did respond effectively to
the bad PR against them (although it is questionable whether they went
about it appropriately): the following day after the flood of negative
press surrounding the issue, they issued a statement saying they've
reinstated the terminated member and gave her job back.
While the media created a whirlwind,
you can almost imagine the internal sentiments that the management now
has to try and calm amongst their own staff.
Dissension, hostility and even repression
of performance are some end-effects of a disasterous short-coming such
as the one involving a wrongful termination of a good staff member.
A quick response like that helped stave
off any future negativity, but was it enough? Something so intense as
to annoy the public and staff to no end and revive anger towards those
in power will not go away as easily as anticipated.
They say word-of-mouth is the quickest,
and most dangerous, manner of advertising. As soon as one negative word
slips out, it erupts into a cesspool of negative press and takes far
longer to repair than a simple media brou-haha.
From the above scenario, you can easily
dissect the happenings into the following categories:
A) Management has poor judgement
The management team who terminated the staff member reacted too quickly
and harshly and practiced discrimination. At another store elsewhere
in Ontario, a comment from a customer said they witnessed the "donating"
of free large double-doubles to police officers. Favouritism, perhaps?
B) Management has poor people
skills A person who partakes in a management role must have
essential people skills and an open mind. The quick judgement and inability
to guide people are the reasons for this mishap. This should be a lesson
for anyone wishing to engage in entrepreneurship and/or move into a
management role.
C) The lack of communication
and information integrity The representative (District Manager)
handled the situation extremely poorly and did not delve into the situation
deeper before communicating to the press. Matters became worse when
management revoked their decision in lieu of the public outcry and offered
the staff member her job back. This is due to a complete and
utter disrespect to the communication process, both on behalf of the
company and the staff member involved.
Fortunately, the storm passed. But
the electrical static still lingers. It will be a long time before its
grounded for good.
Before jumping on the PR reparation
bandwagon, be sure you have exact details before communicating to the
public. The financial interests of the company can wait, but the integrity
of the company's managers in the eyes of the public cannot.
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