Survey: Bosses are keeping staff in the dark on financial crisis
By Tom Foremski - October 13, 2008
When I met with Sabrina Horn, the head of Horn Group a couple of weeks ago, she had just gotten out of a meeting with her staff. She discussed the financial crisis with her teams and told them this wasn't the first time her company had faced a downturn and she knew what needed to be done, she finished by saying "Sell like hell!"
I thought that this was a great move because otherwise staff will trade rumors and potential misinformation and lack of real information can be damaging to any enterprise. A new survey shows that not all bosses are the same.
Rick Popko at Weber Shandwick points me to his firm's just released survey:
71% of U.S. Employees Want More Leadership Communications;
54% Have Heard Nothing from the Top
NEW YORK – October 13, 2008 - Working Americans are not hearing from senior leaders in their companies about the implications of the global financial crisis, according to new research released today by global public relations firm Weber Shandwick.
The survey of 514 employed Americans shows that 70% expect the current economic and financial problems in the U.S. will have a negative impact on the company they work for over the course of the next year. Of those, 26% believe their company will have to lay off employees and 62% said that their company would have trouble meeting its goals.
The research highlights a clear deficit in the workplace between employee appetite for more communication on the impact of the economic crisis and the levels at which company leadership is providing information. The research shows that 71% of people felt that their company's leadership should be communicating more about current economic problems, and 54% have not heard from company leaders at all on the impact of the financial crisis on their company. By comparison, 74% said that they had heard colleagues and co-workers talking about the issue.
Of those who had discussed the financial crisis at work, 86% say that senior executives or management were seen as “believable” and “trustworthy” sources on the topic.
. . . "In an age of greater transparency where employees play a vitally important role in shaping a company's reputation both in good times and in bad, their views have an impact that goes far beyond the office or shop floor," said Micho Spring, Chairperson of Weber Shandwick’s U.S. Corporate Practice. "Many companies have highlighted the need to invest in employee communications, and the questions raised by the financial crisis confirm how now, more than ever, employees need to be equipped with information from senior voices in their companies."
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Comments (3)
Tom:
Head of comms at Cisco, Blair Christie, just posted a thoughtful entry on what challenging times mean for Cisco. Net net: focus on the customer, what you can control, and experience and CASH matter. Full piece here: http://blogs.cisco.com/news/comments/the_tomorrow_economy/
Posted: October 13, 2008 4:25 PM
Thanks John. Yes, nice post. Cisco's $26bn in cash will get you through most downturns. Don't cry for me Argentina :-)
Posted: October 13, 2008 6:28 PM
Tom, interesting post, thank you. I admire Sabrina's strategy and we have taken a similar tact with our staff. Executive management has been very open about ways the downturn has - or is expected to - affect us. Unfortunately, it doesn't always help in the "rumors and potential misinformation" department. People get scared and they guesstimate.
That being said, employees hold a responsibility to communicate as well - AND to pitch in where needed, whether it's to "sell like hell" or "service with a smile," it takes everyone working together and staying positive. Employees must realize that the challenges are industry-wide – and managers everywhere are facing very difficult decisions. Blame is futile, so keeping a positive attitude is now more crucial than ever.
If employees have questions they should ask senior management. If management is sharing information and you still have concerns - talk to them. Gossiping with colleagues - or worse, ex-employees - is tempting but accomplishes nothing positive. Rather, it can certainly hurt everyone in the company in the long run.
All we can do is continue to be open, honest, smart and positive. We're all in this together - it takes good management AND good employees to ensure any negative repercussions are minimal.
Posted: October 16, 2008 9:54 AM