When a company comes under the scrutiny of society, when the hot topic is the corporate scandal our company is involved in, the person everyone has access to to investigate is the employees.
In many cases, crisis management specialists and institution officials care and attend with great solicitude to the media. We design a communication strategy that involves press conferences, advertising campaigns, we arrange interviews with influential journalists, etc., to influence public opinion.
We also form a crisis committee and appoint and train an authorized crisis management spokesperson who will make the first statements and serve as a permanent liaison with representatives of the media.
In all the confusion, and sometimes panic, that reigns throughout the company over a media scandal, we forgot to inform our employees. They deserve to know before everyone - including the media - the truth and the official position of the institution.
Why? First, because they are our permanent collaborators and, second, because they are the most credible spokespersons on the street, at school, at work, at the movies, at parties, in restaurants, etc.
People think: "This person knows the truth because she works in that company, is close to the bosses, knows all the ins and outs of what happens there, I do believe this person."
In addition to their role as highly credible spokespersons, employees are also demotivated, their spirits crumbling when they become uncertain about their future employment due to the critical situation.
The thought that takes hold of them is that the company is going to be judicially intervened, that it is going to close operations or that it is in the process of bankruptcy. In some extreme cases, there are those who think that if they continue working in the institution they could be arrested… Really, I have seen it.
From experience I write it, those are the thoughts that run through the mind of an uninformed employee. The perception that within the company he receives that same perception is what he transmits in the street, to his family, at home and with his closest friends.
It is not uncommon to observe in a company in crisis some employees updating their resumes and checking the newspapers every day, not to follow the course of events but to look for a new job!
For this reason, in crisis management, it is of paramount importance to include employees within the main audiences. Especially if a company has a deliberative and combative workers' union.
The internal communication strategy in crisis management should be a priority before the external communication strategy. For this reason, when we have talked about the members of the crisis committee, the head of human resources may be absent. The advisability of inviting the union president to join the company's crisis committee should be carefully evaluated.
In conclusion: An employee's opinion has more credibility than an advertisement!
