Head in the sand

Communicators have their work cut out during these difficult economic times. Redundancies, budget cuts, restructures – no one likes being the bearer of bad news. 

Making the decision is only half the battle. Relaying the message can require a suit of armour. 

In times of change internal communications are crucial but I know of so many cases where companies decide to 'hold off' informing employees until the deed has been done. They may think they have avoided a crisis – but in fact they have just created a bigger one. 

Where there is no communication people create their own. Where rumour rules, anger and fear creep in. If your internal ambassadors lose faith in the company – who's selling the brand? If they feel the need to start searching for new jobs – what's happened to productivity? 

Communicating after the event can only create more problems. Trust has to be earned and a lack of communication can create company saboteurs. 

A survey by Hewitt Associates showed that employee engagement is at an all-time low – not surprising when people have lost colleagues through restructures and now face increased workloads or a lack of progression. 

The difficult boardroom decisions are now playing out on the shop floor.

Those companies who kept their people informed during the bad times will reap the benefits of a united workforce, preparing to rise again during the good times. 

Here are some tips for communicating internally during times of change: 

1. Use your existing trusted channels but 'brand' up a special version of your newsletter, social networking feed and/or area of the intranet to give employees a dedicated stream of information about the changes. 

2. Make sure your CEO is visibly commenting on the changes and decisions that are ahead – either through blogs, webinars, newsletters or, where possible, face to face communication.

3. Use communication champions from different teams and keep them informed of the plans and developments taking place. These people can represent voices from the rest of the business and input ideas and opinions on the best style and method of communication for people who work in their area. Using people from all levels of the business will help promote that all voices are being heard.

4. Ensure there is a channel for everyone to voice their concerns and ask questions – this could be through an area on the Intranet or a dedicated email address.

5. Update people even when there's nothing to say. Sounds silly - but no news can be good news. Waiting to hear and not hearing anything is worse than knowing that talks are taking place or have been delayed.

6. Ditch the corporate speak. It’s easy to hide behind carefully crafted sentences about ‘downsizing’ and ‘challenging climates’ but these only cause more anger and confusion. Be honest about the reasons for redundancies or restructures and explain why actions have to be taken.

7. Communicate the positives – what will the restructure/change do to help get the business back on track? Give employees a goal to work towards during and after the changes.

8. If people have been made redundant, think about setting up a memory wall or use the Intranet as a place for colleagues to pay tribute to those who have helped grow the company. The business will show it values the contribution made by others but had to make difficult decisions.

When the directors hide away in important discussions – it’s the internal communicators' role to get the message out there as clearly and quickly as possible. The head in the sand technique never did anyone any good.