Communication in a downturn is a must, not a luxury

This has undoubtedly been an unpredictable and turbulent time for many businesses. The press has its eye firmly fixed on redundancies and financial disasters while CEOs’ have their sights set on bottom lines and cost reduction. This in itself creates an atmosphere of worry and doubt amongst consumers, potential business partners and employees.

Inexplicably, communication budgets seem to be one of the first aspects of a business to fall. It seems that, at a time when organisations should be doing all that they can to raise their target audience confidence in a product or service, they close up and try to shut themselves off from the outside world. Why? Tough decisions are expected to be made during a downturn, communicating these decisions poorly during difficult times is what causes unnecessary confusion and doubt.

Simply sending out a short press release announcing job cuts and then refusing to comment will only further incense both the media covering the story and the audience the company is trying to reach. Having a strategic approach to crisis management, encompassing an effective communication plan, is paramount.

A journalist investigating 1000 sudden job losses due is looking for information and a solid viewpoint from the company, simply ignoring the enquiry and refusing to say anything is just asking for the news story to be pounded by the press. A release or a statement outlining that strategic meetings are being held with employees and customers to discuss the company’s innovative plan of action during economic uncertainty stands to gain much more confidence from all who engage with it. Continuous information, effectively communicated, is needed when facing any crisis. It is imperative that focus is not only placed on a business’ customer/partner base but also on the internal communications

A good PR strategy will integrate both internal and external communications. Arguably it should be internal communications that is first addressed when facing any sort of crisis, especially one that has a possibility of redundancies or salary freezes. Organisations cannot simply cover their ears and hope for the best. Ensuring that all in the business know the company plan and feel as though they are being kept in the loop is the first step to navigating a challenging period. The PR strategy can then focus on informing the partners/customers/public and aim to not only generate more revenue, which is essentially the foundation of any PR campaign, but also focus on letting the world know that the organisation has a well thought out plan of action which everyone in the business have engaged in.

Communications should be of high importance during a time like this. Cutting PR budgets and burying heads in sand will not see a company through a crisis. Sooner or later organisations will realise that the most important time to effectively communicate is when difficult issues are addressed.

Comments

[Loans]

I think communication in a downturn or in any time is a must. In a boom people assume that things will always remain good and don't work as hard.