Many small winners & few big losersIn the past couple of decades, we've seen a couple of good ideas get some very bad publicity. The two I have in mind are free trade and downsizing. No doubt you could name some others, but looking at these two initiatives helps us understand a critical communication challenge for many companies and not-for-profit organizations. Free trade and downsizing share at least two important similarities. First, there are a few (well, relatively few) big losers, and second many (very many) small winners. More specifically, free trade means that a relatively few companies and a relatively few employees of those companies suffer big losses. Those companies have to overhaul their businesses from top to bottom; some will even go out of business. Employees of these companies may lose their jobs, take a cut in pay, or be transferred. The pains they suffer are very real and very significant. On the other hand, all consumers in a nation that adopts free trade are winners. In other words, just about everybody. And, the gains are small, just a dollar here and a dollar there, not enough for anyone to jump for joy. Yet, taken together those gains usually far outweigh the losses suffered by the losers, and the gains keep paying dividends year after year. The story is much the same for downsizing. A few employees take a very big hit, losing their jobs. At the same time, though, a lot of other employees get to keep their jobs. Which do you hear more about? You hear far more about the losers, of course. Debates on free trade, for example, almost always focus on producers - which companies lose and which gain - but very little about consumers. Similarly, downsizing makes the news, while only business magazines discuss the saving of jobs through this sometimes Draconian action. Why does it happen this way? Well, as a former news writer and announcer I can tell you that losers holler more loudly and much longer. They actively seek out media coverage. And that's not all: stories about layoffs have an inherent drama that gains of a few cents a day can't hope to match. In addition, winners often don't know that they won, how they won, or what they won, so we can hardly expect them to call protest marches or news conferences. Add to that the general principle that good news isn't big news. Closer to home Few companies and not-for-profit organizations get the kind of massive exposure that free trade got or big companies get when they downsize. Yet they still experience this phenomenon in one form or another. They can get the same response from stakeholders as free trade does from the population at large. Managers are often described as uncaring or callous for making these kinds of decisions, decisions which involve a few big losers and many small winners. And they rarely gets plaudits for saving jobs. Solutions Given the circumstances, it's unlikely management will ever convince all stakeholders that what's done in the best interests of the organization is the optimal course. But, it is possible for managers to minimize the public relations damage. First, cast these decisions as solutions to problems, not as independent initiatives. For example, don't announce to employees that a new piece of equipment that does the work of three people will make you more efficient. Rather, explain the competitive pressures that demand greater efficiency, and the consequences of failing. Don't assume everyone shares your knowledge. Few stakeholders understand the broader picture, and even if they could, the pressure of day-to-day events keeps them focused on just one piece of it. Communicate frequently: in advance, during, and afterward. You can do this in the following sequence: explaining the problem, outlining the options, listing the decision criteria, announcing the solution, and reporting on how well the solution has worked. Or not worked, which becomes the new problem.
Application: I've frequently used newsletters for these kinds of initiatives: To explain the problem, the consequences of not acting, the potential gains, the criteria for deciding, and so on. Of course, the medium is rarely more important than the message in these cases, so don't hesitate to use whatever medium is available; to use more than one when possible, and to be in touch frequently. Next, go to the general business communication page, or visit our home page Communication Skills . Contact informationRobert F. Abbott Copyright Robert F. Abbott 2009 |