48 . Glasgow Business January/February 2014


BIG TALKS Marjorie Calder Director at The BIG Partnership


Bad news? Give it to them straight


»Marjorie Calder says honesty is the best policy with tough decisions T


here’s nothing which undoes a lovingly constructed staff engagement process quite so fast as falling conspicuously silent when


a perceived threat hits the rumour mill. Te ultimate kiss of death of course is to deny the whole thing two days before staff read


of its existence in a newspaper, or receive a formal leter from HR. And if you really want to ensure you will


never, ever, be forgiven, make sure that the individuals who reassuringly denied all are the same ones shown to ultimately benefit, preferably at the expense of good souls who supported them with trusting innocence. You beter hope the spoils are good in that scenario because it’s seriously bad karma. “It wasn’t me,” I hear you say. “Tere were


strict legal and commercial reasons why I couldn’t come clean.” Quite right, too, but there are no laws that I


am aware of which stop people behaving in a decent fashion, and if you’re behaving decently then you have the basis of a credible defence and would do well to set aside time to articulate it properly. Wind back to when a tough business


decision is looming; if you behave fairly and consider all aspects and implications of the deal from the outset, then you’re building the basis of a crisis communications


plan which will be credible. If a plant or office has to close, are there sound economic reasons, presented in a way which staff can understand and not feel personally responsible? If jobs genuinely have to go, are people given an explanation they can give to family and friends which reduces feelings of this being a personal rejection?


Te aim of


communications planning is not to delay or avoid tough business decisions or operate some kind of nanny state


FIND OUT MORE... For more information on The BIG Partnership, visit www.bigpartnership.co.uk


which never admits to failure – it’s to make sure that reputation is prioritised by consistently staying true to your values in bad times as well as good. Te company which provides credible,


reasonable information as early as it can to all those involved can benefit from the fact that many people will, ultimately, accept a rational argument. Tese employees or stakeholders might


hate the outcome just as much as everyone else, but have enough information to reluctantly accept the reasons behind it.


“Fail to provide a reasonable explanation and you understandably alienate even those minded to be realistic and fair”


Crucially, they are also the ones who will


quietly argue down and reduce the impact of the irrational; the scandal-conspiracy and doom-mongers who are also always part of the equation. However, fail to provide a reasonable


explanation and you understandably alienate even those minded to be realistic and fair. Tis is ‘not good’ if you want to continue trading in any shape or form within the same geography. We live in the real world where tough


decisions have to be made which affect individuals, families and communities, but woe betide the business which atempts to be economical with the truth at such a sensitive time. Aſter all, it’s honesty which is the best policy, not obfuscation.


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