Damage Control


After a company conducts a layoff, the fallout can be damaging to the corporate image. How will the community react? Will the company lose credibility? Its customers? What about suppliers? How does the company counteract negative publicity? Should it attempt to negate any bad aftershocks through good public relations, advertising, grass-roots efforts, and at what cost?

This tough problem requires a thoughtful response. Many companies are reluctant to do anything upfront and prefer to react after the fact becasue they’re not sure of everyone’s opinions. Other firms, however, are proactive and decide to deal with the problem head-on, approaching it with the right spin. Whether the company does nothing—as some would recommend—or takes action upfront, there are certain steps that should be followed.

Taking a Proactive Stance. Deciding to take action is the easy part. Figuring out exactly what to do is much harder. There are ways to spread the good word about a company. The thinking here is that outsiders will minimize the significance of the layoff if the company decides to share the news rather than have the news leaked or discovered after the fact. It also may negate any nasty rumors that may circulate if the news is kept a secret.

Those in charge of the media launch, whether internal staff or external consultants, should send out press releases to appropriate media—international, national, and regional, to wire services, industry associations, and trade magazines, newsletters, television and radio stations, and to any other appropriate sources, such as suppliers and customers, who will also have great concern about what’s going on. The release should explain all the information that readers will want to know and focus on issues that might cause concern. Among these are:

  • Why is the layoff needed?

  • When will it happen?

  • What will the effect be on company revenue, profits, new products, and services?

  • How many employees will be cut now and will another cut be likely in a few months?

  • What kind of severance will be offered? Will other services such as outplacement or counseling be available and for free?

  • Will management change at all?

  • What other repercussions will there be such as hiring freezes, pay cuts, or the elimination of overtime and perks?

  • Will any offices or plants, domestic or overseas, have to be sold, liquidated, and closed?

  • What is the morale of management and staff and what will be done to improve it?

The message should be short, succinct, and simple. It should be relevant and have some news value. No claims should be unsubstantiated.

At the same time the press releases are sent, management should be prepared to field questions with prepared answers. How this will be done should be planned far in advance through detailed media training with a public relations expert taking everyone through the paces, anticipating questions, explaining what should be told and not revealed, and identifying who in the company will handle what aspects of the layoff and which questions. Often a script can be prepared ahead of anticipated questions. The company’s attorney may also want to be involved to approve what’s said and written and what’s not okay to divulge.

In most cases there will be a need for follow-up after press releases are sent. Management may decide to hold a press conference. The public and press will have questions about the future hiring and the effects of the layoff for weeks and months to come. How honest and forthcoming the company personnel are can help put the right spin on this down period in the company’s history.

Taking a Reactive Stance. If the company decides not to share the news and word leaks out, the company will have to react—and again fast. However, it will now be doing so defensively. This route usually proves tougher because the press may dig more due to its supposition that there is more to conceal. The mood will become more combative, the questions more pointed, and the negative spin will be harder to turn around to a positive advantage.

In addition, the company’s senior leadership will need to meet immediately, almost in a war room-type atmosphere. They will have to decide how to field phone calls, who will field them, and what the answers will be. They will probably also have to write an emergency press release to explain what’s happening and why and send it over a newswire as well as make it accessible to reporters’ e-mails and faxes and also to suppliers and customers.

Sometimes the damage can be contained, and the explanations, if detailed enough, will satisfy the public and the press. However, the tension will be much greater if any public relations work is done after bad news has leaked. It’s a risk many companies prefer not to take.




The Headcount Solution. How to Cut Compensation Costs and Keep Your Best People
The Headcount Solution : How to Cut Compensation Costs and Keep Your Best People
ISBN: 0071402993
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 143

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