Why ignoring employees in a crisis can create a double crisis

The focus in a crisis is understandably media management, but ignoring employees can turn an external crisis into a double crisis by allowing it to negatively impact employee engagement. 

It doesn’t have to be this way. Having a well-thought-out internal communication crisis plan can avoid a double crisis and augment the external narrative through effective employee advocacy. 

But what constitutes good internal crisis communication? This article explores how internal crisis communication has risen up the agenda both in academic research and practice. It summarises the core principles that have been established, some of which challenge conventional communication wisdom. 

It is worth noting that internal crisis communication was not considered very seriously until relatively recently. 

From an academic perspective, it was highlighted in the 2010 edition of the Handbook of Crisis Communication in a section devoted to “future research directions”.[i] A journal article by Finn Frandsen and Winni Johansen at the Aarhus University in Denmark followed shortly after this in 2011 which set out an integrated framework for internal crisis communication.[ii] 

As with general crisis communication models, their framework incorporates crisis stages (eg precrisis, crisis event and postcrisis). However, it includes an important distinction between employees as receivers of information and senders (including as whistleblowers).

Employees in a crisis

The article also makes a critical point about the ways that employees should be treated differently to other stakeholder groups in a crisis. In particular, they claim that employees “Typically feel another sense of belonging and commitment to their job and to their workplace unlike an external stakeholder who may have other kinds of interests in an organisation”. This has a fundamental impact on communication with employees in a crisis.

The pandemic brought internal communication under the spotlight as never before in many organisations. It also enabled scholars and practitioners to reflect on the role of internal communication during a crisis. 

In a Journal of Communication Management Special Issue: Internal Communication During the Covid-19 Pandemic, that I guest co-edited with Professor Rita Men, six studies were published based on research with employees. [iii] 

Some of the key points that emerged are: 

• Employees want to be able to understand the crisis situation as early as possible and are therefore on a constant hunt for relevant information. 

• To receive support from employees, management need to provide support to employees. This can be done by listening and responding to concerns and thanking them for their efforts. 

• Crisis-related uncertainty and speculation requires sense to be continuously “re-made” or re-framed as events unfold. 

Information and reassurance in a crisis

When a crisis arises, employees expect clear information and instructions and reassurances of security. This requires more frequent communication than usual and it should be (as always) relevant, timely, understandable, accurate and reliable. They also expect emotional support which is related to how organisations listen and respond to employees and how they demonstrate their appreciation for what employees do to support the organisation in a crisis. 

Additionally, a crisis often puts a spotlight on continuing ambiguities as simple solutions may not be readily available. This requires internal crisis communication that is based more on conversation and regular re-framing. 

This, to some degree, challenges conventional crisis communication wisdom about having a carefully polished set of messages. 

Although there is merit in having some clear reassurances for employees prepared at the outset of a crisis, the narrative needs to constantly change to take account of evolving circumstances. This may sound like it could create confusion for employees. However, if it is accompanied by senior leader visibility, empathy and reassurance (all points expected by employees in a crisis) it will generate higher levels of trust and advocacy. 

Crisis preparation through internal communication

Organisations can prepare for a crisis by focusing on good, day-to-day, internal communication strategies that incorporate a 50:50 ratio of informing and listening (and responding) that is known to result in higher levels of trust and organisational engagement. This leads to employees being more likely to express loyalty and support for the way that an organisation responds to the crisis in the media. 

In the post-crisis stage, internal communication can transition to an emphasis on a shared vision of securing opportunities that may have arisen from the crisis. 

However, employees are likely to be worn-down by the resulting changes to work practices that often follow a crisis and they may well have continued (albeit reduced) anxieties about uncertainty for their organisation’s future. 

It is not, therefore, a time to fall back on a broadcast approach to internal communication. Instead, a deeper process of renewal is enhanced through by extending the approach to listening, learning and responding to what employees are thinking, saying and doing. 

In summary, internal crisis communication should not be understood simplistically as just providing important instructions to employees. Although this may suffice for a short period at the start of a crisis, failing to acknowledge their fears through a deeper conversational communication approach will inevitably result in disengagement and potential negative comments appearing in the media that completely undermine an external crisis communication strategy. 

Chartered PR practitioner Dr Kevin Ruck is the co-founder of PR Academy. This blog was first published by the CIPR Crisis Comms Network. Also read Kevin’s blog Is it time to retire the annual employee survey and really listen? 

Sources 

[i] Taylor, M. (2010), “Towards a holistic organizational approach to understanding crisis”, in Coombs, W.T. and Holladay, S.J. (Eds), Handbook of Crisis Communication, Wiley-Blackwell, Malden, MA. 

[ii] Frandsen, F. and Johansen, W. (2011), The study of internal crisis communication: towards an integrative framework. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 347-361.  

[iii] Ruck, K. and Men, L. R. (2021), Guest editorial: Internal communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 185-195.