Leveraging Your Company’s Greatest Asset

When crisis hits, it’s natural to focus on what our external messaging is – closed restaurants, postponed events, reopened stores, partially reopened stores, confused customers… However, in the midst of the chaos, companies may be overlooking one of their greatest assets –– their employees. To be frank, employees have the ability to make or break a company. Staff can be their company’s greatest assets, spokespersons and advocates, or when treated and communicated to poorly, employees can become a company’s biggest risk. 

According to the 2019 Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report, only 45% of respondents felt their organizations were effective or very effective at delivering supportive management and only 59% of respondents felt their organizations were effective or very effective at creating a positive work environment. 

Clear communication internally not only ‘keeps your employees happy’ but it provides clarity of messaging externally. Truthfully, the way you communicate about your company internally, might as well be external messaging because you’re communicating to the people who turn around and communicate to the ‘outside world’.  

It’s similar to a mom saying a curse word at home in front of her five year old, and then saying to her child, “Don’t say that word!” Odds are that the word will come out of the child’s mouth sooner or later, and it’ll likely be in front of their teacher or friend or grandma. In this case either one of two things is happening –– the child is being mischievous because he or she knows that they’ve been told they shouldn’t say the word, or they’re just unaware, and they repeat the things they hear. 

Within companies, both of these scenarios are likely. Either A. an employee feels they haven’t been treated fairly, so they intentionally communicate negatively about a company externally. Or B. messaging is simply unclear internally, so they’re communicating things externally that aren’t necessarily true or are off brand, creating brand confusion in the marketplace. 

Don’t let chaotic circumstances allow you to forget about the very people who are the ‘face’ of your brand. Interactions that customers or clients have with your employees are your brand personified. And in times when hard-to-communicate internal news is unavoidable –– layoffs, furloughs –– be as transparent as possible, communicate these messages in a timely way (giving staff time to form personal contingency plans), and be as human as possible. Regardless of the message, if employees feel like their company is doing everything it can and approaching the situation genuinely, the outcome will be much better even if the news is ultimately bad. 

While the customer may ‘always be right’ the employees are the avenue in which you serve them, so don’t forget about those who work hard to keep your company moving forward, even in trying times. Prioritizing internal communications will impact your organization positively internally and externally –– and never underestimate the power of one poorly chosen word in front of your five year old (or intern for that matter).