It's unsettling when a company is going through a difficult season in business, especially if it could have been avoided. After a leader is publicly shunned for misrepresenting their brand's image through missteps in actions or words, it's crucial to acknowledge the situation and provide a plan to prevent it from happening again.
Taking accountability, by facing the problem head-on, demonstrates total transparency and strength of the business to find solutions and maintain the trustworthy relationships they've worked so hard to establish over the years. Here are 15 strategies from Forbes Human Resources Council members to help every leader appeal to the good graces of their longtime clients and staff members alike.
Forbes Human Resources Council members share their tips.
Photos of individual members.1. Perform A Post-Mortem Inventory
There's no such thing as erasing nightmares, but you can move past them. The first step is to be honest about what happened and why. Companies who are vulnerable and transparent fare much better than those who can't open up and let people in. Do a post-mortem inventory of what happened, why it happened and what steps you'll take to reconcile and repair the damage done. - Joey Price, Jumpstart HR LLC
2. Reaffirm Your Position On The Big Picture
The first step is to understand the message and root cause of what happened and the risks of what this mistake could cause to your business. From there, respectfully acknowledge the message but reaffirm your position to try and mitigate the potential downfall. Help your audience see the bigger, more accurate picture. - Joana Oliveira, KeyData Associates
3. Be Authentically Open And Honest
Tackle the nightmare head-on, being authentically open and honest. Mistakes happen. Owning it and demonstrating true learning and growth from it is a wonderful thing. - Natalie Gleeson, LIWA Trading Enterprises LLC
4. Put Preventative Measures In Place
Take ownership of the error publicly, apply actionable metrics and processes to keep it from happening again and contribute to a cause that aligns with the company's stance in reference to the issue. - Angela Alberty, myBasePay
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5. Communicate About The Mistake Immediately
Transparency and vulnerability are the two critical steps that help leaders learn from a crisis and strengthen their relationship internally with their staff members and with their loyal clients. Your voice should be the first one they all hear after a crisis. You'll get the most grace if you show them that you understand and recognize your mistakes and have a clear plan to fix the situation. - Nassim Abdi, StoryBolt
6. Don't Deflect Or Try To Put A Positive Spin On It
Trust can only be rebuilt with transparent acknowledgement and true understanding of the situation. There is often an inclination to deflect and create a positive spin, but this only perpetuates feelings of distrust with clients and employees. - Rebecca Perrault, PRO Unlimited
7. Share The Lessons You've Learned
Own up to the mistake, apologize for it and communicate the steps you will be taking to correct the situation and to avoid it from happening in the future. You should also share with staff members about what you learned from the error. - Maggie Smith, Traliant
8. Don't Cover Up The Mistake
Be gracious and humble about acknowledging that you royally screwed up. Genuine and authentic acceptance of a mistake is accepted sooner than a cover-up story. More importantly, if the communication caused an adverse impact on clients and staff, it becomes important to clarify the corrective measures and guardrails for future caution and avoidance of such missteps. - Ekta Vyas, UC Davis Health
9. Be Willing To Take Accountability
Be transparent by owning the mistake and acknowledging with grace where you could have made a misstep. Apologize, be humble and learn from your mistake. Share how you plan to modify the behavior, course correct and move forward, and ask your staff members and clients to hold you accountable. - Christal Morris, Peloton
10. Don't Act Defensively Or Remain Silent
The first step for employers in dealing with a PR crisis is to accept responsibility for the mistake, communicating this publicly through a thoughtful and carefully crafted apology. The key to rebuilding the company’s reputation is expressing what has been learned from the mistake and the plan to rectify it moving forward. Acting defensively or staying silent will only make the situation worse. - John Feldmann, Insperity
11. Let Your Mission And Values Guide The Response
An employee situation with brand reputation risk, when managed thoughtfully, can demonstrate how your company leaders can rise to every challenge. Let your mission and values guide the response, be authentic and acknowledge the issue. Then offer a sincere apology by communicating a plan that demonstrates immediate and sustained change and take visible, timely action. - MJ Vigil, Medable Inc.
12. Commit To Investigating The Underlying Issues
The first step in handling a PR nightmare is to commit to investigating the underlying issues. The investigation will provide the insights needed to determine how to best prevent recurrences, heal harm and identify a path to moving forward in a positive manner that supports loyal clients and all staff members. - Brandy Marshall, Franklin Pierce School District
13. Focus On Rebuilding Trust
It's important for leaders to demonstrate ownership and honesty because people want to know they can trust you. Even in times of crisis or being wrong, they want to know that you will do the right things, not just say the right things. - Evelyn Reed, Jacent Strategic Merchandising
14. Highlight How You’re Addressing The Issue
Every individual and organization will make a mistake at some point. Most missteps are the results of best intentions gone awry. When your customers or employees raise their concerns, they are looking for your response to fix the situation. It's less about making the mistake and more about what you are doing about it. Be humble, accountable and authentic in addressing the issue. - Margaret-Ann Cole, Margaret-Ann Cole Associates LLC
15. Make Sure Your Follow-Up Messaging Is Consistent
In responding to an external concern, I advise that you be consistent with both internal and external communications. In other words, if your employees receive conflicting information from internal and external messaging, there is a high risk for distrust to develop among your teams and clients. People Operations is a vital strategic partner for addressing employees' concerns relating to the PR concern. - Alden Coffin, Forward Merch LLC
