Get the Message

Leading through uncertainty takes clear communication

The 2020s have been one long lesson in dealing with uncertainty. They started with a global pandemic that shut down large swathes of industry for long periods at a time. The effects have lingered for years, from medical breakthroughs to inflation to the first U.S. president to win non-consecutive terms in more than 125 years. For businesses that have navigated supply chain upheavals, transition to remote work and back to the office, and digital transformation, it’s been an exercise in persistence. They’ve had to hang on not only to customers and shareholders, but their own employees. As organizations figure out where to go next, they need to make sure those employees – their primary brand ambassadors – are on board.

Giving Grace

“In uncertain times, businesses have the unique opportunity to listen and provide support,” Amanda Lucey, owner and CEO of marketing and brand communications agency The Partnership, told BOSS.

As Covid reinforced to everyone, we’re in a global economy, and organizations need to anticipate that whatever is happening in the outside world will affect their employees and the climate in their business. Employees are not automatons who can shut the rest of the world out during work hours.

“One of the things I often say is, ‘We have to give grace’ and recognize that we are people first, that are working in environments where there are things going on in the world that can impact us and can be emotional.”

There has to be an understanding that the dynamics of the outside world can impact morale and behavior in the workplace. Businesses need strategic communications plans that include regular town halls or team meetings that allow employees to voice their concerns and have a meaningful dialogue with management. These need to feel authentic, rather than a ticking of the box.

“It has to be baked into the culture,” Lucey said. “So, it’s something that has to organically be part of the culture that people care, that they’re listening. It really does connect back to your values as an organization.”

Inside-Out Marketing

With so much upheaval, companies cannot have survived without adaptability. They have to plan to pivot to face the realities of a shifting business landscape, but through it all they need to remain true to their core values, Lucey says.

“A rebranding isn’t just a new logo. Rebranding starts with who you are as a brand, your mission, vision, and values, your value proposition. If companies don’t have that in place, if they haven’t communicated frequently, if they’re not aspiring to communicate that and make sure they’re executing against that, then they can sometimes have challenges.”

That marketing goes inside out and has to start with internal communications. If leaders can’t express to employees where the company’s true north is, they’re certainly not going to convince customers.

Without that brand foundation in place, a pivot can leave employees unclear as to who they’re working for, what they’re working toward, and why.

“The why is so important for people to understand why things are happening,” she said. “And there could be a good reason why, right? There could be a good reason, but it has to be communicated.”

In a world where people are bombarded with notifications, they might need to hear a message anywhere from three to seven times before it sinks in.

Plan to Pivot

The last thing a business wants to do is roll back a new product or campaign because of backlash and negative feedback.

This is where employees play a vital role, weighing in on marketing decisions and serving as a sounding board for leaders. Again, if you can’t get your chief brand believers on board, you have no chance of winning over the general public. Testing messaging is helpful not only for interactions with the public, but for internal communication as well. Get feedback from an advisory board made up of employees before rolling out new policies or procedures.

“It might be the right policy, but perhaps the message is wrong,” Lucey said. “How are you going to communicate it? What’s the message that you’re going to deliver and make sure it’s received in the way that it was intended?”

The businesses that come out of the 2020s considering the decade a success will be the ones that know who they are, what their brand is, and where they’re headed. They have a strategy, and just as importantly, they know how to communicate it.

They’ll embrace the power of pivoting and plan to pivot, keeping pace with a transformational era of technology.

“It doesn’t matter if an organization is a Fortune 500 or a new business starting out,” Lucey said. They have to think, “‘The process that we used last year probably doesn’t apply anymore because technology is shifting and changing so quickly and can provide us more efficiencies to work smarter and harder.’”

In doing that, though, they need to retain their core values.