Navigating Uncertainty: How Internal Communications Plays a Key Role To Support Organizations During Crises

By: Cris Grossmann, CEO and co-founder of Beekeeper

A key task of any workplace is to make its employees feel safe. This might seem like common wisdom—too obvious even to mention—but until just a few decades ago, it was hardly a priority in many workplaces. This broad attitudinal shift has been one of the most heartening changes of my lifetime, but I do sometimes worry about seeing this progress reversed. Instilling a sense of security in one’s workers, after all, requires clear, continuous communication. And events have lately conspired to make that kind of communication difficult.

It’s uncontroversial to say that we are living in unstable times. The pandemic set the tone for the decade, and natural disasters have sustained that tone, unclear compliance mandates and executive orders and the ever-present headache of social media, which can compound the problem of disseminating information during an emergency. Crises like these can put a workplace on edge. Without clear communication, anxieties can fester, with consequences for organizational stability and individual workers’ welfare.

Preventing communications breakdowns during a crisis is one of the primary tasks facing organizations today. These ongoing crises show no signs of slowing—if anything, just the opposite. Learning how to navigate them can save employees significant trouble down the line.

The importance of communication in crisis management

Let’s say a crisis hits. Perhaps it’s a natural disaster. Or a change in federal policy that affects some portion of your workforce. Your employees will have questions and concerns; they may worry about precisely what to do. The mood, in these situations, is often palpable—anxiety reigns, and productivity suffers.

One cannot overlook, in this context, the importance of timely communication. Any substantial period of unknowing on the part of your employees presents an opportunity for anxiety to take root and spread. Timely communication, on the other hand, eliminates anxiety and enhances morale. Workers feel their employers are in control, paying attention to employees’ fears and shifting strategies to accommodate them.

During natural disasters, safety is a significant part of this equation: employers should demonstrate that they have employee safety foremost in mind, and should communicate safety protocols clearly and as soon as possible.

Best practices for crisis communication

No question that engaging in this kind of communication can be a challenge—particularly in a frontline work context, where decision-makers might work miles away from workers. But some approaches can help bridge those gaps, and keep workers fully apprised and comfortable during times of crisis.

To begin with, I’d recommend employers fully avail themselves of technology on this front. Digital communications are of course de rigueur in most office settings, but they remain surprisingly rare in frontline contexts. Simple interventions here—like specialized communications apps —can pay enormous dividends in employee security. This applies even when there is no new information to share: a simple message informing employees that there are no new updates can maintain morale and show that employers do care about them.

Of course, it is not simply enough to send a message—the content of that message matters, too. From my time shadowing frontline workplaces and being a frontline employee myself, I’ve noticed a tendency for employers to use jargon—a reflexive impulse when straightforward communication is more meaningful. This is a tendency employers would be wise to reign in. The goal should always be simplicity and consistency—particularly in times of crisis when time is of the essence. During these times conflicting or mixed messaging can quite literally be deadly.

Effective communication, of course, is a two-way street. Employees don’t want to feel like they’re receiving directives from a remote, unfeeling entity. The ability to engage in conversation—to ask questions and to provide feedback—is just as important to overall worker well-being. Employers are often surprised by what they learn when they enable this open dialogue communication. Feedback can help guide strategy during a crisis—and ensure smooth operations until it’s resolved.

Creating a communication-oriented workplace culture

Practices like these are top-down: they emerge from a workplace culture that prioritizes communication from its highest levels. Effective workplace communication is a skill: it can be taught, and the organizations that navigate crises most effectively are the ones that encourage that teaching.

Straightforward, dedicated training is important. Arming HR personnel with the communicative tools they need to thrive in times of crisis. But it also means drawing up precise, detailed plans tailored to the specifics of each potential crisis point. Yes, these things rarely announce themselves in advance, but that doesn’t mean the future is unknowable. Specific changes in immigration policy, for instance, are often signaled ahead of time, and their ramifications are knowable with sufficient research. When you complete that work in advance, you can present employees with the answers they need the moment they need them—staving off what would otherwise be a world of anxiety.

We often speak of home as a refuge, but in an ideal world, one’s workplace would serve a similar function. After all, when employees feel secure and comfortable they are likely to do their best work. Maintaining high levels of employee comfort during a crisis may feel like an insoluble challenge—but with the right communication strategy and tools in place, it doesn’t have to be.

[To share your insights with us, please write to psen@itechseries.com ]

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