Wells Fargo's New Commercial

Wells Fargo is trying to rebuild its image after facing the scandal that it opened accounts for people who didn't request them and weren't aware they had them. Until now, we heard little from the company, except an email to some customers and a full-page ad with plans that seemed quite basic.

A new, short commercial focuses on three points: fully refunding those impacted, proactively sending new account confirmations, and eliminating product sales goals. 

These actions are a bit more specific than what has been communicated in the past. However, a skeptic like me might say these steps are still the bare minimum that the company can do for customers. Also eliminating product sales goals, which arguably caused the trouble because they were overly aggressive, should have been done years ago, particularly now that we know employees had reported issues but were ignored or retaliated against.

Discussion Starters:

• Assess this commercial. Who are the primary and secondary audiences? What are the communication objectives? How well does the company achieve them?
• Consider the language choices. The three actions aren't quite parallel. What other changes could be made?
• What else should Wells Fargo do at this point to rebuild its image?

Managers Encourage Unity at Work

Last week, we read about increasing divisions at work because of the contentious presidential election. Now that the election is over, companies are trying to unite workers who may have been on opposite sides.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz had emailed employees before the election:

Many Americans have allowed the vitriolic nature of the presidential campaign to ignite our differences and strip away our civility and dignity. In the process, we've lost faith in what we all know has always been true, the promise of America.

But you are the true promise of America.
…

Kindness, compassion, empathy, and yes love is what we need. It is what we must display and share. We are all longing for a deeper sense of human connection and humanity because, when we are touched by it, it fills us up.

Now, several companies are trying strategies, such as videos and chat sessions, to help employees move on from the high emotions during the campaign season.

The news isn't all bad at work. In a commercial real estate firm, The Wall Street Journal reports, managers believe difficult conversations have offered a type of "team building in this weird sort of way."

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• What has been your experience post-election at work and at school? How are people managing differences?
• If you were to write an email to foster unity among students at your school, what would you say?

Acceptance and Concession Speeches

After a surprise Donald Trump presidential victory, the future president and Secretary Clinton gave their respective speeches. Both candidates were respectful to the other, with Trump complimenting Clinton on a hard-fought campaign, and Clinton encouraging people to support Trump as our new president.

Clinton's concession speech asked people to give Trump a chance to lead. She said she hoped he would be "a successful president for all Americans."

Discussion Starters:

• To introduce Trump's speech, future Vice President Mike Pence said, "This is a historic night." It is: this is the first U.S. president who has had neither military nor government experience. Besides Trump's background, what else makes this election victory "historic"?
• Assess Trump and Clinton's delivery skills. Understandably, they are both tired! What other observations do you have?
• Both Trump and Clinton were, shall we say, political in their comments. Which parts are least believable?

FBI Says Nothing New in Clinton Emails

Just under the wire-two days before a close election-the FBI has announced nothing worthy of attention, after all, in Hillary Clinton's emails. The news comes just eight days after the FBI, led by James Comey, said the organization discovered new emails during an investigation of Anthony Weiner. At the time, no charges were made, and the FBI said they had no information about the emails, which wasn't helpful just 10 days before the national election.

Some question whether the FBI could reasonably read all messages, but it seems that most emails were personal or duplicates of what the FBI already reviewed.

In his letter to Congress, Comey stressed the work of the FBI agents to review the messages and said their conclusion from July was unchanged: no charges will be made in relation to Clinton's email server.

The news made The New York Times' biggest online front page headline as well as The Wall Street Journals'. 

Discussion Starters:

• Once again, did Comey do the right thing? What kind of pressure do you think he's been under?
• How, if at all, do you think this latest news will affect the election results? The first announcement did seem to tighten Clinton's lead. Will this announcement reverse it?
• Why are people influenced by this news-either way? The candidates have starkly different approaches, backgrounds, and plans.

Christie Associates Found Guilty

Two former associates of NJ Governor Chris Christie were found guilty of causing traffic problems for political gain. In what has been called "Bridgegate," Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni conspired to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge in 2013 as retaliation against the mayor of Fort Lee. At the time, Kelly was Christie's deputy chief of staff, and Baroni was the deputy director of Port Authority. Previously, two other aides admitted guilt in relation to the scandal.

The most incriminating piece of evidence was an email exchange between Kelly and David Wildstein, who leaked the plan. The message is clear: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

In a statement released after the verdicts, Christie says he's "saddened," but he continues to maintain his innocence.

Christie reiterated this point during an interview with CBS News.

But the verdict is bad news for Christie-and possibly for Donald Trump. On the stand during her trial, Kelly said that Christie knew about the plan, and text messages from another aide said he "flat out lied." Trump had named Christie to lead a transition team should he become president, and Christie is actively campaigning for Trump in these last days before the election.

Discussion Starters:

• Does this verdict hurt Christie's chance of maintaining his innocence? Why or why not?
• Assess his statement to the press. How effectively does he stay clear of the case and verdicts?
• What, if anything, should Trump do at this point? He didn't choose Christie as his vice presidential running mate, but he's clearly a Christie fan.

Election Causes Emotions to Run High at Work

A Society for Human Resources (SHRM) survey found more "political volatility" at work than in previous election years. The rate is up from another SHRM survey conducted in June. Respondents said that employees are more concerned this year about the candidates and more vocal about their opinions.

This infographic summarizes the survey responses.

Politics are part of life, and perhaps this is just part of "bringing your whole self to work," which we discuss in Chapter 2 of the tenth edition. Or should we avoid talking about politics in the workplace?

Although these conversations may be uncomfortable, a Harvard Business Review article quotes Joseph Grenny, coauthor of Crucial Conversations:

"[Y]ou spend the majority of your waking hours with your colleagues, and so it's natural to "feel the need to process your thoughts and feelings" with them. In fact, he says, learning how to talk about politics in a productive manner can help you "manage other difficult conversations at work," including peer performance reviews or disagreements over strategy and policy. Politics is just another topic where "emotions run strong, the stakes are high, and opinions vary," he says.

The article suggests strategies for managing political discussions at work, for example, viewing them as an opportunity to learn more about each other, focusing on the process instead of a candidate, and knowing when to "disengage."

Discussion Starters:

• What's your view? Should we avoid talking about politics at work, or is it an opportunity for building a better team?
• Have you been in an awkward or frustrating situation with a coworker about a political situation? How did you handle it, and what did you learn?
• What do you think will happen after this year's election? Will we all go back to normal, or is that just wishful thinking?

Verizon's 2016 Fact Sheet

In addition to annual reports, many companies publish fact sheets-shorter, friendlier versions for financial and other company information. In Verizon's recent Fact Sheet, the company puts its message clearly up front: A clear purpose. A new identity. Verizon mentions the recent AOL acquisition, but it's too soon to include the bid for Yahoo.  

The company is clearly proud of its girth: big numbers are listed throughout the two pages. However, we have little context for the data. For example, $308 million was spent on training and development. Who benefited, and how was that money shared throughout the organization? Did senior managers attend executive MBA programs? Or was it spent on basic skills required for the company instead of developing more transferable skills? How does that compare to training investment at similar firms, etc.?

Discussion Starters:

• Looking at the Fact Sheet, what other questions do you have about the data?
• Graphically, the two pages are very simple. Why do you think Verizon made this choice? What are the alternatives? Research other companies to explore other designs.

Student's Blog Post Gets Attention

Suffolk University student Tiffany C. Martinez was accused of plagiarism, and she wrote a blog post that's gone viral. According to Martinez, her professor returned a paper to her in front of the classroom and said, "This is not your language." She then reviewed her comments.

"Hence" was one example circled in the paper, and Martinez said her professor wrote on the paper,  "Please go back and indicate where you cut and paste."

In a blog post titled, "Academic, Love Me Back," Martinez explained what happened and the impact on her. Here is an excerpt:

At eight o'clock this morning, I felt both disrespected and invalidated. For years I have spent ample time dissecting the internalized racism that causes me to doubt myself, my abilities, and my aspirations. As a student in an institution extremely populated with high-income white counterparts, I have felt the bitter taste of not belonging. It took until I used my cloud of doubt and my sociological training to realize that my insecurities are rooted in the systems I navigate every day. I am just as capable if not more so than those around me and my accomplishments are earned.

The acting president and provost wrote a letter to the university community, promising an investigation.

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• Read more of Martinez's account in her blog post. How would you describe her point of view?
• What's your view of the university's letter to the community?
• What response do you think the professor may have? How, if at all, can he or she explain her actions? 

Does Comey Regret His Decision?

FBI Director James B. Comey made headlines today for reporting new allegations against Hillary Clinton because of, you guessed it, her use of email. This time, new emails have been discovered in connection with Anthony Weiner, the former NY congressman who was caught "sexting." His ex-wife is Huma Abedin, a Clinton aide.

Comey apparently went public with the news, in the form of a letter to Congress, without any specifics, with no decision to bring charges, and despite warnings from the Department of Justice. Soon after Comey went public, he issued this email to FBI employees, perhaps indicating his ambivalence about the release. 

To all:

This morning I sent a letter to Congress in connection with the Secretary Clinton email investigation.  Yesterday, the investigative team briefed me on their recommendation with respect to seeking access to emails that have recently been found in an unrelated case.  Because those emails appear to be pertinent to our investigation, I agreed that we should take appropriate steps to obtain and review them.

Of course, we don't ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations, but here I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed. I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record.  At the same time, however, given that we don't know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, I don't want to create a misleading impression.  In trying to strike that balance, in a brief letter and in the middle of an election season, there is significant risk of being misunderstood, but I wanted you to hear directly from me about it.

Jim

Clinton's approach to the news is to go on the attack, criticizing Comey's decision as "unprecedented" and "deeply troubling."

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• Did Comey make the right decision? Why or why not? Is this just a distraction from the election, which is just 10 days away, or is this essential to Americans' decision?
• Will Hillary ever live down this issue? If she becomes president, what is the best way for her to handle the situation?

Layoffs at Twitter

Twitter is laying off about 9% of employees and closing Vine, the short video app it purchased in October 2012 before it launched. When Instagram offered video options, Vine immediately lost much of its user base. About 350 employees are affected.

Layoffs are awkward for Twitter, a site sometimes used for "live tweeting" bad news. In this case, a former employee created a Twitter Moment, "Last Day at Twitter." Exiting employees also used the hashtag #TwitterLayoffs. This could be risky for a company, but the posts are positive. It could be that employees enjoyed their time at Twitter and understand the rationale for layoffs. It could also be that employees are in high demand from other companies, so they won't be out of work too long.

Discussion Starters:

• Why do you think employees tweeted nice messages on their last day? I offered two theories. Any other ideas?
• Should the company have created its own hashtag for the event to pre-empt something worse? Why or why not?

Giving Feedback to Someone Who Doesn't React Well

A new Harvard Business Review article offers tips for giving feedback to "people who cry, yell, or get defensive." No one likes to be on the receiving end of that behavior, but most managers will be at some point.

The author certainly doesn't suggest shying away from the feedback, which may be some managers' tendency. Instead, she asks managers to remind themselves to focus on the value of the feedback to the employee. Presumably the feedback will be useful to the employee's career. Being prepared also helps, as can staying calm in the moment and stopping the meeting to continue another time if things get too tense.

For emotional people, you might hold meetings at the end of the day and offer tissues. But hold your ground. If someone is yelling, you have every right to address it. The author suggests the following:

• "I need to have a conversation with you. I need you to lower your voice."
• "I need you to take a deep breath or we will have to reschedule this. This is not constructive."

More good advice in the article is for managers to, separately, address the employee's reaction, for example, "I notice every time we sit down to discuss feedback, you get [upset, angry, defensive]. I have your best interests at heart. What can I do to help you receive feedback with more openness? And here's what I need in these interactions." 

Emotions in the workplace aren't necessarily bad, and they are inevitable. Dealing with them in a humane, professional way may help build trust in an otherwise shaky relationship.

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• Have you tried to give feedback to someone who gets emotional? What strategies worked for you?
• Have you been emotional when on the receiving end of feedback? What would help you maintain your composure?
• The image is from an article about positive anger in the workplace. What's your view of the researcher's perspective?

AT&T Defends Time Warner Deal

AT&T is planning to acquire Time Warner, and it's already facing skepticism. Critics say the deal will increase prices and reduce consumer choice. But AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson argues that they are trying to reduce prices, increase quality content, and increase innovation, for example, by creating new ad models. He promises to be a "head-to-head, nationwide competitor with the cable ecosystem."

In a press release, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes' quote starts with enthusiasm about shareholders: "This is a great day for Time Warner and its shareholders." He goes on to discuss innovation:

"This is a natural fit between two companies with great legacies of innovation that have shaped the modern media and communications landscape, and my senior management team and I are looking forward to working closely with Randall and our new colleagues as we begin to capture the tremendous opportunities this creates to make our content even more powerful, engaging and valuable for global audiences."

Whether the deal would stifle competition concerns both Republicans and Democrats. Donald Trump said, "As an example of the power structure I'm fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few." And Bernie Sanders tweeted, "The administration should kill the Time Warner/AT&T merger. This deal would mean higher prices and fewer choices for the American people."

Discussion Starters:

• How well did the AT&T CEO address concerns about the acquisition? What principles of persuasion did he use in the interview?
• Read Time Warner's press release. How consistently are the two companies speaking about the deal?
• What's your view? Do you think the acquisition would be bad for consumers as some people fear?

Wells Fargo Failing Damage Control

Wells Fargo has been embroiled in a scandal for weeks and is finally communicating directly with customers. In an email, the company didn't quite apologize, but it did acknowledge mistakes. An FAQ on the company's website says little more.

                         

An update on what we're doing to make things right   Dear [name omitted],   Over the last several weeks, you may have heard about the settlements we've made involving some of our customers receiving products or services that they did not want or request. We are deeply committed to serving you and your financial needs, and in those instances, we did not live up to our commitment. This is inconsistent with our values and with the culture we work hard to maintain. It's not who we are as a company. It's important for you to know that making things right and restoring the faith you have in us is the very top priority for our entire Wells Fargo leadership team. There is nothing more important than for you to experience the very best from us. Here's what we're already doing:   Putting your interests first: We have eliminated product sales goals for our Retail Banking team members who serve customers in our bank branches and call centers.   Proactively communicating with you: We send a confirmation after you open a new consumer or small business checking, savings, or credit card account so that you know what is happening and can tell us if anything we've confirmed is different than what you expected.   Full transparency: You can always see your eligible accounts any time when enrolled in Wells Fargo Online®.   Fixing what went wrong: We have provided full refunds to customers we have already identified and we're broadening our scope of work to find customers we may have missed. If we have any doubt about whether one of your accounts was authorized, and any fees were incurred on that account, we will contact you and refund fees.   If you have any concerns about your accounts or any aspect of your relationship with Wells Fargo, please come into a branch and speak with our team in person, or call us on our dedicated hotline 24/7 at 1-877-924-8697. We will continue to update wellsfargo.com/commitment to keep you informed. The trust you place in us means everything and we will work hard every day to earn your trust back.

The message may be too little, too late. Oddly, the email was sent within a day of CEO John Stumpf's resignation, but we see no mention of leadership changes. This may be a missed opportunity. In addition, these types of messages typically take a more personal approach: we would expect to see a signature at the bottom-an indication of someone taking responsibility for making things better, as the company promises. In addition, Wells Fargo has taken out full-page newspaper ads with the same four points as in the customer email.

In the meantime, the news is getting worse. More employees are coming forward saying they had complained about company practices but were ignored. Employees report extreme pressure to sell, and more news is surfacing about which customers were targeted, for example, immigrants with little English and older people.

A New Republic article, "Corporations Ignore Whistleblowers at Their Peril," includes the subtitle, "Wells Fargo could have saved itself some trouble by listening to employees." Employees report worse than being ignored: they suffered retaliation.

Discussion Starters:

• Assess the email to customers. How could the message be improved?
• What hope do you see for Wells Fargo? If you were the new CEO, what would you do now?

"Top Skills" According to LinkedIn Analysis

LinkedIn analyzed recruiting activity on the site in 2016 and identified the top 10 skills employers want. A more accurate heading may be skills for which employers search. Not surprisingly, all are technology related.

I'm glad to see Data Presentation make the list; it's a core skill in our Management Communication classes at Cornell. LinkedIn's commentary expresses companies' growing interest well:

Show me, don't tell me: For the first time ever, data presentation, which is visualizing data, makes the list with the #8 spot. With statistical analysis and data mining holding strong again this year at #2, employers need employees who can organize data so it's easy for people to understand.

In addition to the overall number, LinkedIn identifies skills by country, and we seem interesting differences. A few non-technical skills emerge when we drill down:

• HR Benefits and Compensation (Australia, Brazil, UK)
• Corporate Law and Governance (Australia, France, Singapore, UAE)
• Business Development and Relationship Management (Brazil)
• Public Policy and International Relations (China, India, South Africa, UAE)
• Social Media Marketing (China)
• Business Intelligence (China)
• SEO/SEM Marketing (France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Singapore, UAE, UK)
• Compliance and Employment Law (France)
• Marketing Campaign Management (France, Ireland, Singapore)
• Retail Store Operations (Germany)
• Channel Marketing (Germany)
• PR and Communications (India)
• Economics (India)
• Recruiting (Ireland, Netherlands)
• Foreign Language Translation (Singapore)
• Renewable and Sustainable Energy (UAE)
• Mining and Commodities (UAE)

Of course, many of these involve technology, but they are not as tech heavy as, say, algorithm design. 

LinkedIn's analysis also indicates, "Demand for marketing skills is slowing because the supply of people with marketing skills has caught up with employers' demand for people with marketing skills." 

Discussion Starters:

• What, if anything, surprises you about these lists? Consider the source: LinkedIn. Could some of the data be skewed?
• Looking at the list of non-technical skills, what conclusions do you draw about business and about supply and demand in those countries?

NFL's Image Problem

The NFL's image is further damaged by a New York Times article today titled, "N.F.L. Shows It Doesn't Really Care About Domestic Violence." The piece starts by highlighting declining viewership, for which the league blames the current election. Certainly, people are sensitized to sexual assault incidents, but the NFL isn't helping itself:

"Yet again, in the case of Giants kicker Josh Brown, the league has shown that it could not care less about women and really, really doesn't want to call out its players for doing bad things to them."

Tough words. But the Times explains that Brown "was charged with assaulting his wife" "more than two dozen times." After investigating the case for 10 months, the NFL decided to suspend Brown for only one game.

The Times also said the league blamed the victim: "Brown's wife had failed to cooperate, the league said, and that's why its investigators couldn't get to the bottom of what he had done."

People are voicing their dismay on Twitter, with the second tweet here retweeted almost 2,000 times.

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• What's your view of the Times' headline: overstated, unfair, spot-on, or something else?
• To what extent do you think these assault issues are causing declining viewership?
• What should the NFL do to restore its image?

Communications About the Outage

The latest cyberattack left Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Etsy, and other sites spinning and apparently deciding how much and what to communicate to users. Issues at Dyn, a host company, affected the others, and Dyn was communicating regularly during the outage.

Amazon, for example, seemed to communicate nothing at all in its press releases, on its blog or on its Twitter feed: all highlight company activities and products for Halloween.

Discussion Starters:

• Why would Amazon not communicate about the outage? Do you think this was a good decision? Consider the technology impact and responsibilities.
• Assess Dyn's communication. This isn't the traditional apology. How well does it work? Consider the audience and communication objectives in your response.

Facebook Debates Trump's Posts as Hate Speech

Are some of Donald Trump's posts considered hate speech? That's what Facebook employees debated in December according to a Wall Street Journal article, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided against censorship. Some employees felt strongly-even threatening to quit-over Trump's posts proposing banning Muslims from entering the country.

A spokesperson for Facebook said, "That context [of a post] can include the value of political discourse. Many people are voicing opinions about this particular content, and it has become an important part of the conversation around who the next U.S. president will be." Another management team member wrote, "In the weeks ahead, we're going to begin allowing more items that people find newsworthy, significant, or important to the public interest-even if they might otherwise violate our standards."

Facebook is in the spotlight partly because Americans increasingly use the site as a news source, and the company has been viewed as left-leaning. Clearly, Facebook is in a tough spot. 

Discussion Starters:

• What is considered hate speech?
• Did Mark Zuckerberg make the right decision? Research Facebook's policy for context.
• Should Facebook adjust its policy? Or is this a decision relevant only to the current election?

Wal-Mart CEO Is Front and Center

Two articles this week highlight strides Wal-Mart is making in increasing wages and improving store service. A Wall Street Journal article was titled, "CEO Doug McMillon's Ad Was Designed to Burnish Retailer's Image: The retailer put its leader at the center of a push to shed perceptions that it offers little more than low prices and low-paying jobs," and a New York Times article was titled, "How Did Walmart Get Cleaner Stores and Higher Sales? It Paid Its People More." Both articles focus on the retail giant's efforts to improve its image.

The WSJ article describes McMillon's appearance in a commercial as an "unusual move," and the NYT article references a video he produced in 2015 promising to increase employee wages and training, below. McMillon also appears in a YouTube video, "Riding in Cars with Executives" with a Wal-Mart associate. Although having an executive so tightly connected to a brand can be risky, McMillon is younger than the average Fortune 500 CEO and is likable. In the car video, he talks about popular culture and seems, well, just like the rest of us.

Discussion Starters:

• I say that having a CEO tightly associated with a brand is risky. Why do you think that is? What examples of other companies have presented a CEO similarly and probably regretted it?
• Assess McMillon's video, above. Who are his primary and secondary audiences? What are his communication objectives? How convincing are the messages? How effective is his delivery style?

"Robo-Interviews" Become More Prevalent

More companies are interviewing applicants via webcam, and the process is not interactive like Skype and FaceTime interviews. About 90% of these interviews have no interviewer present. Applicants respond to questions on the spot, sometimes with a warm-up question and a few seconds to compose a response, but not always. A Bloomberg article quoted one candidate about his experience:

"I'm not a YouTube star, obviously," he said. "It's such a weird experience talking to a camera. It honestly was pretty horrible." Jamie Black, who suffered through the video interview experience for a job at a school, said it felt "more like a game show than an interview." 

HireVue, which provides interview software, reports 2.5 million such interviews in 2016. The company's clients include JPMorgan, Deloitte, and "most of the major airlines."

The process has some advantages. Of course, it saves companies travel and other expenses of live interviews. But some companies also say that are able to meet more people through the technology. The Bloomberg article ends with a quote from HireVue's founder, Mark Newman:

"Candidates will generally say, 'I would have preferred an in-person interview to this,' but that's not the right comparison," HireVue's Newman said. "The alternative is no interview at all."

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• What's your experience with interview videos?
• What benefits and downsides do you see for applicants?
• How do you think this technology affects people of color? If companies want a more diverse workforce, will the software help or hurt?

Delta Accused of Bias Against Black Female Doctor

A sick passenger needed attention on a Delta flight from Detroit to Houston, and a doctor stepped up to help. But, according to Dr. Tamika Cross, her help wasn't appreciated. A flight attendant questioned her credentials, saying, "Oh no, sweetie. Put your hand down. We are looking for actual physicians or nurses or some type of medical personnel. We don't have time to talk to you."

Cross, an African-American, said she continued trying to help and rang her attendant bell when flight staff asked, again, if someone on the plane was a medical doctor. But the attendant questioned her: "Oh, wow, you're an actual physician?' I reply yes. She said, 'Let me see your credentials. What type of doctor are you? Where do you work? Why were you in Detroit?'

Meanwhile, a White man stood up, and the flight attendant seemed to accept his help without question, according to Cross:

"She says to me, 'Thanks for your help but he can help us, and he has his credentials.' Mind you, he hasn't shown anything to her. Just showed up and fit the 'description of a doctor.' I stay seated."

At some point, the flight attendant may have realized her mistake; Cross wrote on her Facebook post, "She came and apologized to me several times and offering me skymiles. I kindly refused."

Delta issued an apology on its website that included a different explanation of what transpired. The company says the investigation is ongoing, but we see an explanation and their practice:

"Three medical professionals identified themselves on the flight in question. Only one was able to produce documentation of medical training and that is the doctor who was asked to assist the customer onboard. In addition, paramedics met the flight to assist the customer further.

"Flight attendants are trained to collect information from medical volunteers offering to assist with an onboard medical emergency. When an individual's medical identification isn't available, they're instructed to ask questions such as where medical training was received or whether an individual has a business card or other documentation and ultimately to use their best judgment."

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• Google and other companies train employees about "unconscious bias." What does this mean, and could similar training help Delta employees?
• How do you assess Delta's statement? What are the communication objectives at this point, and did the company achieve them?
• Does Delta's explanation change your thinking about Cross's account of what happened? Why or why not?