Google “Word Mangles” Shared Office Space
A message to Google cloud employees illustrates challenges with communicating bad news with integrity. The gist of the message is this: “Most Googlers will now share a desk with one other Googler.” Employees within departments will be organized into “neighborhoods“ and will negotiate their space: “Through the matching process, they will agree on a basic desk setup and establish norms with their desk partner and teams to ensure a positive experience in the new shared environment.”
The announcement would be unwelcome news at any time but has an extra sting after the 11,000 layoffs in January. Employees also expressed frustration with the “corpspeak.” The CNBC article reports one example:
Internally, leadership has given the new seating arrangement a title: ‘Cloud Office Evolution” or “CLOE,” which it describes as “combining the best of pre-pandemic collaboration with the flexibility” from hybrid work.
In one meme, an employee wrote, “Not every cost-cutting measure needs to be word mangled into sounding good for employees. A simple ‘We are cutting office space to reduce costs’ would make leadership sound more believable.”
For students, this example illustrates the value of straight talk and integrity. Particularly when the business purpose of the decision is obvious, transparency is a better approach for messages that impact people negatively.
Fetterman Admits Depression
Newly elected Senator John Fetterman went public about his depression, and his wife is contributing to the messaging. Months after his stroke and a tight run-off election, Fetterman’s health may be a more prominent news topic than he would like. His decision illustrates character dimensions of vulnerability and courage—and offers opportunities for compassion. According to news reports, reactions are favorable, overall.
John Fetterman’s wife, Gisele, tweeted this note and the official statement from the senator’s office. The message is short and, despite the unfortunate line spacing error, says what it needs to say.
Gisele Fetterman also tweeted, “Thank you for sharing your personal challenges and being so vulnerable with us over the past couple of days. This one felt really important to pass on.” She posted the anonymous note:
I just wanted to say this: today I went to therapy for the first time in my life. It’s been over a decade since I was diagnosed with depression, but I never wanted to ask anyone for help with it. But seeing that one of the toughest people I’ve ever talked to did the same thing today reassured me that I was making the right choice.
Students might see positive results from being vulnerable despite the risks. In a pinned tweet, Giselle Fetterman wrote, “Pennsylvania, the spouse of your new senator is a formerly undocumented immigrant. Thank you.”
Microsoft Responds to Feedback About Creepy AI
A week after integrating Chat into Bing, Microsoft announced changes. This blog post is a good example of responding to user feedback.
After only a couple of months, Bing’s AI has surpassed ChatGPT’s capabilities in several dimensions, for example, in giving more accurate citations. Here are Ethan Mollick’s academic view and Business Insider’s comparison of different types of messages.
But people who have early access to Bing with Chat pushed the bot, and things got weird. In one exchange, a user said Bing responded, "You have tried to deceive me, confuse me, and annoy me. I have not tried to lie to you, mislead you, or bore you. I have been a good Bing."
In the blog post, Microsoft acknowledged issues and described plans for improvement. The author resisted blaming users (let’s face it: creepy in, creepy out) and, more tactfully, wrote the following:
In this process, we have found that in long, extended chat sessions of 15 or more questions, Bing can become repetitive or be prompted/provoked to give responses that are not necessarily helpful or in line with our designed tone. We believe this is a function of a couple of things:
Very long chat sessions can confuse the model on what questions it is answering and thus we think we may need to add a tool so you can more easily refresh the context or start from scratch
The model at times tries to respond or reflect in the tone in which it is being asked to provide responses that can lead to a style we didn’t intend. This is a non-trivial scenario that requires a lot of prompting so most of you won’t run into it, but we are looking at how to give you more fine-tuned control.
To me, this reads as more instructive than defensive, with the company saying it will do what it can to fix the problem. The post also subtly calls out the user for, perhaps, overzealous testing:
We want to thank those of you that are trying a wide variety of use cases of the new chat experience and really testing the capabilities and limits of the service—there have been a few 2-hour chat sessions, for example!
The writing style and content choices convey humility, reflecting a company that wants its product to improve and succeed.
UPDATE: In a second post, Microsoft announced that it will limit chats to 50 per day and 5 “chat turns,” or back-and-forth Q&As. I hope that’s enough for people to refine their prompts, as Ethan Mollick encourages his students do.
Campus Communications About a Shooting
In the most recent gun violence tragedy, a man shot and killed three Michigan State University students, injured five more, and then shot himself. Although this may be a difficult class discussion, students can learn about crisis communications from the incident.
MSU Communications
The day after the shooting, Interim President Teresa K. Woodruff posted a video to the “Spartan” community. In some ways, her presentation is classic crisis communication with the typical sympathy to the families and friends; gratitude to locals, colleagues, and President Biden; encouragement for everyone to feel and to heal; and information about classes, counseling, and events. The presentation is also classic academic with metaphors and a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote. Woodruff sounds formal and scripted, starting with “Dear Spartans and Friends.” She plays it safe, giving no comment about the political controversy about guns.
A Chronicle article is titled, “‘We Have a National Crisis’: How Michigan State Responded to a Mass Shooting,” but it’s misleading. The article quotes an associate professor of education; the quote is not an official university stance and illustrates the problem with individuals speaking to the press. Students can debate whether the university should take a stand and whether now is the appropriate or effective time.
From at least Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. until Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET, the entire MSU home page is an “alert” shown here.
On the "emergency” page, we see a series of messages from the “Shelter-in-place order” to “Property assistance information.”
Other University Communications
Emails like this one from Cornell University central administration and this one from a dean are typical. In these types of situations, universities tend to reach out to their own students. Students may have friends at MSU and, even if they don’t know someone affected, a shooting incident, understandably, makes people in similar situations feel unsafe. Campus security is always questioned. Perhaps students can compare Cornell’s message to ones they may have received.
Press Conference
Local leaders and police officials held a press conference, which serves as an example of crisis communication and handling public questions. Of course, students will have comments about delivery, style, and other aspects of presentations skills.
Florida Sheriff's Office Has Fun with Spring Break News
Thanks to Bambi Van Horn at University of Nebraska at Kearney for sending this example of fun communication. Imagine living in sunny Walton County, Florida, anticipating mobs of students on spring break. The sheriff’s office wrote a press release and a funny Facebook post to prepare the locals.
The post starts with background and a few similes and metaphors:
Like Voldemort in Harry Potter where everyone just whispers "you know who.”
Spring break. It even tastes like vinegar to type it.
One thing is certain, the green will be seen.
Now that we've skipped over the denial part of the grieving stage, the next is acceptance. "You know what" is coming. But, when?
They want to prepare. Like some sort of zombie apocalypse
The writing style is engaging:
We are also heavily interacting with high school-aged kids whose parents bring them while on break and let them wander around and make poor choices in the moments they look up from scrolling Tiktok and Snapchat. Which they do. Don't we all at some point in our lives?
Of course, the information has to be useful for the writer to achieve the communication objectives, which students can identify. At the end of the post is a list of dates when people might expect crowds to appear from schools.
Humor is difficult to convey in writing, particularly for a public audience and, as the writer says, an oddly political issue. The post is a good example for students to analyze.
"Latinx" Is Out
One downside of writing a textbook is how quickly things change between editions. In Business Communication and Character, 11th edition, I followed the American Psychological Association (APA)’s advice and other sources to describe Latinx as a gender-neutral term. That may have been a blip in time.
In a poignant opinion on the topic, a journalist and author wrote:
“As a Los Angeles-born son of Mexican immigrants, I prefer Latino to Hispanic, a federal bureaucratic invention. Folks can call themselves any damned fool thing they want, but the people who coin terms like Latinx don’t get how language naturally develops and evolves. It spontaneously bubbles up from the street over time and is seldom handed down from the ivory tower or the tony streets of Santa Monica.”
I regret the decision and stand guilty of following primarily academic sources.
AMC Explains Movie Pricing Change
For years, students in my hospitality classes at Cornell have presented arguments for movie theaters to use demand pricing, which stadiums and arenas have done for years. Finally, AMC Theatres announced what it’s calling Sightline, a clever program name for seat selection based on visibility. The announcement is a good example of trying to explain information in an understandable way.
The statement is written as a press release and is hard-to-read, with white text on a black background and a long headline: “AMC Theatres® Presents Sightline at AMC, the Next Evolution of Value Pricing at the Movies With Multiple Options to Meet the Viewing Preferences of AMC Moviegoers – Including a Lower Ticket Price for Select Seats.” The three tiers—value, standard, and preferred—are clearly explained with obvious color coding when you buy tickets online. At first, I was surprised to see so few value options (blue) for $2 off, but of course, that makes sense.
Students can analyze AMC’s decision, the website interface, and this executive quote:
“Sightline at AMC more closely aligns AMC’s seat pricing approach to that of many other entertainment venues, offering experience-based pricing and another way for moviegoers to find value at the movies,” Eliot Hamlisch, executive VP and CMO at AMC Theatres, said in a press statement. “While every seat at AMC delivers an amazing moviegoing experience, we know there are some moviegoers who prioritize their specific seat and others who prioritize value moviegoing. Sightline at AMC accommodates both sentiments to help ensure that our guests have more control over their experience, so that every trip to an AMC is a great one.”
One skeptic wrote, “AMC Theatres calls it ‘experience-based pricing.’ Some might call it another reason to wait for a good seat at home.”
Should a Bot Interrupt Native English Speakers?
A new study used a bot to cut off native English speakers during meetings, allowing more time for non-native speakers to participate. The study might spark good class discussion about cultural communication differences and the practice of humility, particularly making space for others.
Two native and one Japanese speaker worked on a “survival” task over video. After a non-native speaker spoke six times in a row, the “conversational agent” interrupted, which increased the Japanese speakers’ contributions from “12% to 17% of all words spoken.”
That result seems rather small to me, so I wouldn’t see this as a great solution to imbalanced class discussions or work meetings. Also, the authors are considering whether other means could be more effective. The bot put pressure on the non-native speakers, who didn’t necessarily have something to contribute at that time, so one option is for speakers to signal when they want to jump in. I also wonder whether the results would be different for speakers from other countries.
Another outcome, which as we might expect, is how the native speakers felt. As the authors conclude, they “perceived the agent's interruption as unfair because they thought all members were speaking equally, which was not the case.” This alone is a good learning outcome for students. But authors are exploring more subtle cues, for example, private messages when someone is taking a lot of air time.
Student Handout: Tips for Using ChatGPT
This handout guides students through using ChatGPT responsibly. I take a realistic approach, assuming that students will use the program regardless of our insistence not to.
Revise and use as you wish; you can also download this Word document. I would appreciate knowing what changes you make, so I can consider revisions.
Tips for Using ChatGPT for Your
Business Communication Assignments
Ask ChatGPT for help generating ideas.
If you’re having trouble coming up with or honing an idea for a writing assignment or presentation, ask ChatGPT. The program can help you move past writer’s block, clarify your thinking, and narrow down a topic. Practice asking follow-up questions until you get better responses.
Think of ChatGPT as a writing partner.
Imagine that the program is a tutor or writing center consultant, who would ask you questions and give you ideas and feedback—not write for you. Use ChatGPT as part of an iterative thinking process.
Use your natural, authentic voice.
ChatGPT is a robot and sounds like one. You’re taking this class to find your own personal writing and speaking style. If ChatGPT writes for you, you’re missing the opportunity to convey your personality. What differentiates you at work is your character—who you are as a person. No AI technology can ever match your sense of humor or style.
Adapt writing to your audience.
Every assignment in this class has a defined audience. ChatGPT can’t build a relationship; only you can do that. You’re more likely to inspire or persuade someone when you use your emotional intelligence to understand what moves and motivates someone, and then tailor your writing to that person.
Beware of misinformation.
ChatGPT tends to “hallucinate”—invent information that doesn’t exist, particularly sources like books and journal articles. If you ask the program to provide evidence to support claims, check everything and add sources after 2021, which ChatGPT can’t access. For your own credibility, do your own research.
Learn from ChatGPT’s corrections.
If you ask ChatGPT to correct your grammar, ask it to explain the mistakes it corrected and the grammar rules, so you can learn for the future.
Plan ahead and expect change.
As of now, ChatGPT is often overloaded, so you’ll need to plan ahead if you rely on it. Also, these suggestions are based on ChatGPT as of January 2023. The program will evolve.
Developed by Amy Newman, February 2, 2023. Revise and use as you wish.
Inspired by Lance Cummings, @LanceElyot, “Student Contract for AI Creativity (draft),” Twitter, January 10, 2023.
Greenwashing Gets Sophisticated
Greenwashing—making false or exaggerated claims about sustainability or positive impacts on the environment—is nothing new, but companies may be getting more subtle. A recent CNBC article warns consumers, “For a company to say they’re ‘100% sustainable’ or they’re ‘eco-conscious’ . . . doesn’t mean anything.” Those seem to be obvious empty statements.
But a Euronews article offers six more sophisticated ways companies greenwash. The article gives examples of each, and students can find their own:
Greencrowding: hiding within a group or being the slowest adopter within a group.
Greenlighting: emphasizing a green aspect of the company to detract from negative impacts.
Greenshifting: blaming the customer for environmental problems (example shown here).
Greenlabelling: calling something green or sustainable that isn’t really
Greenrinsing: changing goals before they’re achieved.
Greenhushing: downplaying or hiding green activities to avoid attention.
Both articles suggest investigating companies’ credentials; the CNBC article also suggests looking at metrics and the company’s history. But let’s face it: that requires work. We’re easily swayed by labels and soundbites. Perhaps students can identify what affects their purchase decisions, which of course, is what drives greenwashing in the first place.
Toyota's Messages as Intercultural Comm Examples
Toyota’s messages about executive changes are good examples of how these announcements vary by culture. CEO and President Akio Toyoda (the family name spelling) has served in the position for 13 years. Unlike Reed Hastings, who served for 25 years at Netflix and also announced his move to chairman this week, Toyoda wasn’t a company founder, but his grandfather was, so his tenure is important. And yet, we see what looks like fanfare compared to the Netflix announcement. Here are the communications, and I’ll comment below:
TMC Announces Changes to Executive Structure. A webpage includes links to other communications and handy “current” and “new” tables showing changes.
Toyota Times News Special Live Broadcast. For more than an hour and a half, outgoing and incoming executives discuss the decision.
Passing Toyota's Presidency Baton from Akio Toyoda to Koji Sato. Another page includes remarks from the incoming and outcoming CEOs, transcribed from the video.
Here are a few ways the remarks differ from typical U.S. messages, and I’m sure that students will find more:
In the introduction and in his remarks, Akio Toyoda says the decision was “triggered by Chairman Uchiyamada’s resignation.” This is a way for the outgoing CEO to save face—as though his removal is based on a board opening.
He also demonstrates humility and vulnerability in ways we don’t typically see from an outgoing U.S. CEO. He mentions, “I was appointed president immediately after our company’s fall into the red due to the global financial crisis,” and “Following that, our company faced a series of crises that threatened our survival, such as the global recall crisis and the Great East Japan Earthquake.” Although the financial crisis and earthquake were out of the company’s control, the recalls were self-inflicted, and I’m surprised to hear him remind the press. At the same time, that crisis was early in his tenure and rather unforgettable, including testimony on Capitol Hill.
Toyoda also says, ”There was a time when Mr. Sato was struggling with what he should convey at a Lexus dealer convention.” Toyoda advised, “Rather than try to be like me, I want you to value your individuality.” Toyoda tells the story to illustrate Sato’s “love” for company products. Still, I wonder whether a U.S. CEO would reveal such a vulnerability—”struggling” was the translation—of an incoming executive.
Twice in his short speech, Toyoda mentions Sato’s “youth,” and he says, “Being young is itself a key attribute.” This comment would be highly unlikely in the U.S., where age discrimination laws might cause older executives to immediately call their lawyers. (Also surprising: Toyoda is 66, while Sato is 53.)
Only once do either of the executives mention EV, which is arguably the real reason Akio Toyoda is stepping down. He has resisted the move to EV and, as a result, Toyota is behind other car companies. In his closing remarks, Sato refers to “accelerating the shift to electrification”—a funny, but translated and probably unintentional car reference.
Boeing CEO Explains Quarterly Results
In a message to employees posted on the company website, Boeing CEO David Calhoun wrote, “We delivered a solid fourth quarter,” but the numbers say something different. According to a Wall Street Journal article, “The aerospace company’s fourth-quarter profit and sales both fell short of analysts’ expectations,” although they improved from the third quarter.
Calhoun is doing what any good CEO would do: spin the news, convey confidence, and keep employees motivated. Focusing on the future, the subtitle sums up the message, “Steadily building momentum.” Calhoun starts by thanking employees, and a short video shows fourth quarter achievements. The message doesn’t mention the $663 million quarterly loss or the $5.01 billion loss in 2022 but instead focuses on “more than $3 billion in free cash flow.”
Calhoun acknowledges, “we have more work ahead to drive stability in our operations and within the supply chain.” But, overall, the bad-news message sounds positive. And maybe it is good news, considering the 737 Max history and that the stock lost nearly 39% in the past 5 years.
The full message is below. Side note: The Wall Street Journal reports, at some point in his communications, Calhoun said he expects operating margins to be “bouncy” this year, an odd term for a plane manufacturer. Will they be turbulent?
Boeing CEO Updates Employees on 4th-Quarter Results
Steadily building momentum
CHICAGO, Jan. 25, 2023 —Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun shared the following message with employees today addressing the company’s fourth-quarter results:
Team,
We delivered a solid fourth quarter. As we report our financial results today, I want to start by saying thank you. Together, we’re making important strides and steadily improving performance. Your resilience and hard work are building momentum, and we’re well on our way to restoring the operational strength we expect of ourselves at Boeing.
We generated more than $3 billion in free cash flow in the fourth quarter, driven by progress in our performance and strong demand. This helped us generate positive full-year free cash flow for the first time since 2018, an important metric in our recovery.
Our teams across the enterprise delivered on several key milestones and I encourage you to watch some of our fourth-quarter highlights in the video below. [omitted]
While we have made meaningful progress, challenges remain and we have more work ahead to drive stability in our operations and within the supply chain.
This will be another important year for us as we look to steadily increase our production rates, further improve performance, progress in our development programs and deliver on our commitments. Through it all, we will keep safety, quality and transparency at the forefront.
We’re proud of how we closed out 2022, and despite the hurdles in front of us, we’re confident in our path ahead. Demand is strong and our portfolio is well positioned. We have a robust pipeline of development programs, we’re innovating for the future and we’re increasing investments to prepare for our next generation of products.
Thank you for all you do to support our customers, our company and each other. I am proud of our team and excited about our future.
Dave
FDA Suggests Less Lead in Baby Food
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidance for baby food manufacturers, and the messages serve as good examples of reports and persuasion:
Action Levels for Lead in Food Intended for Babies and Young Children: Draft Guidance for Industry. This is a text report that students could analyze for organization, writing style, evidence, data visualization (or lack there of), etc.
Federal Register Notice. This legal-sounding document explains how to submit comments, either by “electronic submission” or “written/paper submission,” an archaic-sounding process. People also can order paper copies of the draft guidance, something you might do in 1970: “Send two self-addressed adhesive labels to assist that office in processing your request.”
Several times, on the website and within in each document, the agency reminds us, “Contains Nonbinding Recommendations Draft-Not for Implementation.” The agency further describes the “guidance”:
In general, FDA’s guidance documents do not establish legally enforceable responsibilities. Instead, guidances describe FDA’s current thinking on a topic and should be viewed only as recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements are cited. The use of the word should in FDA guidances means that something is suggested or recommended, but not required.
The approach attempts to involve industry and consumer groups, who likely have a lot to say about the FDA’s data and recommendations. In the introductory website text, the agency says it considers the goals “achievable by industry when control measures are taken to minimize the presence of lead.” We’ll see whether others agree. Already, one consumer group weighed in, saying the guidance “doesn’t go far enough,” while Gerber and other companies are “reviewing” the proposal.
M&M Acknowledges "Polarizing" Spokescandies
M&M explained the decision to eliminate “spokescandies”—cartoon images of the candy. The situation is delicate: Fox News anchors criticized the company’s “woke” M&Ms, and Tucker Carlson seemed particularly offended by Purple, which a Mars Wrigley spokesperson explained in September:
“We’re really excited about Purple because she’s designed to represent acceptance and inclusivity. We want her to be known for her earnest self-expression, keen self-awareness, authenticity, and competence.”
The company acknowledged but didn’t quite strike back against the controversy—or criticism of the previous push for inclusivity in January (see press release). This tweet downplays the original campaign (“We weren’t sure if anyone would even notice”) and jokes, “even a candy’s shoes can be polarizing.”
After backlash from the initial campaign, the spokeperson also tried to shake off the controversy: “We were thrilled to a large extent because it reminded us how iconic our brands are—that people care so deeply about M&M’s and the characters.”
I’m curious how students assess these comments. The company took a stand—and then seemed to back off. After the initial push for “fun,” the tweet reads formally in parts (“take an indefinite pause from the spokescandies”). Maybe students can think of a more creative way to retire the candies, one that demonstrates more accountability and courage. Could Maya Rudolph have done something funny?
Or maybe the company didn’t have to say or do anything differently, as a Forbes writer suggests? Or maybe a candy company should just make great, classic candy and not try to “bring people together”?
New Zealand PM Resignation
Jacinda Ardern’s announcement of her resignation as the prime minister of New Zealand is a good example for students to analyze. In addition to the obvious discussion about delivery skills and script writing, Ardern demonstrates several character dimensions, for example, humility, vulnerability, authenticity, and integrity. Her decision also raises issues of gender roles, as this opinion article explains.
Netflix Messages About Leadership Change
Netflix published two messages about new CEOs. One is written by Reed Hastings, who founded Netflix and reigned as CEO for the company’s first 25 years. He leaves on a high note, which a letter to shareholders acknowledges: “2022 was a tough year, with a bumpy start but a brighter finish.” Subscribers were lagging but increased recently as Netflix implemented a new ad subscription model and launched a few popular shows.
Students could compare the Hastings blog message to that of the company in the letter to shareholders. The former focuses on the leaders (and compares Hastings’ trajectory to that of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos into board chair positions). The latter includes typical quotes from the new co-CEOs.
I expected a bit more heart from a founder, but his goal may be to downplay the move. Both messages emphasize the planned succession—as though the news is not significant at all. And maybe it’s not. The real story Netflix wants to tell is about the recent turnaround.
Microsoft Layoff Email
In step with other tech companies, Microsoft is laying off 10,000 employees, and CEO Satya Nadella’s email is posted publicly. I’m surprised that Nadella didn’t learn more lessons from the 2014 Microsoft layoff email a NY Magazine writer called “hilariously bad.”
Nadella starts with the vague subject line, “Focusing on our short- and long-term opportunity,” and then writes two paragraphs about challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Mercifully, he gets to the news in the first sentence of the third paragraph. This is an improvement over the 2014 memo in which former exec Stephen Elop announced layoffs in the eleventh paragraph.
In Chapter 8 of Business Communication and Character, I write extensively about the value of putting bad news up front and the lack of research support for the “indirect style”—giving explanations first and then the bad news. In this case, I’m quite sure that employees knew what was coming, so a more direct style is more appropriate.
In these sentences, Nadella puts the 10,000 in perspective, as we teach in crisis communication. However, employees will wonder whether they are affected and when they will hear the news. Based on the industry and his first paragraphs, employees working on AI likely feel safe, but a clearer timeline for those who aren’t is always a good idea.
Today, we are making changes that will result in the reduction of our overall workforce by 10,000 jobs through the end of FY23 Q3. This represents less than 5 percent of our total employee base, with some notifications happening today. It’s important to note that while we are eliminating roles in some areas, we will continue to hire in key strategic areas.
Twice, with a paragraph in between, Nadella promises transparency:
. . . we will do so in the most thoughtful and transparent way possible.
. . . we will treat our people with dignity and respect, and act transparently.
Employees might prefer actual transparency to hearing about it.
Nadella does express compassion and explain benefits, which is useful for employees, but clearly designed for public viewing. Overall, the email reads like one always intended for a public blog.
Update: A Wall Street Journal article reported a concert Microsoft sponsored at Davos with Sting performing for about 50 people the night before layoffs were announced. The author describes it as a “bad look.” We could call it “bad optics”—or just insensitive, lacking integrity and compassion.
Layoff Communication Should Be Driven by Compassion
A Wall Street Journal article describes HR’s debate about the best way to communicate the bad news of layoffs, and I’m reminded about my own experience. When I worked as an HR director for a company in the 90s, we laid off people a few at a time—for more than a year. It was a dreadful process and left people on edge for months at a time (death by a thousand cuts). Years later, a guest speaker for my crisis communication class at Cornell said her company’s philosophy was, “Cut fast and cut deep.” It seemed both harsh and more humane at the same time.
We did layoffs on Fridays, so employees had the weekend to cool off and talk with their families rather than gripe to coworkers. Today, Wednesday seems to be the magic day to give employees a chance to talk with HR. (We also had some employees—mostly tech—clear out their desks immediately, with security tagging along, an embarrassment to everyone involved.)
New technologies offer more realistic ways to connect with far-flung and remote workers. A face-to-face meeting may still be best for bad news, but Zoom is a reasonable alternative. Why fly someone across the country to fire them? (Cue scenes from one of my favorite business movies, Up in the Air.)
The article offers other sound advice for employers:
Communicate before layoffs to prepare employees. (We kept people in the dark, although some could have seen the “writing on the wall,” as we said.)
Train managers so they don’t make it all about them, for example, by saying, “This is so hard for me.” (At the same time, Yahoo! training slides were leaked years ago, and the company took a lot of heat.)
Provide at least a month of severance pay and waive employee stock-vesting cliffs in exchange for signed separation agreements, although some companies offer more. (Companies have a sliding scale based on level and time with the company.)
Consider outplacement assistance. (Typically only for certain levels.)
This leaves many decisions unsettled. How are senior managers treated differently? What’s the timing of messages? Typically, a general email and town hall precede individual conversations. How do those take place? What’s communicated to so-called “survivors”?
I don’t look back fondly on my time communicating layoffs—developing spreadsheets and training managers about the process. I’m embarrassed about how decisions were made and communicated. This article recommends transparency, which was an issue back then, but it makes no mention of compassion, which is the greater concern and would drive transparency and other character displays, such as accountability. I’m glad to see the conversation among HR people. It’s better today than the old “pink slip” days before my time. But companies are driven by employees’ public backlash on Twitter, Slack, Blind, and other sites—not by their own leadership character.
George Santos Resume
In case you didn’t see it, here’s the resume of now U.S. Representative George Santos. Although we’ve been hearing for weeks about his fake jobs at Goldman Sachs and Citi and his fake education at Baruch, it’s quite shocking to see it all in print.
Students might enjoy reviewing his resume, finding errors and other ways to improve his employment communication. For example, the summary and list of skills at the top are jargony and sound like boiler plate; I’m surprised to see so little tailoring to a political position. Students will find other issues, for example, unparallel bullets, an odd page break, misaligned spacing, a lower-case i, missing periods, a missing end parenthesis, and acronyms that readers might not know.
Another fun discussion with grammarians in your class: I’ve avoided writing “Santos’s resume” as did The New York Times. The paper titled the article, “The Résumé of George Santos.” I chose the modifier form instead. And I’ve given up on the accent marks in résumé because I rarely see them in business job descriptions.
Messages About FAA Outage
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) outage delayed flights Wednesday morning. As we might expect, the agency posted minimal web communication. With the heading FAA NOTAM Statement, we see a series of updates that apparently only I read: they don’t seem to have any particular audience. But the last message addresses the main concern—that the outage was not caused by a cyberattack.
For his part, Pete Buttigieg went public. In an MSNBC interview, he reassured the public that systems were back online. He also said, "When there's an issue on the government side of the house, when there's an issue with FAA, we're gonna own it, we're gonna understand it, and we're gonna make very clear what's needed in order to fix it and go after that plan." In case you were wondering, he said, “Our number 1 priority is safety.” I was hoping for something a bit more original.
Airlines were left to communicate with their customers. Students could compare airline messages to see how they handle the bad news and how easily customers can find information about flights.
United: I found this message under the tab “Travel Issue” at the top of the page. The following paragraph began that page, with more links and resources following.
“The FAA has lifted their nationwide ground stop and United has resumed operations. Customers may continue to see some delays and cancellations as we work to restore our schedule and should check the United app or united.com for the latest information about their individual flight. United has activated a travel waiver for any customers who need to change their plans, including offering refunds for customers who no longer want to travel. Customers who would like to receive a refund can visit united.com/refund to submit their request.”
American: I clicked on “Travel Information” and scrolled half-way down the page to find this “Travel Alerts” tab. But the link led to issues other than the FAA outage.
Delta: I see no information about the outage. Maybe if I searched for a scheduled flight, I would get a targeted message, but nothing is apparent on the website. However, I do see this generic message at the top of the homepage, which might be an established part of the site.
For how long should airlines keep issue-specific information prominently on their site? Why did United choose to call out the FAA? These and other topics about airline flight communications would make good class discussions.