Every leader knows that communicating during a crisis is critical.

The question is though what do you communicate and how do you communicate the information?  Of course, the answer depends on the crisis, the organizational culture, and the leader themselves.  Leaders have their own response to how they deal with crises and that will affect how they communicate with employees.

That being said there are ways to communicate with employees that will enhance their satisfaction, calm their fears, and when the crisis has passed more easily bring them back to pre-crisis normal.

Communicate frequently, and then communicate some more.

I’ve found when working with leaders that they need to communicate more frequently with the staff than they think is necessary.  Leaders will tell me they shared the news, communicated that there was an open door policy should they need to talk, and that everything will be alright.  It’s comparable to patting your children on the head and telling them not to worry.  It doesn’t work for children and it doesn’t work for employees.

People hear the message in different ways and leaders need to be sensitive to how employees hear, and thus interpret what is being said.

The thing about crises is they aren’t an event.  An event precipitated the crisis…economic changes, pandemics, weather, losing the company’s biggest account…but the crisis continues long after the event has passed.  So while you may believe you have communicated with employees about the situation, they feel the effects for months, and even longer.  It’s one of the reasons that communicating frequently is important.

Update your staff on conversations that are being held at the executive level.  I recognize you can’t share everything, however letting people know that the situation is not buried in a deep dark hole helps.  Remind them of the bright spots, which may help balance the negatives.

How an organization communicates with its staff and the frequency of that communication can make or break their commitment to the company.  Do they feel like leaders have their backs?  Are they inspired by how the leadership is handling the crisis?  Is it a company that has demonstrated they align with their values?  Would they recommend others to come to work there?

The more you communicate with your employees the more they connect to you the leader and the organization as a whole.

Address concerns about job security and more.

Ignoring that employees have concerns about job security, changes in benefits, or anything else that may affect them is thoughtless.  Just because when the crisis started you communicated that everything was status quo, doesn’t mean they believed it or will continue to believe it.

Employees talk to their friends who have been laid off.  They listen to the news and hear about how a crisis such as a pandemic or climate changes are impacting their companies, and them.  It’s naive to believe that staff isn’t talking amongst themselves expressing concerns about their jobs and more.

Be honest.  If there is a real possibility for layoffs, office closures, changes in the organizational structure etc. etc. let them know.  While neither you or they can prevent something from occurring, knowing it’s possible settles people down.  It calms the fears they are having, knowing the truth.

And just because employees aren’t coming to you expressing their concerns doesn’t mean they don’t exist.  Ask them if they are worried about…job security, compensation changes, layoffs (even if it’s not them but could impact their department and workload), etc.  They may not come forward and tell you on their own, but if you ask they will be honest.  Let them know you care enough to ask, and address their concerns.

Provide a plan for going forward.

You may not be able to provide a plan for next year, or the year after but you can provide a path for the next 3 – 6 months, and share that with the staff.  Letting employees know you have thought about the future.  Share with them what is going really well.  It’s easy for everyone to focus on what’s not working and the negatives.  There are always positives if we look for them.  Recognize individuals or teams who have gone the extra mile to help others, drive business or improve productivity.  That becomes contagious.

Share as much as you can about your strategy and plan going forward.  Employees want to feel comfortable that someone is thinking about the future and considering options.  Otherwise they assume nothing is being considered, nothing is being done and whatever happens will simply happen.

How leaders communicate during a crisis will determine how employees feel about the leadership and the company.  When the crisis has passed, they will remember how they felt and decide if they want to align their loyalty with the company, or find one that appears to align more directly with their values

Stress is going to happen during a crisis.  How we communicate during this time will either lower the stress, or exacerbate it.