Transperfect is one of the globe’s most prominent translations companies, specialising in linguistic translation and software localisation. Started by two students from a dorm room in the early 90s, they have risen to deal with clients from different cultures and industries. TCS, Transperfect Creative Services, specialises in social media posts for retail and luxury brands. However, despite the vast size and expertise of the company, they also fell victim to the COVID-19 crisis, which started in December of 2019. The office in Amsterdam, centre of TCS, had to make a rapid switch to remote working. Luckily, TCS was better prepared than most, as many of their employees are freelancers, and therefore are used to remote working. However, not all organisations were as well prepared.
Times of crisis lead to uncertainty and fear, especially in the case of the Corona-crisis, as the population’s lives were directly impacted. Then, in hard times like this, how do managers communicate to their employees? How do you maintain positive employee attitudes and loyalty?
Testing
An experiment was conducted to test the effect of different crisis communication methods about the Coronavirus pandemic on employee attitude. Specifically, removing organisational responsibility from the crisis versus highlighting the benefits the crisis’ context. Furthermore, the study asked, how would politeness change the effect of these strategies? Would it make one better than the other?
In times of natural disasters, if lack of organisational responsibility is certain, it is recommended by scholars to use a distancing strategy, where the organisation removes itself from the crisis. An association strategy, on the other hand, links the organisation to positives related to the crisis.
Findings
It was found that the reinforcement of lack of organisational responsibility leads to higher employee attitude, meaning higher satisfaction and firm loyalty. On the other hand, linking the organisation to the positive aspects of the pandemic, aka the benefits of remote working, lead to a decrease in employee attitude. Politeness, whether present or absent in the message, does not change employee perception of the strategy used.
It was also found that politeness directly increases employee attitude; meaning, the more polite the message, the more positive the attitude.
Crises cannot be avoided, and organisations must be prepared, and have a communication strategy ready for all of their stakeholders. Arguably, one of the most important stakeholders are the employees as they are crucial to the functioning of the firm in question. Therefore, we offer this advice to managers:
- Be understanding, do not try to highlight the positives in times of crisis as this may be seen as opportunistic and insensitive.
- Try to remind your employees and your team that the crisis is not the organisation’s fault.
- Lastly, be polite! Kindness is much needed in times of crisis, and your employees will have a more positive attitude.