Protect and enhance your brand, constantly

Public relations disasters don't just have to be about an employee issue in order to damage an employer's brand, says Buchan account director Belinda Thomson.

"Of course, high profile bullying or sexual harassment cases are bad news, but the fact is, employers are judged by more than just their track record in keeping staff happy," Thomson says.

Corporate reputation, as a broader concept, is what counts, she says. Questions ranging from, "Is the company seen as ethical?" and "What are its green credentials?" to, "What is its customer service reputation?" are all important.

"In fact, employee engagement is strongly linked to customer satisfaction," she says.

"With negative information just one Google search away for prospective employees, it's important that companies protect their reputation by responding to and managing bad PR, as well as making a consistent effort to tell their good stories," Thomson says.

"Of course, if it's nothing more than spin, then that will quickly be identified – people see through that these days. Employers need to be genuinely doing the right thing.

"A company's employer brand is the sum of its corporate reputation, and if you don't get one right, it's hard to get the other one to work," she says.

"No comment" not an option

Julia Nekich, principal of The Ideas Suite, says refusing to speak publicly about a PR disaster only makes it worse.

"PR experts agree that 'no comment' (or an unwillingness to talk to the public or media) is never an acceptable response," Nekich says. "This sends out all the wrong messages and it allows the public to assume the worst about the organisation."

It takes "just one careless incident" to bring an employer's brand into disrepute. "And this occurs most often when it's played out in the media," she says.

"Just look at the recent HR practices at Pacific Brands, Virgin Blue, and now David Jones. These events require careful issues and crisis management," Nekich adds.

"What the public wants to see is the company communicating with them (speaking to the media when approached) and rectifying the incident - such as sacking the personnel at fault and establishing new practices.

"Every media opportunity – even in crises such as the ones above – is an opportunity for a brand to communicate positive messages, even if it’s just stating that it regrets the incident, is doing so-and-so to rectify it, and is absolutely committed to acting in the best interests of staff, the public or shareholders," she says.

Tips for dealing with a PR crisis

Thomson's advice to an HR manager dealing with a potential PR crisis is to:

    * brief your senior executive and corporate communication team as soon as possible – they will have the skills and experience to handle it;

    * have one authorised spokesperson who is across all the facts. This person will handle all media interviews, so you need to brief other staff not to respond to media;

    * have a prepared statement that you develop early on, to be used reactively. It needs to state the facts of the case clearly and concisely. Media often get wind of a story earlier than you'd expect, so it's better to be prepared; and

    * remember that internal communication is just as important as external – tell staff the basic facts, what you are doing to resolve it and direct them to any relevant HR policies (harassment, bullying etc).

Working together

HR managers are also well placed to help tell the good stories, Thomson says.

"If you have good stories to tell about your people or your HR strategy, let your communication/PR people know," she says. "They may either use it as a stand-alone story (to pitch to media or include in an internal publication), or as part of other stories."

For instance, if an HR manager notices a significant improvement in the company's metrics, he or she could explain the ideas and initiatives that achieved them, Thomson says.

And staff involvement in an interesting corporate social responsibility program could be "a great story to share", she says.

"It's also worthwhile asking the communication team for a briefing on its strategy, so that HR understands where they can contribute positively."