crisis pr

Tom Ciuba and Jason Mudd discuss crisis communications, crisis plan creation and updates, and social media management in the latest On Top of PR episode.

Guest:

Our episode guest is Tom Ciuba, Vice President of Communications at Genesee & Wyoming. His diverse background includes roles in consumer PR, association marketing, and employee communications.

Five things you’ll learn from this episode:

1. What’s considered a crisis and issue management
2. Why you should hire an outside agency to establish your crisis plan
3. How to update your crisis plan
4. How to manage social media chatter during a crisis
5. Lessons learned from crisis communications  

Quotables

• “It’s PR, not ER.” - Jason Mudd
• “No update is still an update.” - Tom Ciuba
• “We've written dozens and dozens of crisis plans for a variety of industries, a variety of companies of all sizes. And we've been brought in to manage those. So that body of knowledge from our entire team can really be contributed and added value to a crisis plan versus maybe what you can do from the inside.” - Jason Mudd
• “Come up with templated responses that if such a situation were to arise, you'd be prepared to answer quickly should the media or the public be knocking on your door.” - Tom Ciuba

If you enjoyed this episode, would you please share it with others and leave us a review?

About Tom Ciuba 

Tom has been a professional communicator for 15 years and currently serves as Vice President of Communications at a freight transportation company. His diverse background includes roles in consumer PR, association marketing, and employee communications.

 Additional Episode Resources:

• Tom Ciuba on LinkedIn
• Genesee & Wyoming 
• Strengthening a Crisis Comms Plan Amid Disruptions

Additional Resources from Axia Public Relations:

• Listen to more episodes of the On Top of PR podcast.
• Find out more about Axia Public Relations.
• CrisisPoint 

Episode recorded: October 11, 2023

Sponsored by:

On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes Magazine as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.

• On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.
• On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

Sweeping layoffs were big news in 2022, and this shows no sign of slowing down in 2023. From Amazon to Salesforce, Twitter, Google, and more, major tech companies are making large numbers of employees redundant. Recently, Meta announced that it would be cutting 10,000 jobs (or roughly 10% of its workforce) in response to what CEO Mark Zuckerberg describes as “challenging market conditions.” 

While layoffs can be challenging and emotional for both the employees affected and the leaders of those companies, the language used by CEOs in their statements can make a major difference in how these dismissals are perceived. 

This week’s podcast addresses the language commonly used by CEOs in their layoff announcements, the importance of displaying empathy and humanity, and which terms leaders should avoid. Also covered is a handy framework to follow when crafting a statement regarding any changes that impact the future of a company and those who work there. Ultimately, the more information CEOs can provide to explain layoffs and what steps the company is taking to mitigate the impact on employees, the better! 

Thanks to social media, disgruntled employees are now able to tell the world how they feel about being laid off, whether fairly or unfairly, and it’s your job as a leader to mitigate those outcomes. People are paying attention, and as you’ll learn from this episode, CEOs should see this as an opportunity to show some humanity.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Why displaying empathy and understanding for dismissed employees is important.
• Terms to avoid, including redundancies or cutbacks.
• Corporate pet names, blaming outward, and other insights from The Washington Post about “how tech CEOs talk when they lay off workers.”
• Victim-blaming language that tech CEOs use in statements and memos regarding layoffs.
• Accountability, apologies, and vulnerability: why there needs to be less ego in the C-suite.
• What you can learn from the missteps of “robotic” leaders who lack compassion.
• Placing blame on broader economic factors rather than employees.
• Own it, explain it, promise it: a framework for statements regarding changes in a company.
• How CEOs can communicate a sense of hope and optimism for the future of the company.
• Why the most basic requirement for any layoff announcement is showing humanity.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

‘Deeply, truly, very sorry: How tech CEOs talk

More from Molly McPherson:

• Join PR Confidential on Patreon
• Getting flamed on Social Media? I can help you. Click here for Crisis Communication Support.
• Linktree
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Twitter/X
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Listen and Subscribe to Apple Podcasts
• Indestructible: Reclaim Control and Respond with Confidence in a Media Crisis
• Indestructible: Reclaim Control and Respond with Confidence in a Media Crisis - Audio Book

© 2024 Indestructible PR Podcast

Do you work for a brand, company or organization that has been attacked online? 

Social media has made bullying easier than ever before. In this episode of the Indestructible PR Podcast, we’ll discuss how social media bullies attack brands online and how you can turn their attacks into a net positive for your brand.

You will learn how the cyberbully attacks, why it is important to respond quickly when attacked, and some strategies that work well in turning negative attention into positive results. 

We’ll also explore examples of companies who have turned their attackers into advocates through smart responses on social media. In this episode, you will gain valuable insight that will help protect your brand from future attacks by trolls or bullies online. It's time to get indestructible! 

-- 

Need help preparing for a PR crisis?

Click HERE to download your copy of the Crisis Communication Rapid Response Checklist. 

Listen + Subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

© Molly McPherson 2022 

More from Molly McPherson:

• Join PR Confidential on Patreon
• Getting flamed on Social Media? I can help you. Click here for Crisis Communication Support.
• Linktree
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Twitter/X
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Listen and Subscribe to Apple Podcasts
• Indestructible: Reclaim Control and Respond with Confidence in a Media Crisis
• Indestructible: Reclaim Control and Respond with Confidence in a Media Crisis - Audio Book

© 2024 Indestructible PR Podcast

Connect with Sally at The Suite Set and Sally Branson Consulting. 

According to guest Jordan Berman, leadership is about cultivating and maintaining the trust of others.

In this episode, exploring three winning leadership characteristics that are key-drivers in high-trust organizations. Berman calls it The Trust Trifecta: 

1. All hail authenticity 
2. Transparency lives here 
3.  Consistency is critical 

Jordan Berman is a global corporate affairs executive and has worked with and trained hundreds of leaders, helping them lead with trust and impact. With expertise in reputation management, he effectively managed dozens of high-profile and highly-sensitive crises and issues. He is the author of the book, The Trust Trifecta.

Listen + Subscribe Stitcher or Apple Podcasts

© Molly McPherson 2021 

More from Molly McPherson:

• Join PR Confidential on Patreon
• Getting flamed on Social Media? I can help you. Click here for Crisis Communication Support.
• Linktree
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Twitter/X
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Listen and Subscribe to Apple Podcasts
• Indestructible: Reclaim Control and Respond with Confidence in a Media Crisis
• Indestructible: Reclaim Control and Respond with Confidence in a Media Crisis - Audio Book

© 2024 Indestructible PR Podcast

About our Guest, Amy Hesser/CEO/Hesser Communications Group

Named as one of “The Top 25 Most Powerful Women in the New Economy,” by i-Street Magazine, Amy Hesser is celebrated for her work in preparing her clients to position their stories in compelling contexts and present them in ways that transcend old school media relations. As a former broadcast journalist, Hesser has a knack for leveraging her media insider insights to empower the people and organizations she works with as they gain top tier exposure in outlets ranging from Good Morning America, to The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, and USA Today.

Additionally, as a new media pioneer Hesser is known for maximizing opportunities for her clients across today’s ever-evolving landscape of digital platforms which are increasingly important communications channels as people and organizations are given unprecedented opportunities to create content and self- publish and broadcast their key messages to their most important audiences.

For over a decade, Hesser has worked with teams at dozens of publicly traded companies, tech start- ups, and government-funded entities helping them optimize their external communications efforts.

As Founder & CEO of Hesser Communications Group, Hesser enjoys leading an elite team of PR professionals, recognized social media thought leaders, and former journalists who have won numerous awards in their fields, and consistently garner positive industry-leading coverage for the firm’s clients.

Prior to founding Hesser Communications Group, Hesser was at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide where she was Vice President and Director of Media Relations while leading the Chicago Technology Practice. She also spent a number of years as a popular on-air reporter at Fox News Chicago, and spent time anchoring the news at a number of other network television stations around the country. Additionally, Hesser covered national politics at Cox Broadcasting’s Washington Bureau on Capitol Hill.

Hesser is a graduate of The George Washington University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The GW Hatchet and was a member of The Society of Professional Journalists.

Connect with Amy Hesser on LinkedIn

Connect with Barbara Rozgonyi on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening, commenting, liking, sharing, and adding Growing Social Now to your podcast playlist!!
Cheers to your success,

Barbara Rozgonyi
Founder, CoryWest Media, Top PR Blogger, Host of Growing Social Now, International Speaker and Inspirational Storyteller, Creative Marketing Team Coach, LinkedIn Social Selling Trainer, Avid Hiker, Natural Photographer

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