
"The press can follow after that," said Mackenzie Long, director at Evergreen Strategy Group, a communications consultancy that helps business leaders craft and articulate their policies. After all, they're the folks on the ground, responsible for executing leadership's vision. Your employees should know about changes in the company's strategy before anyone else does. Tell employees about changes in strategy before you tell the general public

"Share as much as you can about your strategy and planning for the future." And be sure to tell employees how they can submit feedback or questions about the changes. "Emphasize what is going well for the organization," the authors write.

In the Harvard Business Review, management professors Brooks Holtom and Amy Edmondson and TINYPulse CEO David Niu write that leaders should clearly communicate their plans - and how they came up with those plans. "Purpose becomes that much more important to drive every person in the same direction." Chart the path aheadĮspecially during a crisis, employees will be curious to know how leadership is thinking about the future. "How do you inspire the rest of the organization?" Gupta said. That's especially true, Gupta said, at large companies where the CEO gets to meet only a fraction of the staff personally - meaning everyone else might feel somewhat disconnected from the mission. "They do it because they have a sense of purpose that what they're doing actually makes a difference."Īny message from the CEO should remind employees how they're contributing to the company's broader mission. "People don't come to work just because they earn a wage," said Sunil Gupta, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.

Purpose is a powerful way to motivate employees - especially during periods of uncertainty. Remind employees why they come to work every day Insider asked a communications consultancy and a Harvard Business School professor how CEOs should craft a message to employees that both inspires and assuages fear.

The CEO's role here is to be as transparent as possible, and to remind employees that their contributions are valued - in general, but especially right now. They're also likely looking to their chief executive for a sense of how prepared their company is to weather the storm. By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from InsiderĪs well as other partner offers and accept ourĪ crisis can leave an organization's leadership scrambling to figure out what to say.Įmployees are likely concerned about the company's future - and their own.
