STAT OF THE DAY About one in five Americans say that productivity and collaboration with colleagues has decreased during COVID-19, per a study from Leger and the Institute for Public Relations. COVID-19 UPDATE
COVID-19 has brought back an appetite for facts. How are your audience’s needs and desires changing in the current media climate? One PR pro argues that audiences want the facts—but they might be struggling with information fatigue, too.
Acknowledge that hardships from the pandemic won’t disappear right away. As you help clients navigate their future, it’s important to help give them context and hope without denying the impact the crisis has had on their organization. Here are some tips for offering empathetic guidance. Boeing responds to racist incident at its Everett plant. After a Black manager came to work to find racist symbols on his desk, Boeing’ Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal sent a strongly worded message to the organization. The Seattle Times reported: “Racial discrimination, harassment and acts of intimidation will never be tolerated anywhere within Boeing,” Deal wrote. “I am committed to taking every action possible, including termination, for anyone involved in this incident.” It’s not the first such recent incident, Deal’s message indicated. He wrote that “in the past few days we dismissed several employees after a thorough investigation found they engaged in behavior that is not consistent with our values.” The “command and control” CEO leadership approach is out of style. Your leaders are an important reputation channel, and in today’s landscape being a “servant leader” is more likely to yield positive results. Here are some tips on building a strong leadership brand. A strong digital brand is essential to fight bad news. Here are some ways you can develop your reputation online to insulate yourself against tough times and unscrupulous critics. Drivers protest in front of Uber CEO’s home over failure to provide safety equipment. The drivers said they were taking action because the company had not provided personal protective equipment or other gear to help protect drivers during the pandemic, as well as pushing for legislation that would keep drivers as independent contractors. Salon reported: "We were promised things to protect us and our passengers, known as PPE, such as hand sanitizer, possible screens to set that six-foot distance, and none of those things were ever given to us," [Uber driver Alan Franklin] said, adding that as business declined, driver safety seemed to get left behind. "Our safety became, not second place, not third place, but just dead last." Bayer settles Roundup lawsuits to the tune of $10 billion. The company has faced ongoing crisis over legal battles about the company’s weedkiller product that has been linked to cancer in the U.S. Part of the agreement allows Bayer to continue selling Roundup without a warning label, a step towards the company defending its beleaguered reputation. Unilever to rebrand “Fair and Lovely” skin-lightening products. The move comes as many organizations reevaluate products and branding in light of a global conversation around race, ethnicity and equality. CNN reported: Hindustan Unilever acknowledged in its statement Thursday that it had previously played up "the benefits of fairness, whitening and skin lightening" while marketing its products. It said that it sought to move away from that starting last year, by removing all mention of "words such as 'fair/fairness', 'white/whitening', and 'light/lightening'" on the packaging of the "Fair & Lovely" skin creams. The company now chooses to emphasize "glow, even tone, skin clarity and radiance" instead, it said. How are you approaching the difficult conversations on COVID-19, social unrest and more? Ragan Consulting Group offers a free download to help managers navigate uncomfortable or difficult conversations with your team members. Check it out here. Macy’s announces 4,000 layoffs from continued COVID-19 disruption. Even as stores reopen, many businesses are experiencing a loss of traffic and revenue. When communicating layoffs to your workforce, it is crucial to offer as much transparency as possible. CNN reported: "Covid-19 has significantly impacted our business," Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette said in a statement Thursday. "While the reopening of our stores is going well, we do anticipate a gradual recovery of business, and we are taking action to align our cost base with our anticipated lower sales." Virtual Conference Alert Join us for Ragan’s Remote Employee Engagement &Culture Virtual Conference on Tuesday, July 21 to learn internal comms strategies and best practices to meet the challenges of the new reality. Join our Crisis Leadership Board Ragan’s Crisis Leadership Board is the resource you need before, during and after the crisis. As a Board member, you have access to all back issues of this newsletter—as well as research, data, case studies, checklists, tip sheets, articles and other resources—plus a peer-to-peer discussion board and an all-access pass to the annual Crisis Management Conference. Sponsorship/Advertising Opportunities Contact Hannah Lavelle at [email protected] with sponsorship and advertising inquiries. Pitch Us Have a great story to share about crisis communication or your own take on current best practices? Contact Editor Ted Kitterman at [email protected]. Sign Up Subscribe to Ragan’s Crisis Daily newsletter today. | 
