Get in early with clear messages

Grant Dalton was alternately praised and vilified for his role in Dean Barker's dismissal. Photo / Greg Bowker

To avoid ill-feeling everyone from the top down needs to be properly informed and on the same page.

Dean Barker's very public axing from the helm of Team New Zealand was a cautionary tale about how not to manage change at the top. When news of his pending dismissal was leaked to Newstalk ZB, the media - social and otherwise - went wild with rumours and conjecture. Once Barker's dismissal was confirmed everyone from Prime Minister John Key to broadcaster Murray Deaker weighed in with their own take on what had transpired, with Team New Zealand manager Grant Dalton alternately lauded or hauled over the coals by commentators.

It was an all-time PR low for a syndicate already rocked by years of infighting and disappointment.

Although this may be an extreme case of change management gone wrong, hard decisions concerning leadership are always fraught with difficulty. Senior staff members are held up as spokespeople for their companies so when they are underperforming it can destabilise entire organisations. And when information leaks out in an ad hoc basis, individual and company reputations can take a massive dive.

There's often a level of schadenfreude that comes into play when tall poppies are being felled; it's the sort of titillation loved by water-cooler gossips and can make office life uncomfortable. Any such conjecture is unsettling, so it's vital that the correct procedures and strategies are put in place to mitigate the impact of any major changes in management.

Joan Watson, a human resources practitioner with much experience in change management, says that people often have strong opinions about how change is facilitated.

"Change is always difficult and every one reacts differently to it,"Watson says. "I have been involved with change where we have consulted widely over a long period of time and being criticised because it took too long. I have done the opposite and made the process shorter and got criticised for making it too fast. So it is inevitable that whatever you do someone will think you haven't got it right."

She believes early intervention when a manager is underperforming can help remedy issues before things get too out of hand. Signs of flagging performance are multifaceted, but can include not delivering to deadlines, colleagues voicing frustration with performance, customer complaints, and always having excuses for why things are not being achieved. She says it's important to identify why these things are happening and to put in place procedures to address them.

"Try to find out why the underperformance is occurring. Does the person not know what the performance standards are? Is it actually the people under them who are not delivering; or don't they know how to manage their employees' performance? Is it a lack of knowledge and training will make a difference?"

At an early stage problems such as these can be addressed informally. But if such issues continue to arise, harsher actions will need to be taken.

"If the problem cannot be dealt with informally then you need to start a formal process which involves clearly setting out what the standards are - where the individual is operating at, therefore the gaps in expectations and performance."

Watson says that having such processes in place from the recruitment stage can help keep everyone on the same page when it comes to performance. Setting KPI's that hold leaders accountable from the outset is important. This sort of "no surprises policy" helps people know how they are performing from day one.

"No employee or manager should have a review of performance and be surprised when negative feedback is given.

"The manager/board should be in constant communication about what's going well and what isn't, so a formal review contains information that has already been discussed and doesn't introduce new material which the individual hasn't been aware of before," she says.

Whether or not staff are informed of difficulties at the top depends a lot on the outcome of the interventions staged through the formal and informal processes.

"If the performance is turned around, the wider company need never know. If the boss resigns, then staff should be informed at a mutually agreeable time. If the boss is dismissed after they have has left the building, once again both parties should agree on what the message is to be."

Watson says the timing of any communication with staff is extremely important and that no one should be left out of the knowledge loop.

"No one should find out by rumours or third parties. The release of the information should be controlled, planned, timely and in full and before being released to the media. If any employees are absent on the day then a phone call to tell them is important."

If information needs to be disseminated it's important that a consistent message is developed that all stakeholders adhere to. Watson says PR professionals, either internal or external, can help to formulate a clear dialogue about what is happening.

"Consistency of message is the key. Make sure everyone who has the power to influence all sing from the same hymn sheet. Make sure the story that is given in writing and verbally is always the same.

"Correct misinformation when it occurs by going back to the same story again and again."

Even if a leader is removed or resigns from a position, Watson says that it's possible to avoid unpleasantness. "If it is done correctly the boss will see the writing on the wall, and both parties can work out a way for the boss to leave with dignity and without any negative impact on the business."

No matter what the outcome, Watson believes that a clear and coherent message, coupled with open communication, is key to any type of change at the top.

"Communication is one of the key elements in dealing with change - the messages given from all parties need to be consistent and positive to avoid negative perceptions and disengagement for employees and for customers."