Aside from PR crises, conflict resolution isn’t the normal purview of communicators. ‘Conflict resolution? That’s an HR issue,’ is the normal refrain. Things are changing. Fast. Since communicators are responsible for building and protecting the brand externally and handling internal communication, the mood of employees is of utmost importance.
We’ve seen a slew of alleged toxic workplaces lately, including “The Ellen Show” and the Washington Football Team and McDonald’s, to mention just two. One of the ties that binds the two are that employees have gone outside the company to express displeasure over an internal conflict. Would these disgruntled employees have chosen to resolve the conflict in-house had the company cultures included adequate conflict-resolution regimes? Perhaps.
Media reports have Ellen DeGeneres all but admitting she delegated authority to a trio of executive producers. Ellen, and her distribution/production company, Warner Bros., also admit they failed to oversee the producers’ behavior and how they created corporate culture and resolved conflict. A huge mistake.
Too Much Power, No Supervision
The three producers, who were fired recently, allegedly ran roughshod over Ellen’s “Be Kind” philosophy, without her knowledge, she says. Sexual harassment and bullying were rampant. Employees felt they had no outlet to complain. Ellen, several of them allege, was unapproachable. In fact, they allege the producers ordered staff not to talk to Ellen at the office. Was this Ellen’s directive or a convenient way for the trio of producers to dominate their alleged dysfunctional culture? Time will tell.
In the McDonald’s case, ousted CEO Steve Easterbrook allegedly downsized the HR department, insuring, in part that his behavior, which allegedly included late-night fraternizing and amorous liaisons with employees, avoided the radar. Moreover, employees allegedly complained that HR downplayed their disputes related to said behavior. Entangled in a messy legal case with McDonald’s, Easterbrook denies these claims. The burger purveyor recently dismissed an HR executive, though it denies the ouster is related to the Easterbrook brouhaha.
Kenosha Editor Departs
More recently, Daniel Thompson, the reported sole Black editorial employee at “The Kenosha News,” quit Saturday night in protest over a weekend headline the paper ran over a story about a Saturday rally in support of Jacob Blake. Days earlier, a white Kenosha Police officer shot Blake, a Black man, seven times in the back.
A digital editor, Thompson, 30, claims he texted Bob Heisse, the paper’s executive editor, when he saw the headline Saturday. Thompson attended the rally, but did not cover it for the paper. The headline read: “Kenosha Speaker: ‘If you kill one of us, it’s time for us to kill one of yours.’ An online version of the article in the paper featured a 59-second video of an unidentified Black man uttering those words, the NY Times reports.
Thompson contends the quote “is one outlier falling within a flood of positives,” he told the Times. Blake’s father, he said, gave a speech at the rally urging a “night of peace, of no destruction, no riots.”
When, according to Thompson, Heisse, via text, defended the headline, Thompson texted back: “Then I quit.”
Thompson then went on Facebook to discuss his resignation, the Time said.
The next day, the headline was changed on the paper’s site. “Kenosha speaker strays from message at rally,” it read.
“Wow. Only took me quitting” to get the header changed, Thompson told the Times.
Imperfect Knowledge
Of course, there is much more to know about this story. What is the conflict-resolution regime at the Kenosha paper? Is it a toxic work environment? Are Heisse and other managers engaged with staff? Do they consider input regarding editorial and other issues? Why is Thompson the sole Black employee at the paper?
With communicators responsible for reputation maintenance, it behooves them to work with HR to ensure there are sound conflict-resolution regimes in place.
Of course, we're not naive. The country is divided. Moreover, even in more peaceful times there’s no guarantee Thompson and Heisse would have resolved an issue in an amenable manner. Still, ensuring HR, communicators and the C-suite are serious about conflict resolution is a start.
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September 02, 2020 at 03:38AM
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Kenosha News' Departure Shows Need for Conflict Resolution - PR News - For Smart Communicators
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