By Katie Paine
You can tell a lot more about an organization's culture by its response to a crisis than you can from its annual report. Earlier this year, planes from both Southwest Airlines
and American Airlines were grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
In Southwest's case, an internal audit revealed a flaw in its inspection process, and SWA voluntarily grounded 38 planes, which resulted in the cancellation of 4% of its
flights. Similar inspection problems later caused American Airlines to ground hundreds of planes and cancel 14% of its flights. For one organization, it was a blip; for the other,
it was a disaster of epic proportions. The difference, we believe, was corporate culture, and its relationships with the traveling public.
In 2006, Southwest executives wanted to test the social media waters, so they
started a blog called Nuts About Southwest http://www.blogsouthwest.com.
It was primarily written by the corporate communications department and, as
a result, got some criticism from the blogerati.
However, the airline responded to feedback; it solicited numerous guest bloggers from all over the airline, and the conversations began. It quickly became a great way for
Southwest to listen to its customers, as well as a place to deliver good news and bad. It was fun, irreverent, occasionally funny and very in line with Southwest's culture.
So, when troubles with the FAA began, information was quickly posted on the blog, and all of Southwest founder Herb Kelleher's statement to Congress was made available there as
well. Customers weighed in--and many of them were not happy with the situation--but it was all out there for the world to see.
In contrast, American Airlines launched its blog, http://www.AAConversation.com,
after it had canceled its flights and enraged millions of travelers. It was
written by "Billy S," an American employee whose postings sounded, according
to one commenter, like press releases. After several weeks, Billy S confessed
that he was, in fact, exactly what most people expected: director of corporate
communications, promotions and advertising for AA. To be fair, it's only been
up since April 11, and so far there are five posts and 26 comments-- mostly
negative. But it is clearly designed to make sure that their side of the story
got out there, and therein lies the difference. Southwest wanted to hear what
its customers had to say, American wanted to tell its side of the story.
CONTACT:
Katie Paine is president and CEO of KDPaine & Partners. She can be reached
| Southwest Airlines | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Criteria | Grade | Comments | Advice |
| Overall visibility of crisis | B | Because Southwest was the first to ground
its planes, it was mentioned in many of the stories about the American groundings. |
Sometimes being first makes it tough to
put the crisis behind you. |
| Effectiveness of spokespeople | B | Judging from comments on the "Nuts About
Southwest" blog, Herb Kelleher's testimony did little to reassure the public. However, the fact that the comments remain on the blog say a lot about the company's willingness to listen and be transparent. |
Every employee is a "company spokesperson"
today, and the effectiveness of those spokespeople can't be enforced--it must be part of the culture. |
| Communication of ?key messages | B | The blog postings conveyed the company's
emphasis on safety, but the traveling public did not entirely believe the messages based on conversations in the blogosphere. |
In any crisis, being open, honest and transparent
is key to credibility. When those characteristics are inherently part of your culture, it comes through in your communications. |
| Containment of ?negative messages | B | Rather than blaming the FAA, Southwest executives
framed the discussion around the company's safety record. As a result, in traditional media, the negatives were framed within the "we're concerned about safety" message. In blog comments, they were much more visible. |
Framing--not blaming--is key. But making
sure your messages are believed by your target audiences is equally important. |
| Impact on employees | A | The crisis came and went relatively quickly,
causing little disruption to employee morale. |
No employee likes his/her employer to be
in the subject of federal investigations, but when you are open and transparent about it, it minimizes the negative impact. |
| Impact on customers | C | Judging from the comments on the blog, customers
are deeply concerned about airline safety; even the voluntary groundings have done little to reassure the traveling public. |
Having a conversation with customers is
just the first step; addressing their concerns is equally important, and it should immediately follow initial communications. |
| Impact on Shareholders | B | While the stock reached a low point in March
when the groundings were announced, it has since rebounded to a year-to-date high. |
Good, proactive communications has been
shown to help stock prices recover from a crisis, and it clearly worked in this case. |
| Overall score | B | The crisis was handled as well as can be
expected under the circumstances, but not all the customers might agree. |
A blog isn't a way to "get my side of the
story told." It is an excellent tool to listen to customers' concerns during a crisis. |
| American Airlines | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Criteria | Grade | Comments | Advice |
| Overall visibility of crisis | F | The American Airline MD-80 groundings made
headlines around the world. By impacting virtually everyone traveling that week, there was no escaping the news. |
Visibility in a crisis isn't limited to
traditional media anymore. Bad news travels fast on digital channels such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as in the blogosphere. |
| Effectiveness of spokespeople | F | AA spokespeople tried, perhaps correctly,
to shift some of the blame to the FAA. However, their unrealistic optimism forecasting "light at the end of the tunnel" both in statements and on the blog, even though thousands of travelers remained stranded, sounded delusional. |
Don't leave the talking to your partners,
no matter how tight you are with them. If it's not coming straight from the horse's mouth, it will be taken with a grain of salt--and then some. |
| Communication of ?key messages | F | AA had lots and lots of opportunities to
convey its key messages about concern for the traveling public, but few of those messages really got out to this audience. The blog did a good job of apologizing, but it was too little too late. |
Do not start a blog in a crisis. Start a
blog to have a conversation and listen to your customers, and it will serve you well in the event of a crisis. |
| Containment of ?negative messages | F | The bad news was pretty much everywhere
for a week. |
The old culture of "controlling the message"
is about as useful as sealing wax and rotary phones in today's media environment. |
| Impact on employees | F | The unceasing ire of millions of customers
can't have been good for employee morale. |
When decisions made at the top make the
lives of people at the bottom miserable, morale is certain to suffer. |
| Impact on customers | F | Irate travelers were readily available to
every journalist working in America that week. And, if they weren't being interviewed by mainstream media reporters, they were venting in blogs, Twitter, Facebook and anywhere else they could find. To be fair, AA did provide a way to seek compensation, but it didn't appear to mollify many people. |
When a crisis affects millions, simply saying
you're sorry may not be enough. Making restitution may be required. If so, do it quickly so that the customers that you have mollified can tell the others. |
| Impact on Shareholders | F | The stock plunged during the crisis and
has yet to rebound. |
Any crisis tests an organization's culture
and its ability to manage. Wall Street seems to feel that American didn't pass the test. |
| Overall score | F | AA admitted on its blog that it had been
reluctant to jump into the social media fray--which essentially says that it had been unwilling to have a conversation with its customers. They suffered the consequences. |
You reap what you sow. If you cling to a
command and control mentality when customers increasingly expect dialogue, the results will not be pretty. |