COMMUNICATING A REDUNDANCY TO MINIMISE REPUTATIONAL DAMAGE
Challenge
In September 2018, a leading company in the textile sector contacted Proa Comunicación to implement a communication project for a redundancy programme (ERE) in Spain.
The company's priorities were:
- To open a constructive and mutually beneficial negotiation process with the unions and workers that would guarantee the viability and profitability of the company.
- Develop a communication strategy that would not interfere with the negotiations and would not damage the relationship with its stakeholders or the reputation of the leading textile firm.
Solution
PROA carried out a low-profile communication strategy, one of the client's main priorities, taking into account that during the period in which the crisis was managed, the company's works council organised several demonstrations and even leaked the report justifying the redundancy programme to the media. At the same time, an exhaustive dossier of documentation was prepared, including the company's official position, the communiqué and the arguments, and a constant monitoring of the relevant media was carried out, which allowed us to react quickly to local media publications with the necessary data to minimise the publication of incorrect information.
Results
Much of the media coverage of the protests was limited to the region where the company was headquartered. In the first phase of the process, errors were corrected in some of the 70 media hits. Three weeks later, several reports on the workers' negotiations and mobilisations were published (44 hits). And finally, the agreement between the company and the workers was also reported in the media (19 hits). In summary, the following was achieved to reduce the information on a process that lasted three and a half months to three milestonesThe project was successful in making our client's position visible to its relevant stakeholders (trade unions, employees, customers and trade press).