- Make someone available to talk with the media. Don’t hide behind “no comment” or lame, emailed statements.
- Apologize and share your disappointment in strong, genuine terms. Apologies won’t satisfy everyone, but they often stop problems before they snowball into something out-of-control.
- Explain how this happened. Otherwise, the rumor mill starts churning and speculation questions your whole business operation.
- Explain, if possible, the repurcussions for the employee. Saying something about the actions you took is better than nothing.
- If you took quick steps to prevent the problem from getting even worse, share that information.
- Explain what steps you’re taking to prevent this from happening again.
- Social media is where a crisis picks up steam. Use social media to share all this information. Be genuine. Don’t post statements that sound robotic and like B.S.
- Use your website’s newsroom to explain the situation. Your newsroom shouldn’t only be a “rah-rah” space. Stand up to the plate. Everyone has problems. Acknowledging them and handling them well ultimately determine public relations success.
- Explain all this to your own employees. That might squash the biggest rumor mill of all.