So often in this column, we find ourselves reporting on the less fun aspects of internal comms: layoffs, missteps and face-palm moments.
But today, let’s share a little good news right up front.
The Wall Street Journal highlighted the role of the CCO and that the comms function is finally getting the respect it deserves. Reporter Katie Deighton wrote:
Communications professionals, previously relegated to the periphery, are now front and center in the C-suite, partly emboldened by CEOs’ fears that even the smallest misstep can swiftly balloon into a corporate disaster. The bleeding together of investor memos, advertising copy, press releases, company social-media accounts and most recently large language model results has sent business leaders scrambling to better control the corporate narrative at the very top.
Much of this focuses on external comms, but CCOs are often also responsible for the internal messaging that also must account for all these factors, plus tricky issues like morale, restructuring and the rise of AI.
The article notes that some communicators have ever made their way into the CEO position, including Hasbro AI Studio’s Roberta Thompson.
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Above all, this heralds a unique moment for the comms profession: an opportunity to gain the respect of leadership to usher their organizations through this tumultuous moment. But that’s no easy task. As Goodyear Chief Communications Officer Travis Parman told the Journal: “It’s moving into that counselor role, feeling comfortable pushing back and not giving executives exactly what they asked for, but exactly what they need. Sometimes I’ll refer to myself as the Chief Truth Teller, just so I can be really candid.”
XBOX memo to employees shares ‘hard truths’
XBOX has had a difficult period, filled with admissions of mistakes, including admitting they over-increased the price of the Game Pass product and slashing it by 23%. Now, XBOX chief Asha Sharma and Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball have publicly released a memo sent first to employees. It paints an optimistic but also arduous picture of the road ahead.
The memo marks Sharma’s first 100 days in her role and looks ahead to the next 100. It starts by heralding achievements, but also acknowledges mistakes made. “It is important to have both optimism and realism as we work to reset the business,” the memo warns.
The note then launches into a 5-point state-of-the-business update. While the first point is positive, pointing to the console’s 1 billion players worldwide and beloved games, the rest all take a more cautionary tone.
The second point, for instance, reads:
We will end this fiscal year at about a 3% accountability margin, down year-over-year. Excluding Activision Blizzard King, over the past five years, we have spent over $20 billion on ongoing investments in our content, platform, and hardware subsidy, but our annual revenue has declined nearly half a billion during that time. Going forward, this cannot continue.
The rest of the note also speaks to a “hardware component crisis,” admitting to over-extending on content and that “our current platform infrastructure is not built for the battle ahead.”
The memo understands how this all comes off, but doesn’t shy away from the reality of the situation.
“For some of you, these realities will be surprising and even frustrating to discover. We won’t succeed by hiding hard truths, nor will we succeed by doing the same thing and expecting different results. Like the ‘everyday wins’ mentality from the first 100 days, we will sprint to make progress against hardware, content, experience, and services together.”
Even while this may be a tough pill to swallow for employees, XBOX is showing transparency and honesty. While it’s laced through with optimism, employees will have no question that there will be touch times and belt-tightening ahead. This kind of message is never fun or easy to write, but this one was written with care to help employees understand the current state of play — and how to begin to fix it.
Paramount’s chief executive scrambles to save ’60 Minutes’ from total staff exodus
Last week, we talked about how new leadership at “60 Minutes” has become the rare, unfortunate internal situation that spills over into an external comms problem as well. That continues this week as new leaks reveal how Paramount CEO David Ellison stepped in to help retain the news show’s remaining correspondents, including Lesley Stahl.
Stahl revealed the phone call during what the New York Times called “a champagne toast she held at the “60 Minutes” offices in Midtown Manhattan on Monday in an attempt to shore up morale at the program.” During the call, Ellison promised editorial independence for the show.
Fellow correspondent Jon Wertheim also seemed to be keen to ease tensions in the newsroom. The Times reports that Wertheim “turned to (new executive producer) Mr. Bilton and told him that he had been dealt ‘a hell of a hand,’ noting that there were ‘bridges to build and fences to mend and assorted other structural metaphors,’ according to two people familiar with his remarks. “But there’s a path here.”
This chapter of the saga shows how employees can become an important part of the communications function. Respected employee leaders can become a liability, as they did in the case of now-former correspondent Scott Pelley. Or they can become an ally, when met with reassurance and support. The tough part is ensuring that promises made to them come to fruition instead of merely acting as a bribe.
How about some good news?
Allison Carter is editorial director of PR Daily and Ragan.com. Follow her on LinkedIn.
