Greetings, comms pros! Let’s take a look at a few news stories from the last week and see what we can learn from them.
1. Volkswagen CEO tells employees brand may need to cut thousands of jobs to keep up with market
Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume told employees in a note obtained by Reuters that 50,000 more job cuts might need to happen across the carmaker’s brand profile, on top of 50,000 that were already agreed upon. Blume stated that the company was looking for any way to keep the company competitive, including layoffs and plant closures, which sparked the ire of some employees.
“We are currently assessing across all brands, companies and regions how many adjustments are actually necessary and feasible,” Blume wrote.
Blume’s communication is direct, but the report doesn’t offer employees much other than more cuts could be on the way and that some factories in Europe may shut down. By saying Volkswagen is assessing cuts “across all brands, companies and regions,” he makes clear that no part of the business is off the table for cuts. The note communicates urgency quite clearly, but offers less clarity. If you’re a Volkswagen employee, this kind of message can turn into the source of weeks or months of guessing about what’s coming next for them, leading to reduced overall performance at a time when the company needs workers doing their best.
2. Instagram CEO outlines the qualities he wants in new hires
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said on an episode of “Lenny’s Podcast” that he values three qualities in new hires. He stated he wants them to be quick learners, gritty and have self awareness. He added that tech is going to change a lot over the next decade, and these skills will be necessary.
“If you are those three things, if you’ve got fire in your belly, you learn quickly, and you’re self-aware, you can kind of get good at anything eventually,” he said. “But if any of those things are missing, there’s usually an issue.”
He added that he also values employees who are willing to experiment.
“Are you willing to sound like an idiot?” he said. “Are you willing just to say it and be corrected and not be offended and then just get better and better? You just have to put yourself out there. And with all of these new tools and models and technologies, I think you just have to be willing to try stuff.”
Mosseri’s comments make it clear that he’s looking for a specific set of skills out of Instagram employees, and the three he named are consistent with ones that work well in the AI era. The primary theme of Mosseri’s podcast appearance centered on AI and content generation, and since content is the backbone that holds up Instagram, it makes some sense that the company’s leadership is communicating that it wants to find people with the right AI friendly skills. Mosseri’s appearance acknowledges that AI is changing the tech and media landscape, and that a certain type of employee will be best equipped to handle that landscape from his viewpoint.
3. Study: More positive language in AI-assisted workplace emails makes for better engagement
A recent study found that tone in emails that were written with assistance from AI resonated more and earned more engagement when they were rewritten in a playful tone rather than in a professional one. The study also found that neither tone directly affected open rates, replay reates or response times, instead relying on indirect effects on behavior. AI-polished message can sound clean and correct, but if it doesn’t have the warmth of a human touch, employees may not want to engage with it. This research emphasizes the importance of putting in the work to train AI models with the right kind of human influence and maintaining human control over AI-assisted comms to maintain connection.
4. How about some good news?
Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.
