Mel: [00:00:00] Earlier this week, a horrific act of violence took place at one of Australia's most iconic places, Bondi Beach in Sydney. This act of terrorism took 15 lives. All innocent people, and many more people remain in hospital. As doctors and nurses work tirelessly to help them. And these sorts of events have butterfly effects onwards.

The people who love and care for these people are impacted. There's entire communities in shock. And for Australians, perhaps, unlike in other parts of the world, this kind of large scale attack is so unusual for us. It's just not something that happens here, particularly mass shootings. And for those who don't know, in April, 1996, so over 30 years ago or thereabouts, a lone government went on a shooting spree in the small town of Port Arthur down in Tasmania.

He killed 35 people and injured 18 others before he was finally stopped. Now, as a result of that event, we had [00:01:00] immediate gun law reform, and since then things have been relatively quiet on that front. After this attack this week, the current government is already talking about tightening laws even further.

Not only that, but we saw people all over the country step up. There were long lines at blood donation centres around the country. The blood donation website actually crashed due to the influx of people who were willing to give. And at the time of recording this podcast, more than $2 million has been raised for a hero who tackled one of the shooters, and in the process was shot himself at least three or four times.

This is an incredible display of community coming together, but the impacts are far from over. And when things like this happen, there are undoubtedly impacts within the workplace and businesses more broadly. So from a comms perspective, what should we say to who and when? That's what we'll discuss in today's episode.

Hello friend, and welcome to today's episode [00:02:00] of Less Chatter, More Matter, the communications podcast. I'm your host, Mel Loy, and I'm recording this episode on the Lands of the Yuggera and Turrbal people, here in Meanjin,, also known as Brisbane. And to be honest, today's episode wasn't something I planned to do, and I certainly hoped I would never have to do an episode like this.

But I've seen examples of comms coming out internally and externally about the event at Bondi, and I know it can be challenging to settle on what to say and what not to say in times like these. I do want to be very clear, however, before I go on that today's episode is not about capitalizing on what's happened, but rather it felt really uncomfortable to release an episode this week that might be all lollipops and rainbows and sunshine, when honestly, that's the furthest from how I feel and how I'm sure many others are feeling as well.

We need to address the very large elephant in the room sometime. So on today's show, I want to share five things you should consider from a comms perspective when responding to a [00:03:00] tragic event, whether you are a leader or a communications professional who is advising leaders or anything in between. So let's get into it.

Number one, the most important thing, don't ignore what's happening. When an event like this is all over the news in everyone's faces 24 hours a day, then ignoring it makes it seem like you don't care or that you're hoping nobody else will care. Even if you're on the other side of the country or the other side of the planet, there are people in your internal and external audiences who will be impacted.

It could be a very direct impact in that they know someone who is involved. Or maybe it's just they are in disbelief that something like this could happen. The thing is about people is that as humans, we're typically very social creatures, and it means we hold a sense of identity very dear to us, whether that's as a member of a family, a community, even our nationality.

And it also means we do tend to feel a lot of empathy when others are hurting. So in times like [00:04:00] these, we need to acknowledge what's happening at the very least. And that means not only talking about what's happened, but also making space to listen to people. So what can that look like? Look, one error to avoid, and I see this all the time, is just simply saying to people, talk to your leader or your employee assistance program now, especially if this is coming from the CEO.

Just comes across as like you're brushing it off and your leaders may not be equipped to have these kind of conversations with their people. EAP services are great, but there's a lot of people who don't trust them, or maybe it's challenging to use the service. We know that when there's any friction of any kind, when it's not easy for people to do something, they tend to avoid.

So what can you do instead? One thing you could consider is bringing the EAP to them, so get a counsellor or a psychologist to actually be on site for a few days. Also, encourage people to talk to each other and to give each other space for their feelings. Recognising [00:05:00] not everyone will feel the same way.

Oftentimes people just need to have a chat to a trusted workmate or a friend to just feel a little better. The other thing to consider is that there shouldn't just be a once off. It is not a tick box exercise where you say, okay, we sent an email about that. Now back to business, our brains and hearts do not work that way, so you need to consider how else you might need to keep the conversation going, even if it's just a light touch here and there.

Remember that at the end of the day, people just want to feel seen and heard, and if you can achieve that, you're on the right track. Okay. Tip number two is to pause all other content. So that ad campaign you were about to roll out on Instagram, pause it. The internal comms campaign for safety month. Can it, for now at least.

I've seen some pretty bad examples when companies haven't paused their scheduled content or the events they had planned and what they've posted comes across as really poor taste. But also [00:06:00] if you don't think it's a problem. That doesn't matter. Others might think it's a problem and that's a reputation risk for you and your business.

Thirdly, whatever you're putting out there, nobody will be interested in it right at that moment. If there's a big event that's happened, like the event at Bondi Beach, nobody will give two hoots about your handbag sale or your safety month campaign. So I won't labor on this one because it's pretty simple, but it's really, really important to show that you care and to not risk a reputation.

Just play it safe. Pause everything for the time being. Tip number three, help people redirect their feelings to something useful. Now, when people are feeling lost or grieving, they often want to do something useful. We want to feel like we can help in some way, even if we are thousands of kilometers away.

So during and after events like these look for opportunities where you as a business can support relief efforts or individuals who are impacted. So for example, in the [00:07:00] aftermath of the 2020-2021 Bushfires in Australia, many companies did matched giving with their employees where they would match donations to say the Red Cross or other organisations who are working on the ground with survivors.

What could you do to help people feel useful and redirect their feelings towards something that feels productive for them? This week in Australia, it's been all about donating blood via lifeblood through the Australian Red Cross, but there are also GoFundMe accounts being set up to support the families of those who were killed.

Uh, you can make those options available to your people. Maybe you could see if any team members want to organise their own fundraising event. Or you could provide volunteer leave so that people can go help at a local refuge or whatever it might be. The good part is there are lots of options out there.

You just need to find the right ones. And as with any crisis, the best way to respond is to be prepared. So in your crisis comms planning, think about some of those recovery [00:08:00] strategies and what organisations you could align with for certain events. So for example, like I said, with bush fires or cyclone or flooding, et cetera, who might be the organisations that you align with in those instances?

Now, importantly. Make sure you're redirecting people to a legitimate source of support. There's a lot of fraudulent stuff out there. So for example, if you are sharing GoFundMe pages, just check them and choose organisations that are credible and trustworthy. Tip number four is consider the most appropriate channel to be sharing these messages.

Now, it's been really interesting to see how some brands have responded to the Bondi Tragedy this week. A couple of the satirical news sites, like the Beda Advocate actually came out and said basically this wasn't a time for Humorous News. So they were pausing the regular content and instead they encouraged people to go give blood, uh, brands from clothing to toys, to football clubs.

They also put out messages of support on their social media pages and [00:09:00] directed people to mental health support like Lifeline and Beyond Blue. But one thing I found a little strange was an email I received from a clothing brand, which shall remain nameless. And the email itself wasn't selling anything.

It was a message saying they were shocked about the event. They were thinking of the people involved and first responders, et cetera, et cetera. And they directed people to support services. But the email, honestly, it just felt a bit off. The best way to explain it is: This is brand like many others that usually only uses email to sell their products or to let you know about promotion.

S they never use email for any other purpose, and while they weren't selling anything, it still had the usual banner and footer, et cetera, as you'd have on any other EDM sales email. It almost felt too direct for a brand that I didn't have any personal relationship or affinity with. It wasn't even from the CEO, it was just from the brand in general.

So the point is that the channel and the voice matters. A post on social media [00:10:00] is fine. You'll reach a lot of people. You probably already share content on there. That's not just sales content, it's other content anyway, so people kind of expect that channel to be done that way. Also, some brands might put out a message or a video on there from a key person like the CEO, but if people aren't used to getting messages like these fire channel, like email, it could be a little offputting.

It could look a bit like you're capitalizing on it. So while the intention is good, it could be the delivery that lets you down. Okay. The final tip is stick to the facts and avoid amplifying division. Like I've talked about in other episodes, there is no getting around the fact that we live in a more polarized world than ever before, and the workplace is not immune to this.

There will be people in your employment who have very strong opinions about what should and should not have happened, what the authority should do next, et cetera, et cetera. In a workplace, this kind of division can get out of control pretty quickly because you're in this [00:11:00] pressure cooker of emotion with people for at least eight hours a day.

So as communicators and leaders, our role is to make sure people know what's on and what's not. Okay. This might be simply reminding people about your company values, assuming that they had genuine company values. We've talked about that before. But it could also be just simply acknowledging that there is a lot of inform misinformation and opinions about the event being spread.

But as a business, you are about bringing people together, not tearing them apart. So the focus for you guys will remain on supporting each other and where possible supporting people who are impacted. It also means that we need to be absolutely sure that we are only sharing credible, verified information from legitimate sources.

We stick to the facts. We don't speculate, and we focus on what's actually within our control. It means too that leaders need to be quick to identify and stamp out any misinformation that's being spread or any potentially problematic conversations between [00:12:00] colleagues. That takes a bit of courage sometimes.

I know, especially if you're a new leader. Or if you're just a person who doesn't like having those sort of challenging, confronting conversations, but you need to set the example or others will start to pipe up too, or will start to disrespect you for not acting quickly enough to stamp out poor behavior.

A good tip here is to bring the message back to a person's sense of identity. And by that I mean remind people that they are all part of the one community or the one company, the one team that is members of this community. We stand for the good. We call out the bad, or whatever that looks like for you.

In your unique situation, people don't want to feel like they're not part of the in-group, so when you remind them of their sense of group identity, they typically come into line. It's also to do with consistenc, bias. If someone says something publicly, they tend to stick to it, even if their views have changed.

And in these situations, sometimes that can be a good thing if they've committed to being part of the team. Okay folks, it is [00:13:00] time for today's episode wrap up. It's a very sad catalyst for a podcast episode, but the Bondi event is going to be lingering in our heads and hearts for a long time to come. So we need to talk about it.

Which brings me to the five pieces of advice I shared today. Number one, don't ignore the event. It gives the impression that you don't care. It also doesn't recognise the fact that even if you are removed from the situation, others are not. Number two, pause. All other communication internal and external campaigns included.

Apart from the fact that some of your scheduled comms may come across as poor taste inadvertently, it again sends a message that you don't care. Number three, help people redirect their feelings so they feel like they're useful. So often during grief or moments of shock, we just feel useless and just want to help.

So find ways that people can help. Number four, consider the best channel and the voice. What's the way you usually reach people the most authentically? If [00:14:00] you only ever use email to sell to your customers, then don't use it for a purpose like this. And number five, stick to the facts. Only share verified information from legitimate sources and avoid speculation.

And importantly, be quick to act on misinformation spreading in the workplace. All right, team. That's all we'll talk about for today. I just want to say my heart is also with everybody who's hurting over this and anybody who's ever been in a position like this before where there's been an act of violence in your community, uh, hopefully the new year will bring some better news.

In the meantime, keep doing amazing things. Keep looking out for each other, and bye for now.