Simplicity, empathy and humanness - getting communications right

 In May 2020 Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, sat in front of his webcam and shared some difficult news with all his employees. Reading from a prepared script Chesky announced he was cutting 25% of the workforce. With global travel at a standstill, Airbnb’s business had been hit hard. 1,900 teammates would lose their jobs.  

Making one quarter of your workforce redundant is a tough decision for any business to make. Then announcing that news to the whole company - and especially those people whose lives are going to be adversely affected - was not going to be an easy task. 

It was difficult news to deliver - but Chesky pitched it just right.  

Chesky’s message was clear about the situation as well as what was going to happen next. The company’s provisions for severance, equity and healthcare were laid out. Support for those who’d be seeking new jobs was outlined. Everything he’d said in his video announcement was communicated in an accompanying note, so there could be no ambiguity. And then Chesky signed off: “To those leaving Airbnb, I am truly sorry.” 

It’s an exemplary example of what communication should be: clear, direct, open and devoid of corporate spin. A delicate matter was infused with empathy and humanness, two important qualities we rate highly here at Ericsson.  

Keeping it simple 

As a communications professional, I recognise how important it is for a comms team to interpret and deliver a business leader’s strategic vision. In the Airbnb example, this happened perfectly. The company’s values shone through at each stage: in the practical help given, in the content of the message and in the method of delivery. That Airbnb’s comms team could do that at scale is quite a feat.  

Human touches speak volumes about empathy and humanness. For example, the company let departing employees keep their laptops. “You’re losing your job, now hand in your laptop” - that’s really not something you’d want to hear.   

What can a company like Ericsson learn from Brian Chesky’s note? In part it’s a lesson in making the complex simple - simplicity in communications is so hard to get right. The situation affected Airbnb’s staff across the globe where each country has its own laws and sets of principles. And yet they handled it all with a single piece of communication. 

It’s also a best-practice example on how to live and breathe your principles and values, not just in what you say, but in how you say it. And that means putting those two gold standards of humanness and empathy at the heart of the message. This is especially important when we can't gather our teams in-person.  

Communicate, communicate, communicate 

The last fifteen months have seen an increase in employee engagement. This has meant a need for improved internal communications. Remote working has forced leaders to communicate better - managers can’t simply hope their employees will pick up information in the workplace. Leaders and organisations have needed to be more intentional about getting their messages across. 

As Brian Chesky explained in an interview with the Financial Times recently, during a time of great upheaval, it’s important to keep talking. “In a crisis, you have to communicate four times as much. Quarterly board meetings became every Sunday. Monthly all-hands meetings became weekly. I used to answer five questions at the Q&A, I started answering 10.” 

Enhanced communication is something we’ve embraced here at Ericsson. We too have had to focus on providing regular, clear and simple communications. In the spring of 2020, from São Paulo to Moscow, local governments put new rules and restrictions in place. The situation was fast moving. We had to move fast to make decisions on such matters as office closures, updating employees accordingly.  

We’ve realised too that uncertainty over working practices and the impact of remote working raises questions, so we put new initiatives in place to deal with that. This includes more rigorous Q&A sessions in our all-hands meetings where we make sure every question is answered. 

Light it up! 

I believe the purpose of a communications department is to help disseminate a message so it has the desired impact. Do you want to inspire, educate or prompt a specific action? Then we figure out the best way to deliver the message, simply, clearly and in a human-centric way - all in alignment with the values of the company.  

At the end of last year my colleagues in Latin America wanted to do something to recognise their Ericsson colleagues who’d done such a tremendous job. Keeping the network going at a time when the planet needed those connections more than ever was no mean feat.  

Luciana Leite was head of branding & corporate communications in LATAM South, based in São Paulo. She wanted to celebrate the commitment shown by everyone. How could she create a simple piece of communication that would energise employees while at the same time recognise their achievements?  

Luciana was adamant whatever she created was going to be authentic, optimistic and must tell a good story. It had to be something her colleagues could feel pride in, and that could also be shared externally with customers and partners. 

Quite a brief. 

And then the idea struck her... a song! 

Luciana knew a song could deliver all her objectives. She and a great team of people wrote ‘Light It Up’ and asked her colleagues to record videos of themselves singing and playing along. Some sung with colleagues, others with family. Those who couldn’t speak English got into the spirit by dancing along instead, like some of the team at our Ericsson factory in Brazil. 

She launched the song at their last all-employee meeting of 2020 to a fantastic reception. You can watch the finished video ’ Voices from Ericsson’ here. 

Make it so good they will sing it in the shower!

As a storyteller and communicator I know that the ultimate goal is telling a story that makes the audience care. Well I’m pleased to say that Luciana’s idea was so effective, many people have been moved to tears when they’ve watched it! It’s got great feedback externally too. 

I think Voices of Ericsson is so effective because it shines a light on the very essence of our humanness. It is full of empathy, it’s authentic and it demonstrates the importance of our people. It achieves its aim of engaging people inside the company yet its reach has been far wider. And it manages to say a big thank you to our employees for their dedication and commitment. I often think the best pieces of communication are when we don’t separate internal and external audiences: Luciana’s song was spot on with a combined narrative that works for all. 

The video even featured in an Ericsson social media campaign around 5G. But the icing on the cake is surely this: some of Luciana’s colleagues have told her that they, and their family members, sing along to it in the shower. Surely there can be no greater accolade! So well done Luciana - not only a great idea, but brilliantly executed. And I’m pleased to announce that Luciana has recently joined the MELA Communications team for four months, responsible for strategic communications campaigns, our narrative and content activation across Europe and Latin America. Lu - welcome on board the MELA team! 

So from Brian Chesky in his San Francisco apartment to Luciana and her team in São Paulo - we’ve seen how good communication can help ease the most difficult of messages, as well as bring joy to lives everywhere. Thank you both for the inspiration and for the pleasure of discovering fresh ways of doing things.