CommCore Blog and News

How to Keep Front Line Employees From Harming your Reputation

This post was written by CEO Andy Gilman and Program Manager Karla Corea-Carcamo.

The most recent example or a reputation hit was Waffle House. In a video gone viral; two employees are seen violently fighting behind the counter of Waffle House restaurant in South Carolina. The video shows one employee bleeding from his arm and another swinging a knife around after the altercation as patrons stand around watching the situation.

The video surfaces just weeks after Waffle House suffered yet another serious ding to its brand reputation where in another viral video shared to social media, employees are seen berating a drunk customer while the customer is passed out.

While there is no way to prevent these incidents from going viral, risk management and reputation and crisis planners must focus education and employee engagement. Here are some practical ways to reach out to employees before the next viral video:
  • Educate workers — especially shift managers — on how quickly local issues can blow up and harm the company’s reputation.
  • Be creative in delivering messages. Many retail and food industry workers are in their teens and 20’s. It would be counterproductive to require them to watch a long and boring PowerPoint presentation that merely checks the compliance. The content won’t stick.
  • A creative way is to produce short video reenactments or whiteboard animation to deliver the important messages.
  • Make sure local workers know that when in doubt, call corporate communications. This should be a primary message for all employees. Professional communicators can immediately expand their social media monitoring and use the tools in the crisis plan to try and get ahead of the issue.