QUOTE OF THE DAY “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” –Rosalynn Carter COVID-19 UPDATE At the time of reporting, The New York Times showed 2,034,175 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and 113,974 deaths. Bing’s COVID-19 Tracker reported 2,064,248 cases of COVID-19 and 115,487 fatalities. Some U.S. states that were spared heavy losses in the first wave of COVID-19 outbreaks are now seeing record hospitalizations, reports The Wall Street Journal. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says it isn’t a viable option for the government to shutdown the economy again despite fears over rising cases in states like Texas, Arizona and California.
Every organization should focus on building community. In a crisis, particularly during this global pandemic where people feel so isolated, it is important to unite your audience. Whether you want to address health, well-bring, questions about race and equality, or any of the other pressing issues facing the country, start by thinking how you can create community. Here are some ideas.
Keep the watercooler open. Here’s how USAA has tried to keep its remote workforce connected during this pandemic and build bridges for important conversations among employees. Starbucks reverses decision on Black Lives Matter apparel for employees. After receiving backlash over the chain’s stance on workers wearing pro-BLM items during their shift, the company now says it will create shirts with pro-BLM designs that employees can wear on the job. CNBC reported: While Starbucks has a policy against wearing personal, political or religious clothing or accessories, workers told Buzzfeed that the company hands out buttons and attire celebrating LGBTQ rights and marriage equality. Now, Starbucks will be doing the same for Black Lives Matter. The chain will make 250,000 shirts with a design that includes “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace” available to workers in its company-owned cafes in the United States and Canada. Employee expectations have changed during the COVID-19 crisis. When you start to bring them back to the office, they will expect new safety protocols and plenty of communication. Here’s how you should prepare—and what employees are likely to demand as they come back to the workplace. Racial diversity in your management teams spurs greater productivity. Not only is it the moral thing to do, but racial diversity programs have many good business reasons behind them to help convince skeptical or unenthusiastic colleagues. Success should be measured by more than your impression count. Is your crisis message effective? You won’t know if you are only looking at the number of eyeballs you reached. Here’s why you have to think more holistically to evaluate your comms strategy. Alexa gets programmed with pro-BLM responses. The virtual assistant from Amazon now pushes back when users ask if “all lives matter.” Amazon and other tech companies have embraced the movement in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis while in police custody. Cnet wrote: Using the phrase "all lives matter" won't get a response from Alexa, but asking it as a question -- "Do all lives matter?" -- does."All lives matter. However, black lives are disproportionately in danger in the fight against systemic racism and injustice," it says… [with links to blacklivesmatter.com and the NAACP.] Now is a good time to revisit your social media policies. Many employees have run into trouble for their social media use in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As a communicator, make sure you are educating your colleagues about appropriate messages and facilitating important conversations around race internally. After posts have been made, organizations have no recourse but to part ways with offending workers. Microsoft joins other tech firms in refusing to sell facial recognition software to police. IBM says it will no longer work on that technology and Amazon promised a one year moratorium. All three companies have asked for more regulation from lawmakers. Yahoo reported: "We will not sell facial-recognition technology to police departments in the United States until we have a national law in place, grounded in human rights, that will govern this technology," Microsoft President Brad Smith said, according to the Post. The technology veteran company will also put further checks on the use of the controversial technology, Smith added. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel defends decision to restrict Trump on its platform. The tech leader made his case in an interview on CNBC, defending the company’s right to free speech. Snapchat’s actions contrast with those of Facebook which has refused to moderate President Trump’s posts on its platform. CNBC reported: “We’ve always said Discover is a closed platform, and we choose the types of content we want to promote on our platform. We’re well within our First Amendment rights to decide what shows up on there,” Spiegel told CNBC’s “Power Lunch.” Virtual Conference Alert Join us for Ragan & PR Daily's Social Media & Digital Communications Virtual Conference on June 18–19 to learn brand strategies and best practices to meet the challenges of the new reality. Join our Crisis Leadership Board Ragan’s Crisis Leadership Board is the resource you need before, during and after the crisis. As a Board member, you have access to all back issues of this newsletter—as well as research, data, case studies, checklists, tip sheets, articles and other resources—plus a peer-to-peer discussion board and an all-access pass to the annual Crisis Management Conference. Sponsorship/Advertising Opportunities Contact Hannah Lavelle at HannahL@ragan.com with sponsorship and advertising inquiries. Pitch Us Have a great story to share about crisis communication or your own take on current best practices? Contact Editor Ted Kitterman at TedK@ragan.com. Sign Up Subscribe to Ragan’s Crisis Daily newsletter today. | 