This week’s news headlines have been dominated by the people that usually control them, and unsurprisingly, the News of The World and its parent company News International have faced unprecedented criticism for its unethical journalism when reporting on some of the most horrific news events of recent times.
Little sympathy is being dished out to the major players involved, including Rupert Murdoch, Rebekah Wade and Andy Coulson, but one seemingly untouched area of the story so far has been the effect this constant stream of bad news has had on the people at News International.
Let’s not forget that a publishing house has marketing, sales and finance departments, as well as an editorial one, so how are these areas of the business reacting to the relentless stream of image-battering news?
Because, if any of the company’s recent announcements are to be believed, a small rogue group undertook this unsavoury behaviour, and, if that’s the case (or even if it’s not the whole truth) there must be a large number of employees that are unhappy, if not repulsed, by the allegations.
How does the leadership of a business recover from something so damaging and corrosive to the image of the organisation? And, more to the point here, how does the leadership assess the toll it has taken on the people within the business?
Gauging staff opinion isn’t something the company should consider, it’s crucial.
Training tools that utilise the 360 degree appraisal tools approach anonymously provide genuine feedback and appraisals, not just a group of nodding heads. They allow businesses to not only assess the significance of existing company and employee flaws (including ones that you may not even know about) but also build on the positive aspects that your staff can see.
News International might be too busy to see it right now but, as they struggle with their public image, it might be their own staff’s feedback and appraisals that establish the foundations of a rebuilding project.
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