“Assembly Plants That Will be Unallocated”
On November 26, 2018 spokespersons for General Motors issued a press release advising of some “assembly plants that will be unallocated”.
“Unallocated” is corporate-speak for “closed”. “Unallocated” is a beating-around-the-bush word, a pocketful-of-mumbles kind of word that you utter when you don’t want outright to lie, but you can’t bear to speak the truth.
To be sure, there is no easy way to tell five communities that they are going to lose a key employer, nor to tell 14,000 workers, a month before Christmas, that they’re finished.
Any time your message is going to crash headlong into negative emotions, you need to be wise about your use of language. “Assembly plants that will be unallocated” is not wise language. It’s the language of privileged, smart-assed MBA kids who have yet to learn life’s lessons, and it’s certainly not the language of the people who are going to be affected. No matter what the vocabulary says, the tone says, “Yeah, whatever…”
Worse still, the GM press release doubled down by ladling on the fine-print legalese. Skim this very, very, very quickly before you are rendered catatonic:
Cautionary Note on Forward Looking Statements. This press release and related comments by management may include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Statements including words such as “anticipate,” “appears,” “approximately,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “designed,” “effect,” “estimate,” “evaluate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “initiative,” “intend,” “may,” “objective,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potential,” “priorities,” “project,” “pursue,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “when,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of any of those words or similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements represent our current judgment about possible future events. In making these statements we rely upon assumptions and analysis based on our experience and
perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors we consider appropriate under the circumstances. These statements are not guarantees of future performance; they involve risks and uncertainties and actual events or results may differ materially from these statements. Potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from expected results include, among others, whether the Company will be able to implement the Plan as planned, whether the expected amount of the charges associated with the Plan will exceed the Company’s projections, and whether the Company will be able to realize the full amount of estimated savings from the Plan. Readers should also consult the other “risk factors” found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year-ended December 31, 2017 and our subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or
otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or other factors that affect the subject of these statements, except where we are expressly required to do so by law.
I actually like boilerplate. After all, I am a lawyer. I used to write the stuff. There’s a time and a place for boilerplate. But not in a “bad news” press release.
The problem with a press release which uses weasel words like “unallocated”, then slathers on legalese, is that it does exactly what you should be trying to avoid– it paints you as heartless, calculating, and cynical, hiding behind your lawyers.
Delivering bad news inevitably triggers significant emotional impact. The chances of losing control are very high. Sounding cagey, self-righteous and defensive will guarantee the worst results.
So, what must you do? You must, above all else, be genuine, understandable, humble and appropriate. If people are being hurt, don’t whine and make excuses. Suck it up. You absolutely must be completely honest and recognize the pain you are causing. And if crow is to be eaten, then crow you must eat.
Or chicken. Let’s consider KFC.
Early this year, Kentucky Fried Chicken in the UK completely ran out of chicken and had to shut down for several weeks. It was a PR disaster. Yet they managed to turn it into a PR winner. They were witty, honest, contrite and straight-up, and they scored a home run. Check it out here (https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-43169625) .