Communicating about leaks and managing rogue employees

From employee activists and disgruntled whistleblowers to overexcited workers who don’t know the meaning of the word “confidential,” there are many possible consequences when an employee goes rogue. Stocks can tumble. Lawsuits can come up. Your reputation can take a hit.

Elizabeth Solomon, SVP of digital and CX at Fleishman Hillard, ran through several of these scenarios during her session at Ragan and PR Daily’s Social Media Conference this past September, offering tips for how communicators can minimize the likelihood of leaks and rogue employees damaging reputation.

Solomon remembered working on a huge product launch at a past employer. All the executives were talking about it and everything was coming together, so the comms team began educating wider circles of internal stakeholders to support the launch. And as more people were informed, news of the launch leaked to Reddit.

Luckily, her team caught it. With hours to spare before a 6 a.m. press release deadline, the comms team was able to mobilize and launch the announcement of that program an entire week earlier than planned. Suffice to say, none of them got much sleep that night, but it paid off and the announcement went smoothly.

That incident, and some others, taught Solomon some valuable lessons.

1. Think about the tech you have in place.