Bungled: ANZ is guilty of using corporate speak in sackings fiasco
Yesterday news broke that ANZ had sent emails to senior staff inadvertently informing them of their imminent sackings. We asked crisis comms expert Peter Wilkinson whether the bank has handled the ensuing fallout well. He wasn't happy. We have included the full wording of the ANZ apology to staff below.
I really dislike the way ANZ has managed the bungle. There is conversing with people and talking at people. ANZ chose the latter in the written statement. I can’t speak for the group call or individual conversations.
Is this phrase believable? “We are committed to treating every colleague with dignity and respect…”
I don’t think so, not after such a mishap.
How about this instead? “That was a crap way to treat a person. Fail. Sorry doesn’t convey how I feel. If it happened to me, I would be furious, so I get it. I’ve spoken to the people who are responsible and warned them it must never happen again.”
And is this believable? “I deeply regret the distress…”
Don’t we hate corporate-speak like that? When we are conversing with people we must speak their language.
ANZ has not revealed how many senior managers were sacked
So do people over lunch say the above? No, it’s inert. What the folks over lunch say is “They f****d up. Really badly. It sucks!”
To get on that wavelength the ANZ exec needs to get closer to that vernacular. Something closer might be: “There are some very red faces upstairs today, knowing that they’ve bungled badly and hurt people who deserve better.”
Now, I don’t know the person who authored the email and the person responsible, Bruce Rush, and he may not speak like I write, true. But I’m also pretty certain he wouldn’t speak like he wrote either. And all indications are he is really upset about the mishap. It’s about writing using real language to make its meaning land.
There is another element to an apology, also missing, and that is a believable commitment that, as a result of what happened, some changes have occurred to ensure it will never happen again. Some thought has to go into what actions make that believable. It can be something as simple as, “As a result of this mistake we have made the following change <insert>. As a result, it cannot recur.”
The alternative is to just accept that staff will feel like they are treated as commodities.
Now you might say, as bungles go, this one is small. True, but not to the people affected, and the people around them. These events accumulate over time in people’s minds and affect how valued they feel.
Peter Wilkinson
The full internal apology email from ANZ’s Bruce Rush:
A few weeks ago, I announced changes to our leadership structure in Australia Retail. That structure became effective yesterday.
Earlier today, automated emails were sent to some Group 2 and 3 individuals ahead of schedule.
Unfortunately, these emails indicate an exit date for some of our colleagues before we’ve been able to share their outcome with them. It was not our intention to share such sensitive news with you in this way, and I apologise unconditionally.
I deeply regret the distress this situation may have caused. Please know that we are committed to treating every colleague with dignity and respect as we move through this process.
In response, we will bring forward outcome conversations to begin today, and we expect them to be finalised by end of day tomorrow.
Peter Wilkinson is chair of Wilkinson Butler and a crisis communications expert.
Have your say