Information control and employee communications
Potential human rights violations can create immediate concerns not only from those affected, from the media and from non-governmental organisations, but also from your employees.
The IM team should consider sending an immediate communication to all employees of the firm:
- explaining that they may be contacted in regard to allegations involving your organisation
- asking them to refer all questions and any queries they receive to the member of the IM team responsible for public relations
- asking them to respect the sensitivity of the matter for those involved by refraining from internal discussion and speculation regarding the allegations.
The nature of allegations of potential human rights violations can be emotive for employees of your organisation. In order to address their concerns, in the same communications you may wish to consider:
- expressing sympathy for the concerns that the employees may have about the allegations
- assuring them that management takes the allegations seriously and is taking immediate steps to find out what has happened
- providing the details of a member of the IM team that they can contact if they have any questions
- reminding members of any employee assistance measures your company has in place such as an external counselling services or in-house faith workers
For further information on media relations please click here.
