ICYMI: Disgruntled Employees Are Speaking Out
Date
1/29/2025 8:21:59 AM
(MENAFN- PRovoke)
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We have encountered the growing phenomenon of employees speaking out about corporate issues before, in the public relations industry (Ogilvy people unhappy about the firm's work for US Customs & Border Protection agency, WPP's recent back-to-the-office order) and beyond .
But this article in Korn Ferry's This Week in Leadership newsletter suggests that activism by employees is now drawing the attention of boards of directors.
“The firm had been delivering strong results since he took the helm two years ago,” say Korn Ferry partners Jane Stevenson, Elise Schroeder, and Julie Norris, recounting their experience with one of the firm's clients.“What got the directors' attention were the social media posts and news stories. Too many were disgruntled employee comments aimed directly at the CEO, questioning his every step.”
Directors are becoming increasingly conscious of the role talent and culture play in firms-and how that plays out publicly, the authors say. And while companies have always had to put up with disgruntled employees,“Workers today aren't content to just keep their heads down and do their jobs. They question everything-often very publicly.”
Factor in widespread employee concerns-70% say they are disengaged at work and 82% are dissatisfied-and it's clear why 40% of boards have formed new committees or added new responsibilities focused on talent acquisition and retention.
The next step, says Schroeder is that“if boards want to help CEOs turn employee dissent into constructive dialogue, they need to set an example. One way they can do that is by rallying around the company's values and purpose. Other ways to do that include being transparent and authentic, which will help build trust and accountability with the workforce.”
That has clear implications for the corporate communications function, which will need to ensure first, that the CEO and the board are receiving the intelligence they need to understand employee concerns, and second, that the messages leaders and boards wish to convey are consistent and understood by the company's employees.
The image for this story was created using CoPilot
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