Handling external headaches internally

Earlier this week, Fortune reported that Meta terminated a group of employees in its Los Angeles office for violating its rules around perks. Specifically, the employees were accused of misappropriating food delivery credits for use in the office and instead using them for household items directly delivered to employee residences.

While these terminations are a window into how companies enforce policies, most coverage has focused on the timing of the firings, which the company positioned as part of a larger organization as a part of its “Year of Efficiency” push that began in 2023.

In a statement to Ragan, Meta public affairs lead for strategic response communication Daniel Roberts said that the layoffs were part of the strategic plan for the organization and not related to the terminations.

“A few teams at Meta are making changes to ensure resources are aligned with their long-term strategic goals and location strategy,” said Roberts This includes moving some teams to different locations and moving some employees to different roles. In situations like this when a role is eliminated, we work hard to find other opportunities for impacted employees.”

By proactivity and knowing where to point both media and employees alike, organizations can weather misapplied external perceptions and contextualize the narrative — first with your employees and then back to the world at large.

Here are a few ways internal communicators can work against media narratives to editorialize their characterization of internal operations.

• Point back to executive statements. In Meta’s case, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg laid out the groundwork for the “Year of Efficiency” in a post last spring, outlining goals to make the company more efficient and financially viable. He doubled down on those ideals this February, stating, “I think that being a leaner company is helping us execute better and faster, and we will continue to carry these values forward as a permanent part of how we operate.”
  • When external narratives challenge what you know to be true as an internal communicator, refer back to what your executives say on given issues. This doesn’t only provide a robust counter-narrative to negative coverage but can help form a sense of unity and stability among employees and internal stakeholders who are clamoring for consistent direction from leadership.
• Refer to established timelines. Though it could be tempting on the surface to connect Meta’s layoffs with the perk-related firings, a quick look at the timeline with which the organization began their job cuts—and how they align with Zuckerberg’s messages—provides some clarity.
  • By establishing a timeline during times of change and sticking to it as other developments evolve along the way, you can discuss how these events either fit into or are not part of the already established plan. These timelines don’t just help steer a media narrative, but also reassure employees things are going as planned. Correlation doesn’t always equal causation, and while it’s human nature to draw connections between two events (in this case, two sets of job losses at a major company), that doesn’t always make it true.
• Positioning communicators as translators. One of the many duties of the internal communicator is that of a translator. Not of literal languages, but of context and situations.
  • Earlier this year, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory CCO and Ragan Communications Leadership Council member Amanda Schoch, told us that communicators should look to help clarify narratives for internal audiences. “We see ourselves as ’sensemakers’ – simplifying and rationalizing communications for our staff so they know what is most important and how they fit into the broader organization,” she said. Effective translation also requires regularly communicating with employees about the resources they have at hand. For instance, during a restructure like Meta’s organizations should actively share information about new reporting structures, leadership, and more. If these resources are buried or just not readily communicated, a lack of accurate information can lead to counter-narratives and fuel speculation that isn’t rooted in truth, just like the supposed tie between the firings and layoffs at Meta.

There’s often more to a story than meets the eye. Internal communicators can best serve the business when they clarify the truth and reframe the narrative to both preserve employee experience and brand reputation at the same time.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.