Inevitably, there will be Monday morning quarterbacks for the next few weeks about the The PGA’s decision to merge with the LIV Golf Tour. While much has been said and will be said about the ethics and economics of advertising, one aspect that is being overlooked is how the PGA chose break the news to CNBCfor all audiences to see, including their main asset: their players.
While the PGA wasn’t going to win the hearts and minds of many of its players with the merger announcement, it didn’t help the league’s case when it stopped prioritizing players in the news exchange .
In response, several of them, including Collin Morikawa, Joel Dahmen and Justin Thomas, took on Twitter to show their confusion and disappointment.
The communications that came directly from the PGA players were as damning to the sport’s brand and reputation as the thoughts of any analyst or expert discussing the ethics and economics of the situation.
The PGA isn’t like a normal corporate entity, and its players aren’t the same as traditional corporate employees, but there are valuable parallels and lessons we can learn from how the league managed its communication cadence in this scenario
Here’s how companies can avoid pitfalls and negative press by making internal communications a priority on the same level as their external deployment.
Prioritize the employee
The announcement of important news should be done in waves, and employees should always have priority over external audiences. When a company must release information to the public first, it should take care to break the news to employees simultaneously or immediately afterward.
De-prioritizing internal audiences during significant change sends the message that leadership is indifferent to or fearful of employee needs and concerns.
Breaking news
The media is a powerful channel for announcing breaking news, but you never want an employee to learn about an announcement by reading about it in an article or watching it on TV.
Never treat media coverage as a resource for breaking news to employees, who will feel hurt, shocked and scared when they consume it.
What’s in it for me?
Knowing the audience of employees and taking time to understand how they are likely to react to the news will allow leaders to develop better messages and prepare to answer tough questions with transparency and authenticity.
It’s unclear how much Jay Monahan understood his fellow golfers and their potential response to the news, but it’s clear he wasn’t prepared to adequately address their inevitable harsh responses.
Whether it’s a high-paid professional athlete or a line worker in a factory, the innate human response to news of organizational change is always, “What’s in it for me?” A leader must be ready with an answer.
You can’t put a price tag on authenticity
When asked about the sudden change of heart, Monahan said, “I recognize that people will call me a hypocrite. Every time I said something, I said it with the information I had at the time, and I said it based on- me in someone trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players.”
At best, this response is inauthentic, exacerbating the assessments of its critics. It would have been better to tell the truth and admit that the decision was in the best interest of the PGA because it wants to get the league as much money as possible.
Side note: His comment about being called a hypocrite became the lead quote and dominated the headlines. It’s a textbook example of why not to repeat the negative during media interviews.
Business leaders need access to sound communication thinking in difficult situations, but too often these executives surround themselves with “yes” people or exclude their top communication talent from the boardroom where these decisions are made.
It’s a story as old as the game as golf, and many leaders are still learning the lesson the hard way after much of the damage has been done. Tough calls and decisions are made all the time, but prioritizing internal stakeholders will never bode well for you in times of organizational change.
Ted Birkhahn is the co-founder and president of Hot paper lantern.
Mike Adorno is senior vice president of communications at Hot Paper Lantern.
