Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR and the PR and Communications Ambassador for the IoD in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, discusses what PR lessons can be learned from the P&O fiasco.
When I initially wrote this (March 23rd) it was being reported by various media outlets that P&O has said 800 redundant staff will be offered £36.5m in total – with around 40 getting more than £100,000 each.
It was also being denied that they broke the law when it sacked the workers without warning last week. Many had questioned whether the move was legal – but P&O said those affected were employed outside the UK. Oh, that’s OK then, sod ‘em!
Today as I write (24th), the winds have changed aboard the bad ship P&O with an admittal from P&O boss Peter Hebblethwaite that the decision to sack the workers last week without consulting the unions broke the law. SHOCK HORROR. “We chose not to consult and we are, and will, compensate everybody in full for that,” he said.
Calmer seas ahead? Doubtful. I appreciate that a lot may change before this column comes out but the advice will remain sound.
Now, I’m not an HR expert, but let’s just recap how this utter farce has played out. It is actually painfully easy to summarise. P&O sacked around 800 staff last week (Thursday 17th March) by video call. Talk about finding “efficiencies,” or as Winnie The Pooh might suggest rather aptly, a “fish in the sea.”
P&O said it was a “tough” decision but it would “not be a viable business” without the changes. However, the government described the workers’ treatment as “wholly unacceptable,” whilst the RMT union is threatening legal action, on one of the “most shameful acts in the history of British industrial relations.”
Speaking of relations, let’s consider the Public Relations impact here. The bit I most certainly AM an expert in.
Never mind the way it was handled, I’ll come to that, just consider this, if business was not viable before, how many customers would now actually WANT to travel with this bunch if they had a choice? Not many. So a challenging market is now shrinking further and further, all down to how this utter ship-show was handled. They have apparently made huge savings by switching to agency staff, however, let’s consider the huge COST they have incurred in brand damage – #boycottpando reached thousands of shares in days.
Let’s look at this pathetic approach to PR, straight out of “My First Book of Bungling” published by Lazybird. First, the video message – this never plays out well. Remember Better.com, well this was worse! It wasn’t even live, total cowardice. Then the physical aspect, rumours of staff seen in handcuffs being forced from their posts. Now add a dash of stranded customers, a soupcon of cheap labour and bring to the boil with a defiant message about viability and employees not being UK-based so there. It boggles the mind.
When politicians and unions are in agreement, you know you’ve dug yourself into a very large hole. This fiasco is going to rumble on from a PR and HR perspective. It will become a textbook example of what NOT to do. Will it blow over? Right now, there’s no port that will provide sanctuary in this storm – they are holed below the waterline and sinking fast.
A former business journalist, Greg Simpson is the author of The Small Business Guide to PR and has been recognised as one of the UK’s top 5 PR consultants, having set up Press for Attention PR in 2008.
He has worked for FTSE 100 firms, charities and start-ups and conducted press conferences with Sir Richard Branson and James Caan. His background ensures a deep understanding of every facet of a successful PR campaign – from a journalist’s, client’s, and consultant’s perspective.
See this column in the April edition of East Midlands Business Link Magazine.
