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Be ready to meet the press: add media relations to your skill set; you may have to take your message to a wide audience.

Article Excerpt
The sandwich makers in the YouTube video reportedly said it was a mirthful prank, but the leaders of Domino's Pizza weren't laughing.

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They clicked into crisis response mode last April following a video that showed two North Carolina-based employees gleefully violating health code standards while handling food. To stem the damage to the Domino's brand, Patrick Doyle, president of Domino's USA, went on YouTube in a company-created video. He apologized and said the company had fired the two employees, had begun health audits at all locations and was re-examining hiring practices.

While some media relations specialists said Doyle's response was about a day late and he lacked eye contact with the viewers, his action demonstrated what company leaders, including those in HR and corporate relations, should be ready to do when their organizations get potentially harmful media attention. Doyle delivered a strong, straightforward message--in the same medium where the problem had cropped up.

The original video might have dented Domino's revenues, but it was no cause for cheering by any competitor. "It had a negative effect throughout the food industry," says Susan L. Harmansky, SPHR, a senior HR director with pizza retailer Papa John's International. Some restaurateurs were concerned that consumers might turn away from fast food in general after seeing the original video.

Such social networking permits customers and employees alike to quickly exert influence on organizational reputations. Harmansky and her colleagues have since begun clarifying their company's communications policy to help ensure that it covers social networking communications as effectively as possible. Leaders in other HR departments...

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