Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Every election day, there are winners and losers. One any day of the week or year, your station could be portrayed as a "loser" should any of your employees run afoul of the law or are implicated in unsavory conduct -- especially if it concerns inter-office conduct and alleged harassment. Things to know:

• Even if it is not the case, if you come close enough to, or there is even a perception of, sexual discrimination, it's bad news. You may survive a lawsuit, but the perception of you as a manager and your company by employees, the community and your clients can be irrevocable
• Same deal with hostile work environment.
• Take a lesson in P.R. Following not-so-complimentary press coverage, if there's NO reverse spin or a rebuttal of any sort, you lose in the court of public opinion. Even if you don't have the money to hire a P.R. firm, you should have someone available just in case something happens at your company where you need help when the press comes a-knockin'.
• If you must terminate an employee involved in anything like that above and there is some sort of monetary exit package, make sure you get a release that will disallow them from speaking externally about the matter in any way. An "open letter" doesn't do anything but attempt to clear the author's name and in my opinion, doesn't work.

Bad things do happen. The more prepared you are to manage the impact on you and your business the better.