Case 4.1: Restoring Trust

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to learn how to restore trust in the communication system.

Situation:
The newly hired CEO of a major investment firm (800+ employees) was hired to clean up the scandalous mess left by the former CEO and CFO. The company board fired most of senior managers in light of the scandal and reached a financial settlement with the Justice Department. Many customers left the firm even though it appears that the "aortic bleeding" has been stopped. The new CEO, Dr. Margaret Hoppins, is a no-nonsense financial wizard with excellent people skills. She loves Rene Magritte paintings. She realizes that public trust and employee trust have been badly damaged. She also recognizes the challenges of communicating to employees working in five countries and dozens of different locations. In fact, the former executives only sent occasional e-mails and basically relied on the chain-of-command to "trickle down" messages. She has asked your team to come up with a communication strategy to "restore the trust".

Objectives:

1. Outline the strengths and weaknesses of the company's position in regard to the trust issue.
2. Develop a strategy that fits with Dr. Hoppins' style.
3. Suggest some sample tactics that could be used to implement the strategy.