????羅伯托稱：“在和員工真正溝通過之前，公司高層肯定不希望與員工的爭端在社交媒體上升級，因為事態會飛速擴大，變得不可收拾，弄得滿城風雨，盡人皆知。”

????企業高層要想有效防止公司聲譽受損，就必須深入了解員工抱怨的相關背景。面對怨言時，說一句“無可奉告”，或是發表一份經公司律師審核的、通篇陳詞濫調的聲明都于事無補。羅伯托稱：“有時候員工想要的只是一則道歉聲明。”一度陷入困境的美國航空公司（American Airlines）曾歷經破產、飛行員罷工和飛機維護問題等等危機，而與之共患難的員工既沒得到過“我們深感抱歉”的表示，也沒獲得過對其工作的任何肯定。

????高盛公司（Goldman Sachs）前副總裁格雷格·史密斯曾經寫過一本有關投資銀行文化陷阱的書。在這本書出版之前，高盛就把自己對該故事的詮釋透露給了媒體。高盛調查史密斯的怨言后發現，他的業績評估得分一直很低——雖然評審人都是他自己挑的。

????《塔爾薩世界報》（Tulsa World）的商業編輯約翰·斯坦卡維奇曾寫過一篇感同身受的報道，講述自己遭遇美國航空公司“噩夢般的”經歷。文章發表后，他接到了這家公司員工雪片般飛來的電子郵件。隨后他寫道：“我揣測，這些員工真正想要的，就是能獲得更好的待遇，得到肯定。”

????實際上，美國航空只需要肯定那些甘愿降薪來幫助公司度過難關的老員工的貢獻，這根本不需要花什么錢。

????高管獵頭公司Polachi Access Executive Search的聯合創始人查理·波拉奇稱，就算那些滿腹牢騷的員工已經把家丑公之于眾了，也還是有可能挽回局面，改善公眾形象。社交游戲公司Zynga的首席執行官馬克·平克斯就曾采取過這種策略。不久前，大家風傳該公司將大舉裁員，兜售部分業務，高管因此紛紛離職，股價也一落千丈。對此，平克斯向員工發了一封短信，坦承裁員在即的事實，鼓勵員工與主管討論相關問題和疑慮，還把這封信發布在商業科技新聞網站Business Insider上。

????過去幾年來，雅虎公司（Yahoo）頻繁換帥顯然對公司股價和士氣造成了重大影響。毫無疑問，這段時間里不是所有高管和普通員工都一聲不吭，離職走人。但是自從瑪麗莎·梅耶爾掌舵以來，局面似乎開始有所改觀了。波拉奇稱：“顯然她能把準員工士氣的脈，同時她會經常和所有下屬直接溝通。她是首席執行官隊伍中能改變公司文化和溝通風格的典范?！?/p>

????哈里森·莫納斯是專業演講學?！白趲煂W堂”的創始人，也是《自信演說者和高管風度》一書的作者。

????譯者：清遠

????"What you don't want is to escalate a war with employees in social media, before you've actually communicated with them, because it can quickly escalate and get ugly, out for everyone to see," he asserts.

????In the days leading up to the publication of former Goldman Sachs (GS) vice president Greg Smith's book on the pitfalls of the investment bank's culture, the Wall Street firm took its version of the story to the press. The bank's investigation of Smith's complaints brought to light his consistently?low performance ratings?-- even though he'd picked those reviewers himself.

????Company execs need to understand the context of an employee's complaints to do any meaningful damage control. Saying "no comment," or giving an overly scripted response that's been vetted by corporate lawyers does little good in these situations.

????"Sometimes all employees want is an apology," says Roberto. The American Airlines employees working through the chaos of the beleaguered carrier's bankruptcy, pilot strike, and maintenance issues got neither a "sorry about that" nor any acknowledgment for their work.

????After publishing an empathetic piece about his "nightmare" experience with American Airlines,Tulsa World's?business editor John Stancavage was inundated with emails from the carrier's staff. He then wrote, "All these workers really want, I surmised, was to be treated better and feel rewarded."

????It wouldn't have cost the airline anything to recognize the dedication of longtime workers who took pay cuts to help the company.

????It is possible to turn perception around even after unhappy workers go public, says Charley Polachi, co founder of Polachi Access Executive Search. Mark Pincus, CEO of social gaming company Zynga (ZNGA), took this approach amid rumors of layoffs and a sale following top-level executives headed for the exits and its stock took a plunge. Pincus sent a note to his staff that acknowledged the coming layoffs, encouraged employees to discuss their questions and concerns with their supervisors, and published his message on?Business Insider.

????Yahoo's (YHOO) multiple CEO changes over the past few years certainly took a toll on the tech giant's stock price and morale. Not all execs and other employees?exited quietly during that time, that's for sure. But it looks as if things have begun to shift with Marissa Mayer at the helm. "Clearly she has her finger on the pulse of employee morale and communicates frequently and directly with all reports," says Polachi, "She is an excellent example of a CEO changing the culture and communication style."

????Harrison Monarth is the founder of GuruMaker--School of Professional Speaking. He's also the author of The Confident Speaker and Executive Presence.