The boy who cried wolf

One of the challenges we are currently facing in Internal Communications at easyJet is making people aware that the challenges we are facing this year are real ones. Too often in years gone by, we have been a great example of the ‘boy who cried wolf’. At easyJet (like I’m sure it is in most other businesses) the pressure is on to continually provide outstanding financial results for the city and our investors. The good news is, we have been pretty good at it. Year after year we announce record profits, and in such a competitive and cut-throat industry, that’s no mean feat.

However, we follow a predictable cyclical pattern year after year…we issue a record profit announcement and temper the excitement of another record year with a message about how challenging next year is going to be. Undoubtedly, we will then communicate with our people about how important it is for them to save money in any way possible and about how essential our ancillary revenues are. Then, at the end of the year comes another message announcing record profits and announcing that next year will be our toughest yet…see the pattern?

Now though, we are in the position that this year really is one of our toughest yet. Oil prices are at a crippling high and a downturn in the economy signals a rough ride for us at easyJet and for airlines in general. In IC, we have been tasked with making people realise that this time, we really mean it when we say that this is a challenging time for us. Generally, the response is “Yeah, heard it all before”. I have a feeling there will be some turbulence ahead in the orange world of easyJet IC.

Comments

[Indy]

Really insightful blog today, Steve. Lots of people in IC decry jargon, but I've always been more worried about the spread of hyperbolic statements.

I've worked for startups who lived what might be called "hyper-engagement" by their very nature. My experience is that human beings can only do "emergency running" for so long.

Philosophically, this makes me wince when I see yet another IC call for "even greater vigilance on costs and ever more focus on top performance" as I worry it isn't sustainable (psychologically) and what happens when a "real emergency" turns up? That's not to say "it'll all end in tears" but there aren't many "how to guides" for the situation.

I hope you find ways to blog about your experiences in the coming year. I'll be fascinated to see how you square the circle as it's not something people talk about much.