Most Recent Articles on Hit or Miss'ive Column
HIT or MISS'ive: In Celebrating 30th Anniversary, Acura Forgets to Recognize its Employees
Posted by David Grossman on Fri, Mar 18, 2016
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Hit or MISS’ive - Starwood: You Can Learn a Lesson of Effective Communication from American Airlines
Posted by David Grossman on Thu, Nov 19, 2015
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HIT or MISS’IVE: Discovery Health CEO, Adrian Gore, Nails Post - VW Analysis for Employees
Posted by David Grossman on Mon, Oct 12, 2015
Last week a friend shared with me an impressive letter written by Adrian Gore, CEO of Discovery Health, which he sent to employees regarding the VW emissions readings scandal.
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Hit or MISS'ive - Hooray for Howard Schultz: Proactive Message on How To Lead In Tough Times at @Starbucks
Posted by David Grossman on Fri, Aug 28, 2015
“But I’m a Barista…why does #GreatFallOfChina matter to me?” On August 24, Starbuck’s CEO Howard Schultz sent an email to all employees regarding, “Leading Through Turbulent Times,” asking employees to “be very sensitive to the pressures our customers may be feeling, and do everything we can individually and collectively to exceed their expectations.”
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Hit or MISS'ive: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's Communication Hit
Posted by David Grossman on Wed, Feb 12, 2014
Bravo, Mr. Nadella, Bravo!
Satya Nadella, the newly named CEO of Microsoft, distributed an email to employees last week. This is one letter that other CEOs need to read. We found it to be engaging, sincere and full of relevant information for the global Microsoft workforce.
Click on the image below and let’s take a brief look at what Mr. Nadella did right. He:
Cost-Cutting Company Gives Its Employees The Cold Shoulder
Posted by David Grossman on Mon, Dec 16, 2013
This post is part of our Hit or Miss’ive column, where we analyze real-life situations that show what effective leadership communication looks like—or in some cases (like this one), what it doesn’t look like.
Many companies are looking to cut their costs in order to maintain or increase profit margins. But while keeping an eye on costs is a sound business practice, cutting them without thinking through the consequences can backfire, as a large global company located in a wintry climate recently learned.
AOL CEO Tim Armstrong’s Apology to Employees is Pathetic
Posted by David Grossman on Wed, Aug 21, 2013
It took AOL CEO Tim Armstrong 4 days to apologize for the firing of an employee in front of 1,000 other employees.
One has to wonder what took so long. I can only hope he realized the day of the incident that what he did was egregious. Given the delayed response, I’m not so sure.
Which makes me think about the dialogue inside AOL. Here are my thoughts about what might have happened (expletives have been removed):
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Hit or Miss’ive: AOL CEO Fires Employee during Call – We Critique His Apology to Employees
Posted by David Grossman on Tue, Aug 20, 2013
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AOL CEO Fires Employee During Call Intended to Boost Morale
Posted by David Grossman on Wed, Aug 14, 2013
Imagine getting fired. Think how you might feel. Then think about getting fired in front of a peer. What about in front of 1,000 employees? Still worse, by the CEO.
A bad dream?
Not so. This was the reality for an employee at AOL last week.
Tags: Employee Engagement, Leadership Communication, Hit or Miss'ive Column
Best Buy Doubles Down on Yahoo’s Bet & Gets Applause for Good Communication
Posted by David Grossman on Tue, Mar 12, 2013
Recently in Hit or Miss’ive I commented on Yahoo’s letter to employees that halted telecommuting for its workforce. My goal of that column was to highlight what was wrong with the communications around the policy change announcement (not necessarily the policy change itself). Unfortunately, Yahoo lost an opportunity to communicate tough news in a credible way employees would respect; instead, the email cloaked in rah-rah from HR caused resentment internally and a media storm externally.
Last week, Best Buy one-upped Yahoo on the same subject. Best Buy chose a less direct approach, perhaps having learned from Yahoo’s mistakes, by announcing that telecommuting is no longer “a right,” for employees but now “a discussion.”