Korean sentiments tend to be very negative toward multinational companies’ Korea business reduction activities. Recently, they have been framed as multinational companies’ “Eat and Run” attempts and caused significant reputational damage.
Various global manufacturing companies turn to FleishmanHillard in Korea to consult their biggest concerns of how to communicate amicably with all interest groups, including their employees, about factory shut-down and voluntary resignation, among others, without being associated as crooks.
In 2015, our team provided consultation for global chemical, manufacturing, IT, and pharmaceutical companies regarding key strategy changes by identifying and analyzing stakeholder interests in reflection to corporate situations. Following, communication strategies were developed to maximize message effectiveness towards employees and the labor unions. Also, FHK provided guidance on proper communication strategies in handling important external stakeholders including the media, labor administrations, local governments, and customers. As a result, all client companies completed restructuring without further conflicts while minimizing unnecessary misunderstandings and noise.
We prioritized authentic communication of the companies’ situation and past efforts in order to draw respect, understanding, and acceptance of corporate decisions. In all, authentic communication and consideration for all stakeholders in and outside the company ultimately became strong armor to protect corporate brand and reputation.
