Doing the Right Thing–and Still Losing
If a company does all the right things in a crisis, yet still loses, there’s only one explanation: It failed to communicate its actions.
In the recent Westland/Hallmark Meat Company recall of 143 millions pounds of beef – the largest food recall in U.S. history — President Steve Mendell immediately cooperated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture as soon as he learned that two ‘downer’ cattle had been videotaped on their way to the slaughter line by an undercover member of the Humane Society.
The good news was that no one had been reported hurt by the mistake. But that’s the only good news Westland would be receiving.
Neither Mr. Mendell nor any of his executives would speak to the news media beyond issuing a terse company statement. The company fired two employees involved in the action, but never explained what it was doing. When a U.S. House committee investigating the event asked Mr. Mendell to testify, he remained underground, refusing to comply with the request. Most important, Mr. Mendell and Westland/Hallmark never sincerely apologized to their customers or the families they may have put in jeopardy.
Finally, this week, he was forced to testify only under a committee subpoena. And even then, he performed miserably. His wooden presentation made it appear as though he hadn’t even been prepared to appear before the panel — a glaring mistake in today’s age of instant, but lasting, impressions. When the undercover video was viewed during the hearing, he winced and held his head in his hands. Asked about why he was reacting that way to the video, which had been posted for more than a week on the USDA website and other Internet venues, he told astonished committee members that he hadn’t seen it before.
Today, Westland/Hallmark is shutting its doors and its employees have lost their jobs. It might not have had to end this way, if the company and its executives had only communicated what they had been doing right all along.
