COMPANY COMMUNICATION Casual meetings build trust

Trust in CEOs has been eroded in recent years.
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
IRVING, Texas -- If you were looking for Tom Corcoran, chief executive of FelCor Lodging Trust Inc., on a recent Friday morning, the place to start was the company kitchen.
Smelling of chicken fajitas and dressed in cargo shorts, a summery shirt and an apron, Corcoran simultaneously set out fresh bowls of salsa and listened to a hotel board meeting while trailing a 20-foot telephone extension behind him. The said hotel's monthly reports were stashed at the iced-tea station.
"OK, we've got hot [taco] shells," he said at one point to no one in particular. "What's next?"
Corcoran's monthly homemade lunches have been a FelCor tradition for more than six years, offering a regular, albeit unusual, way for the chief executive to interact with his 60 employees.
"It's a way for everyone to get together in a setting that is unlike the business environment and get to know each other," he said.
That's an important asset for any company that has survived the past two years' economic uncertainties, management experts say.
Innovative idea
Corcoran's lunches are an admittedly creative approach, but other companies are looking for similar opportunities, ranging from ice cream socials to town hall meetings.
"Open, flexible communication is the key," said Robert Rasberry, an assistant professor of management and organizations in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. "In bad times, sometimes the lifeline of business itself depends on everyone in the company being able to read from the same page of information."
FelCor's lunches aren't designed for conducting business. They're intended to complement Corcoran's weekly meetings with the hotel company's management groups and officers.
Corcoran also has started giving all employees the same monthly report that goes to FelCor's board of directors.
"Employees hate mystery and the unknown," said Corcoran. "People like to know what's going on and feel involved."
FelCor's lunch-prep teams change every month, with Corcoran preparing all the menus and cooking about every other time. Each employee ends up in the kitchen at FelCor's Irving headquarters about once a year.
During most lunches, Corcoran discusses the latest news about the company's 172 hotels and recognizes individual efforts and employment anniversaries.
Building foundation
"You have to build a foundation during good times so that there's a culture in the company that helps people to feel going about their job and good about working for FelCor," Corcoran said.
Such a foundation can help any company during difficult times, when tensions run high and employees have "a tendency to clam up," said Rasberry and others.
Frequent and open communications with chief executives and other managers also can improve company productivity, said Julie Freeman, president of the International Association of Business Communicators.
"It lets them feel comfortable about where they work and engages them in a way that helps the company to be more productive," Freeman said.
Executive communication has gotten more scrutiny from management consultants in the post-Enron environment.
"It used to be that credibility and trust in the CEO was a given," Freeman said. "We've learned some hard lessons over the last couple of years that it's not always the case."
American Airlines
Fort Worth-based American Airlines Inc. adopted a more open strategy this spring as it shared detailed financial information to employee groups it was asking to accept wage and benefit cuts.
"It was very clear we had to open our books to everyone to show them how dire our situation was and demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that we needed their help," said spokesman Marty Heires.
Those gains were threatened when it was revealed that officials withheld information about executive incentives and pension benefits. The controversy, which nearly sent the company into bankruptcy, led to the resignation of chairman and chief executive Donald Carty and a new round of employee negotiations.
American's new CEO, Gerard Arpey, has taken a more personal approach, holding monthly meeting with small groups of employees to talk about the company's finances and operations, Heires said.
"We've been trying to break it down for employees more often and try to help them gain an understanding about where the company is now and where we need to be," Heires said.