PR professionals — In your opinion, what is the best strategy for announcing changes to executive leadership? Do you have copy ready to go in advance as part of your overall succession plan, or do you write it ad hoc?

Knowing your audience is key. We segment our communication based on tiers and revenue, targeting the top 200 leaders. We create a "leadership in a box" toolkit for these leaders, including templates for HR and communications teams. This helps manage the global narrative and ensures consistency. It's crucial to work with communications executives and leaders to craft the right message.

It depends on the level of the change. For a new CEO, we have a one-on-one update followed by a central communication from the CEO. Leaders then dive deeper with their teams to answer questions, and the new leader is introduced in the next town hall. This approach allows for a personal introduction and open dialogue.

We work with a marketing communications group for structured communications. We cascade messages within the business unit first before communicating to the rest of the organization. We provide context on why changes are being made and what the new leader brings to the table. This approach helps ensure a smooth transition and clear understanding.

We recently had an executive promotion and role split, and the announcement process took about four weeks. Our approach is more ad hoc; we take action first and then realize we need to inform everyone. Typically, the executive informs their direct reports first, who then help cascade the message downward. After these initial conversations, I usually make the formal announcement. This ensures that those most impacted are informed first.

A proactive and robust strategy and plan that starts with messaging and tools for executive leadership to communicate the change that includes a detailed cadence around how the information is subsequently shared internally and externally.