Events:
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April Meeting Summary:
Communications and Change:
A Progress Energy Case Study
by Judy Panitch

When the unimaginable strikes, look to your crisis plan and expect also to improvise. That was the message from Woody Dicus, manager of corporate community relations at Progress Energy, who described for IABC/Triangle chapter members the experience of company communicators following the unexpected death of CEO Bob McGehee.

On Oct. 7, 2007, McGehee was on business in London when he suffered a massive stroke and died on Oct. 9. Dicus described the days following his death as the most difficult of her work life, as she and her colleagues struggled to "get everything right" for employees while also grieving a beloved leader and friend.

Progress Energy, headquartered in Raleigh and serving customers in the Carolinas and Florida, considers crisis communications to be a core strength, said Dicus, because the company must often manage weather-related or other power disruptions. The crisis communications plan, however, offered only a partial guide when McGehee died.

Several challenges became immediately apparent. First, the entire company, including the leadership, was personally affected. Second, the McGehee family went to London, making it difficult to reach them. Finally, disclosure rules require that communications to employees regarding corporate leadership be disclosed at the same time to the SEC.

Dicus described the sequence of meetings in which those closest to McGehee were informed of the situation and the emails that immediately followed to the entire workforce. While the media and PR departments handled significant attention from local, national, and financial media, Dicus and her colleagues focused on employees, with measures that included the following:

• COO Bill Johnson recorded a video announcing McGehee's death;
• A large photo of McGehee was place in the lobby at headquarters and employees were invited to fill out cards for the family;
• Progress Energy organized a lunch for downtown Raleigh employees the day after McGehee's death. One thousand of 1,600 invited attended, and Dicus called it "one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen," as employees and management gathered in a unique way;
• The company held a memorial service on Oct. 16 at the Progress Energy Center, broadcast to the Progress Center in Florida. Speakers included friends of McGehee, Raleigh mayor Charles Meeker, board members, and McGehee's brother via pre-recorded video. WRAL anchor Bill Leslie recorded remembrances from employees in a video. Music was from McGehee's iPod playlist, and attendees shared McGehee's favorite treats of ice cream and KitKat bars after the service;
• The employee online magazine on Oct. 17 was devoted entirely to McGehee, including a video featuring family and workplace photos.

In summary, Dicus and her colleagues believe they did the best they could under the circumstances and cannot identify things they would have done differently. The company's practice of succession planning helped everyone to know what was expected and relieved potential anxiety. Corporate communicators were allowed to focus on what they needed to do. Flexibility and teamwork were essential throughout. Dicus concluded by noting that scholarships have been created in McGehee's name for children of employees who go to trade or technical school, and the company's annual report includes a tribute to McGehee.

Judy Panitch works as the director of library communications for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.