Is Macy’s Really the Grinch?
By now you may have heard of "Santa John" Toomey, the popular seasonal worker who played Santa for over 20 years at Macy's in San Francisco. Toomey was fired last week for allegedly making an off-color joke to an older couple. The story spread from the local papers to the Internet and Toomey just appeared on the Jay Leno show. Based on the stories, it looks like a classic case of a heartless large corporation overreacting to a relatively minor incident.
But is Macy's really the Grinch in this Christmas story?
If you look carefully at the stories on the Internet, they are largely based on the original story in the San Francisco Chronicle. The story, in turn, is based on interviews with Toomey and his supporters. Macy's has declined comment on the basis that this is a personnel matter.
There are two lessons here for emergency managers, believe it or not. The first is how quickly a story can spread, particularly if it has elements that catch the public's attention. Here we have a story that is topical because of the season and has the classic "little guy against the bad corporation" theme.
The second lesson is that even where we are precluded from discussing specifics, we can't just ignore public reaction. Macy's has taken the classic head-in-the-sand approach. The company is quite correct in claiming that they cannot discuss a personnel matter. However, there is no reason to take the kind of hit to your reputation that Macy's is experiencing. You may not be able to tell your side of the story, but you can remind the public that there is another side.
It was clear from the beginning that this was a story that was going to grow with the telling and Macy's should have realized this and implemented a crisis communications plan. Consider what might have been difference if Macy's instead of saying in effect, "no comment," had said,
"While we cannot comment of the specifics of any personnel action, we take this type of complaint seriously. Any action we take in response to such a complaint is based on a thorough investigation of the facts and made after careful deliberation by senior managers."
Note that such a statement does not comment on the specifics of the case but does suggest that there is another side to the issue and that the decision was made at a high level after a review of the facts.
Actually communicating with the public instead of giving the appearance of hiding behind statutory responsibilities may not prevent damage to your reputation but it certainly go a long way to lessening that damage.
However, there is a good chance that the “other side” of the story may further indict the corporation of Scrooge-like behavior and a political correctness/over-reaction syndrome gone wild.
Clearly Mr. Toomey was a part-time, seasonal hire and to some extent his reputation and popularity was exploited by Macy’s in attracting customers. I cannot see a temporary (seasonal) employee hired for only a couple of weeks per year being the subject of classic “progressive discipline” culminating in his termination for cause as the result of his comments to two adults.
If he was a problem last Christmas season, Macy’s could have simply not rehired him this season. My guess is that it was a knee jerk over reaction and that Macy’s silence speaks volumes. Santa gets the last laugh as it appears he was hire, for more money, down the street at Lefty’s. Ho-Ho-Ho.
Oh, I quite agree – knowing human nature, I’m inclined to think this really was an over-reaction.
The issue for me, though, is not the merits of the case but the tendency of organizations to increase reputation damage by refraining from making any comment at all. You don’t have to tell the other side of the story, just remind the public that there is another side.
Or they could just have said, “oops, bad call!” and rehired the guy before things got out of hand.
Reputation damage control may be difficult to measure financially, but you can be sure there are executives at Macy’s very concerned at how many sales lost to this incident. It is also an example of poor crisis management, as Macy’s appears to have ignored the opportunity to immediately frame a message from their perspective. As Gary pointed out, the company’s actions may further tarnish its’ situation.
The study of viral marketing is crucial in the business continuity sector. A seemingly thoughtless decision can quickly spread to produce disastrous consequences to an organization that ignores, or is slow to respond to these incidents.
Kevin –
You’re right on target. The growth of social media and viral marketing has definitely been a game changer for businesses. It’s more important than ever to think through the potential consequences of your actions and have a crisis management plan in place. While I can’t speak to whether Macy’s should or should not have terminated an employee, firing “Santa Claus” at the height of the Christmas season was bound to grab media attention. Add to that the popularity of the man and it’s a no-brainer that the story would play very big on the Internet. Macy’s should have had a better response than “no comment.”