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Effective Communication Strategies: Airbnb Case

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Department: University

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Effective Communication Strategies: Airbnb Case

Introduction

Effective Communication strategies are crucial to an organization. During the COVID

period, Airbnb had to let go of about 25% of its staff. Their CEO, Brian Chesky, wrote a letter to

the employees, those who were losing their jobs, and those who would stay. How he presented

his information to the staff during this period reflects just how important communication

strategies are to ensuring the message is understood. CEO Chesky’s letter and approach were

very effective since it allowed him to show empathy during a moment of crisis while ensuring

his message was loud and clear to his employees.

Question 1: CEO’s Letter and Approach

Airbnb’s CEO’s letter and his presentation of the message to the employees, both those

being laid off and those who kept their jobs, are brilliantly prepared. There are several positives

to his letter and presentation. For one, CEO Brian Chesky’s letter is very empathetic of the state

of those who are losing their jobs in the midst of a pandemic. The letter identifies the cause of

the problem, does not shift blame to the workers who are losing their jobs, and promises to be

there for them even as they look for other jobs. The company upholds a strong internal

communication strategy that allowed the company not to just speak to those getting laid off, but

also to the employees getting to keep their jobs.

There are two points nonetheless that may be construed as negative. First, the message

and presentation by CEO Chesky may come out as cold comfort for those getting laid off. In

such scenarios, sweet words may mean very little to this group. However, the inclusion of a

proper send-off package for the laid-off employees indicates that the company has the best
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interest of its employees at heart, although it has to let them go. Additionally, using a video

message may have diluted the effects of the empathy since it is easier for the CEO to ‘act’ in

front of a camera, while in a face-to-face presentation the empathy would have become clearer.

However, this message was passed during a pandemic and the use of video may have been a

necessity at this point.

Question 2: Advice to the CEO

There are no major changes to be made to the CEO’s message since Airbnb attempted to

make the communication as humane as possible. In addition to the empathetic message presented

by the CEO, the communication strategy also succeeds due to how properly the CEO

communicates this message to the audience, even crying at some point during the speech.

However, if the lockdown was not in place at the time, one possible improvement that would

assist the CEO in his work would be the use of mixed communication channels. For example,

instead of simply having a video of the layoffs, the CEO could have had some members present

for a face-to-face, which would allow for a pat-on-the-back moment with the CEO after the

speech. It can also include a video, and maybe prior electronic (email) and paper

communications of the same. These would prepare the employees for the information even

before the CEO took to stage to present his speech.

Question 3: Internal Communication Plan

Objectives: The objective of this communication plan is to ensure the smooth transition of

Airbnb to working with fewer employees during this cut-down period while managing anxiety

amongst employees.

SWOT Analysis:
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Strengths: Airbnb still maintains a commitment culture, which is reflected in how they laid off

their workers with reasonable lay-off perks. The company is still the best in its niche, and

although the business has suffered due to the pandemic, it is still the predominant firm in the

industry. The company also has great leadership that resonates with its employees. It is also very

tech-savvy, which can allow for multiple forms of communication.

Weaknesses: It is highly impacted by global lockdown measures that can push down the

business to almost a standstill. Although it is the biggest organization in the industry,

competition is also rife with a lot of hotels and homeowners looking to lease preferring to market

themselves and cut out third-party stakeholders such as Airbnb.

Opportunities: The company can use lockdown measures to reach affluent clients who would

like to hide away in locations that offer more freedom. The company also has the alternative to

include the containment measures as part of their packages, such as giving those vaccinated price

reductions to improve uptake.

Threats: Low vaccination rates may lead to the continued upholding of containment measures

that can continue to adversely affect the business. Due to the occurrences in the pandemic period

including the layoffs, employee morale may be very low, which risks driving down the business

further without proper services.

Communication Plan:

Internal Communication Strategy: All the available tactics for communication will be used.

These include holding meetings with the various stakeholders at different levels of the enactment

phase. The communication strategy will involve a steering committee chaired by the CEO,

whose purpose will be to create a process of collecting, identifying, and reporting on the various
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issues within the organization after the layoffs. The status report will be shared on a weekly basis

with the steering committee, which meets every month to carry out a milestone review of the

entire process as a form of evaluation. (find attached an example of the internal communication

strategy table in the Appendix).

Conclusion

CEO Chesky’s speech shows a lot of maturity in terms of the company’s communication

strategies. There is little to improve in his communication, although adding various forms of

communication best practices such as mixing video with electronic and paper communication

can help improve the message. Developing a communication strategy that constantly checks on

the deliverables ensures all employees are fully knowledgeable of the required results, and keeps

them motivated.
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APPENDIX

Communication Audience Goals Schedule Format Responsibility

(Message) (Tactics)

Steering Project leads, Introduce Monthly Meeting CEO

Committee project changes,
stakeholders manage
performance
Status Report All staff Communicate Weekly Electronic, CEO, project
progress, meeting, leads.
risks, and paper,
occurrences video
Team Meeting Project teams Identify Weekly Meeting, Project leads
issues and video
develop
solutions
Team Stand up Project leads Coordinate Daily Meeting, Project leads
agreed video
solutions
Milestone All staff Review At each Electronic, CEO, project
Review project status, milestone meeting, leads.
and point paper,
deliverables, video
and decide
the way
forward
Lesson Learned All staff Review the At the end Electronic, CEO, project
entire project of each meeting, leads.
to review project year paper,
failures and video
successes