“We did not take a broad enough view of our responsibility. That’s a big mistake and that’s my mistake.” That is part of the statement Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg made at a joint Senate committee hearing, following the data privacy scandal involving the social media platform.
Earlier this year, three executives of the Reliance Group and their families received a word of apology from its chairman, Anil Ambani. He was sorry for the “indescribable anguish and distress” they had gone through during the course of the trial in the 2G case.
Anand Mahindra, chairman, Mahindra Group, gave a personal apology on social media over the way an employee had been shown the door.
While these apologies were being made in the glare of public attention, most certainly, there were thousand others being made in closed cabins and cubicles.
Saras Bhaskar, counseling psychologist and coach, says corporate apologies oil the organisational machine, keeping it in working order. Many corporates in the West see a corporate apology as a strategic tool. For, it provides a human touch to businesses and helps customers, investors and employees develop trust towards organisations.
“In the corporate world, two types of apologies are common. One, where the apologiser admits the mistake and expresses how they are going to make amends for it. This is the equivalent of ‘putting out the fire’. Two, where the apologiser provides a detailed ‘explanation’ of the circumstances that led to an unfortunate situation, along with an apology. This form of apology is used while ‘downsizing’, going for ‘merger’ or ‘filing bankruptcy’,” says Saras Bhaskar.
“Brave companies own up to their mistakes and do not hesitate to take responsibility for something that has gone wrong and offer an apology for it,” she says.
G.K. Suresh, centre head marketing at KCT Business School, feels a heartfelt apology is a sign of strength and displays enormous self confidence.
Attribution theory
He says most consumers do figure out when something has gone wrong. Some of them may have actually been impacted by it, but almost all of them want a closure, commonly referred to as “attribution theory”.
“Consumers are less critical when they receive explanations,” says Suresh.
He cites the example of an apology made by Flipkart when their first billion day sales sent the servers crashing and left many consumers frustrated. “Within a couple of days, the founders apologised profusely and explained what went wrong and what they were planning to do to prevent its recurrence in the future and how they would compensate the consumers who were impacted,” he says.
Johnson and Johnson’s withdrawal of Tylenol and Volkswagen’s apology on their US emission scandal are examples of apologies that were well-received by stakeholders.
“In fact, J&J’s action boosted their image as a trustworthy company that walks the talk,” says professor Suresh.
A good apology connects emotionally with the stakeholders and is never delayed.
Amar Rajan, director and CEO of Mindcarter, a Trivandrum-based company offering learning programmes, says the sincerest of apologies is the one that is tendered before the mistake comes to light.
“An apology is an essential tool for leaders to pacify employees and keep employees together; it increases legitimacy and helps build a culture of openness,” he says.
