An information vacuum never stays empty for long. As soon as a company falls silent, others tell the story, and rarely in the way management would like. This becomes particularly clear when employees learn important news about their own company from the newspaper first.
Learning From the Newspaper That Your Job Is at Risk
In early September 2026, Swiss newspapers reported that Raiffeisen Switzerland was cutting 180 jobs. For the workforce, this was the first they heard of it, because the bank only informed them once the news was already public. As justification, it cited its ad hoc disclosure obligation, which supposedly prevented it from saying anything beforehand. The president of the Swiss Bank Employees Association subsequently called this “poor style”.
I am not a lawyer, and such obligations do exist. However, imagine the morning in a company like that. What do people do when they read in the paper that their employer is cutting jobs? They talk, namely in the kitchen, in the Teams chat and at the dinner table in the evening. With everyone, in fact, except management.
OpenAI: One Sentence and Five Days of Chaos
The most prominent example of recent years comes from Silicon Valley. On a Friday afternoon in November 2023, the board of OpenAI removes Sam Altman, head of what is probably the best-known AI company in the world. The explanation consists of exactly one sentence: Altman had not been “consistently candid” in his communications with the board. No further explanation follows, neither on Saturday nor on Sunday.
Sam Altman. Photo: TechCrunch, CC licence
As a result, the weekend belongs to others. Investors, former employees and half of Silicon Valley spread their own versions: a power struggle, a dispute over safety, a secret breakthrough or personal misconduct. On Monday, more than 700 of the roughly 770 employees then sign a letter threatening to resign. In addition, Microsoft announces that it will hire Altman. By Tuesday evening he is back, while almost nobody from the old board remains.
So one sentence of explanation stood against 700 signatures. The board certainly had all the power a set of bylaws can provide. What it lacked, however, was the story. And without the story, its power had vanished within five days.
When a Fake Falls Into the Information Vacuum
The second example does not come from the business world. Nevertheless, it shows what happens when a fake also falls into such a gap.
In January 2024, Kensington Palace announces that the Princess of Wales has undergone abdominal surgery and will not attend any engagements before Easter. After that, there is silence. Under the hashtag #WhereIsKate, theories begin to emerge, each more absurd than the last.
On British Mother’s Day in March, the palace finally publishes a family photo. That same evening, major agencies such as AP and Reuters withdraw it because it has been edited. The next day, Kate apologises, explaining that, like many amateur photographers, she occasionally experiments with editing. By then, however, the conspiracy theorists already had their piece of evidence. Only two weeks later, when she announces her cancer diagnosis in a video message, does calm return.
This very mechanism lies behind almost every piece of disinformation. A fake does not need perfect proof. It merely needs a gap and something that fits into it. And something always sticks.
An empty podium never stays empty for long. If you do not speak here, someone else will. Image: AI-generated with ChatGPT by DIKT
Between “Saying Everything” and “Saying Nothing”
To avoid any false impression: sometimes you genuinely cannot speak. Capital markets law, ongoing investigations, personnel matters or a person’s health set clear limits, and nobody expects you to reveal internal matters.
Between “saying everything” and “saying nothing”, however, lies a wide space. For example, you can explain what you cannot say right now and when you will be back in touch. That is not much. Still, it is enough to keep the gap from staying empty.
Employees First: An Example From BMW
Sometimes more is possible than you might think. When I was head of the BMW Group’s in-house employee television, the chairmanship of the board passed from Helmut Panke to Norbert Reithofer. For Richard Gaul, head of communications at the time, one thing was particularly important: employees should learn the news almost at the same moment as the media and the capital markets. Within a few minutes, the corresponding reports were therefore running in every plant.
How to Prevent an Information Vacuum
- Write the first sentence before you need it. For the most likely crises in your organisation, an initial statement should be ready in the drawer. After all, nobody writes good sentences in the middle of a crisis.
- Say what you do not know. For example: “We do not yet know the cause. We will update you at 3 pm.” And then get back in touch at 3 pm, even if there is nothing new.
- Inform your own people first, or at least at the same time. If legal reasons prevent you from informing them beforehand, do it in the same minute. The email to staff can be ready before the press release goes out. Ask your legal department to show you what is possible, not just what is prohibited.
- Before every silence, ask yourself one question: who will tell this story if I do not tell it today?
If the answer is not “me”, then you should speak. Ideally today.
Dr. Nikolai A. Behr CSP® ist Keynote Speaker, Kommunikationsexperte und Medientrainer für Führung, Vertrauen und empathische Kommunikation in Zeiten von Wandel und KI.