I hear business is picking up. I haven’t seen any sign of it myself, but who am I to doubt official proclamations? But still, I have doubts.

My skepticism grows from my own recent experience. For the second time in the past few weeks, I’ve been asked for advice for companies facing bad press fueled by employees during periods of layoffs or buyouts.

Effective communications comes from the fusion of the twins Art and Science and of the twins Instinct and Research. Once that is understood, it’s possible to control the many-headed Hydra that is public opinion.

It’s possible for nearly any company or brand to regain a tarnished reputation and loss of confidence. What follows is an extremely condensed version of a successful roadmap to company redemption. As in the Yellow Brick Road to Oz it’s best to start at the beginning.

•The Boy Scouts taught me, and millions more, to be prepared. Too bad we sometimes forget that. Preparedness includes insuring that a company’s internal and/or outside public relations counsel be the first to know about pending rounds of layoffs and buyouts, as well as the financial details involved. Tell the lawyers next.

•Try to understand (no, I mean REALLY understand) each employee’s plight resulting from sudden unemployment, especially in regions where it’s close to impossible to find work.

•Know what in particular makes the employees most angry. This is necessary as it can reveal the other side’s public relations themes against the company. Use this knowledge to inform and affect the company’s plan—which should be developed as early as possible.

The side that gets out its message first controls the tone of news coverage, which in turn affects public opinion. Also, it “inoculates” reporters and civic leaders against fabrications and exaggerations by employees or their representatives.

•Don’t forget that a company’s presence on social marketing sites (YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook principally) allows direct communications to customers and others without the traditional media filters that can color coverage.

•Start a defensive public relations strategy before the stuff hits the fan. Condition the surrounding community to expect bad news by being public and frank about the company’s problems. People understand that money for salaries has to come from somewhere.

•Examine executive compensation carefully. Can salaries be reduced and/or can bonuses be cancelled? If so, prepare to say that publicly. Executives who show some level of solidarity with current and laid off workers get treated far better in the media. Moreover, some of us think it’s the right thing to do.

Those are the first steps on the road (really, this is such a tired metaphor) toward minimizing the effects of bad publicity. After that comes the hard work of making it work. Keep in mind the need to:

•Restrict the number of people authorized to speak to the press. Two is a nice number. Also, the company’s spokesperson should be a senior executive. The best spokesperson in most (but not all) cases would be the CEO.

•Stay on message, stay on message, stay on message. Execs run into trouble when they start to ad lib. So don’t do that.

•Be available to media representatives. Don’t make them work to get a story; it will win you no friends with reporters.

And by all means, be prepared to face the cameras. If you think you’re ready, my experience tells me you’re probably not. Take advantage of any “media training” opportunities offered.

A good digest of the dos and don’ts of media interviews, see the section Meet the Press in this site. Of course, I’m always pleased to discuss individual problems and ways we might be able to help.