Friend,

Cheerful news this week, amid inflation, rate pain and AInxiety (yes, I made that up): NAB is cutting up to 2,500 jobs. That's the ASX number, but staff, who are leaking online like a burst water main, claim the real number is many times higher.

Staff found out by email at the same time shareholders did, given continuous disclosure requirements. But there’s nothing in the listing rules or corps law that stops good practice comms pre-announcement planning. What seems to have been missing, or poorly executed, are next steps like good-enough staff briefings, real town halls, and Q&A prep for people leaders facing hostile and shocked staff. The FSU says management couldn't or wouldn’t say which roles go (understandable) and whether AI is a driver (less understandable imo). The announcement blamed "rapid technological change" instead of citing AI. That left the union to call it out, handing the FSU a ready-made win. I've written and rolled out many large redundancy comms plans. A big bank should be able to handle a problem of its own making better than this. I don’t know the inside story, but there are enough good comms people at NAB. Did leadership listen to them?

NextDC and Firmus also made their own trouble. NextDC had months of warning: residents in Yarraville blocked Jemena's power-pole works for its M3 Melbourne site back in August. This month it halted trading, took about $140m of revenue and EBITDA out of FY27 guidance, and the shares fell 42 per cent to an eight-year low. Firmus pulled its float when institutional demand fell short, leading Senator Dave Sharma to ask ASIC to take a look.

Almost anyone could see these three coming. When you create the issue, or the signs were there for weeks, there's no excuse for a sh*) plan. The first three hours and the first three days test whether you used your lead time. That's a test of leadership, as well as comms.

Blindsides are harder

We've all had the sickening moments when a story breaks that we didn't, or couldn't, see coming. The leak, the takeover out of the blue, the regulatory blitzkrieg, the good old sex scandal. With no time to plan, brilliance in the moment doesn’t save us. What can save us are the skills built by leaders and comms teams in the years before, plus a playbook, and great teamwork. These are built BEFORE a crisis.

That's what I'm teaching clients and friends on Tuesday 10 November, 12-1.00pm AEDT: "From Rumour to Response: the first three hours of a corporate crisis". We'll work a realistic unfolding scenario on incomplete facts, and you'll leave with BlueChip's F.E.L.T. card. Register here. Bring that colleague from legal (evil laugh), risk or the exec team who'd be in the room.

So what? Ask which kind of crisis is sitting in your diary and the risk register. If you can see it coming, use the time now. If you can't, make sure your team has done this once before the real one.

Best,

Carden | she/her (here’s why that matters @work)

PS Reply “me” and I’ll register you, it's faster than filling in the form

On our radar: other big stories this week

Brokers rounding up Australian investors for Anthropic IPO

Australian brokers are preparing to give retail investors access to Anthropic’s anticipated November IPO, with IG Australia offering eligible customers shares at the final IPO price. With strong demand the company’s implied valuation reaches US$1.9 trillion.

NextDC faces broader community backlash over Melbourne growth plans 

NextDC is facing growing community opposition to its Melbourne data centre developments. The backlash follows major delays to its M3 expansion, which triggered significant earnings downgrades and a 39% share price fall over the week, while raising broader concerns around community consultation, power supply and regulatory approvals.

Failure of $44bn Firmus IPO was a sign of elevated market risk, says ASIC commissioner

ASIC commissioner Simone Constant says Firmus’ failed $44 billion IPO highlights growing risks across global markets, including volatile AI valuations and rising private credit exposure, prompting the regulator to strengthen market resilience and transparency while improving Australian investors’ access to public markets.

Get to know your journo

This week's market movers

Big plays, bold bets, and (occasional) unconfirmed speculation

Want more financial services PR and marketing insights? Meet us below

You're receiving Edition 54 of the BlueChip Brief.