Recently, scores of employees from an IT giant in India expressed their anger about the company on public social networking sites and online forums, spurring the company to draw them into communicating on its internal blog space.

While it was an essential move to contain a potential PR disaster, it has already gathered enough negative publicity. Something that no company wants.

What prompts employees to vent their anger on public sites and how can a smart communication team prevent it? If you have an online communication portal for your employees, here’s what you need to remember.

• Make the communication with your employees honest. It’s not easy when you have thousands of employees or scores of locations. But remember to be transparent, even if you have to share unpleasant news or acknowledge errors. In fact, it’s better you share the disastrous news with them rather than let them wake up to it in the newspaper.

• Talk to them on issues that matter. It’s great to announce customer wins and awards, but use the communication space to talk to them about things that make a difference to their lives. Put the new policy to vote. Ask if your teams are happy with the new reimbursement system.

• Listen to what they say. Your company blog or portal is not just a link on the intranet. Make it a useful tool by checking employee feedback and conversations. If there are notes of dissent, here’s where you can spot them first and act before there’s too much damage.

• Don’t gloss over negativity or ignore disapproval. Discuss them. Dwell on matters which your employees are unhappy about. Skimming over views that take a different stance from yours is the first step to making your employees feel that their voices are not being heard.

• Remember, your communication should be fast, clear and simple. Stick to the facts, talk to your employees, and create a channel for them to express themselves. Not merely about the picnic they had last Sunday, but also about your new appraisal policy. Then, keeping the dirty linen from being washed in public will certainly be  easier.