The importance of transparency: GM and Toyota’s investigations over recalls show the communications world the necessity of being open and honest with your publics.

The GM and Toyota investigations regarding recalls has revealed a common trend in the news throughout the past few years for how they handled these negative situations. As many of you know, Toyota Motor Corp., which after a four-year government investigation will pay $1

.2 billion in connection to withholding information regarding sudden acceleration problems with some of its vehicles. And one of the primary reasons that the company is in so much trouble is due to the fact that they knew about the potential problems for years without coming forward with any of the information discovered. It’s this very issue that is currently getting General Motors into trouble.

As a general public, we can be judgmental and hold grudges. However we also know how to forgive if the company is deemed worthy of forgiveness. Withholding information, especially if that information  has the potential of harming our lives or the lives of our loved ones, is generally not one of these forgiving traits.

Now GM has found themselves in a similar boat to that of Toyota. The recent news is that General Motors is being investigated  regarding the recall of 1.6 million vehicles for an ignition switch problem that has been linked to 12 fatalities. Some reports have indicated that GM also knew about these faults for a while and failed to report to their consumers about these issues.

Both of these companies are currently undergoing a branding crisis because their publics cannot see them as reputable sources, an important trait when buying the second most expensive thing most Americans purchase, a vehicle, first being a home. Because both of these companies withheld important safety information, the public is not so forgiving. This is an important lesson for communications professionals to learn from: it’s always best to be transparent with your publics.