And why actions over words build more trust.
GE Appliances learned through experience that sometimes the best intentions and ideas fall flat. Reacting to mistakes is not about making quick statements or staying silent, however. It’s about responding in a way that’s rooted in authenticity and company values.
“Our role is to protect the business. We protect our employees, our customers, our consumers and our communities,” said Katina Whitlock, senior manager of corporate communications and community engagement at GE Appliances.
One important lesson Whitlock points to is when GE Appliances attempted to improve and modernize its products but instead alienated a part of its community.
Here’s what this incident taught them about how to respond to missteps, Whitlock said.
Learning from mistakes
GE Appliances relies on a principle it calls “zero distance” or staying as close as possible to consumer needs.
That philosophy was tested when the company digitized nearly all of its appliances, an innovation meant to make tasks simpler, Whitlock said.
“We realized we excluded an entire community of people who are low- to no-vision,” Whitlock said. “Consumers told us, ‘You eliminated the click of the dishwasher, the washing machine, and with it, my ability to use your product.’”
Instead of quietly remedying the issue, GE partnered with the American Printing House for the Blind to co-create a solution: tactile kits with familiar symbols that could be applied to any appliance.
“We don’t call it a braille kit because most people aren’t born blind. They lose vision over time,” Whitlock said. “We created symbols that anyone could recognize by touch. It wasn’t just about fixing one mistake. It was about learning so that designing inclusively became part of our behavior moving forward.”
The experience reinforced a larger truth that businesses are made of people, she said.
People are capable of making mistakes. Owning them and staying authentic in trying times create learning opportunities as well as opportunities for improvement, Whitlock said.
“The people who work here have parents who are losing their vision. They have children without vision,” Whitlock said. “GE Appliances is nothing if we don’t have our people. So we leaned in, no matter what our functions were, and really learned from them.”
Why it’s critical to make words and actions meet
As Whitlock mentions, the company could have quietly corrected the mistake without drawing attention.
But staying silent can carry as much risk as overreacting, she said. GE Appliances stresses that words alone are not enough during times of change or cultural shifts.
Instead of fixing the issue and moving on, GE Appliances partnered with an organization to show consumers it cares about its entire community.
“Our actions are far more powerful than our words,” Whitlock said. “Rather than publishing a response for optics, we focus on showing people who we are. If you show them who you are, they can see themselves in your business and know what you stand for.”
That means aligning every touchpoint, from leadership statements to PR campaigns to social media, with the same consistent values, she said.
“At the end of the day, you have to not only say who you are, but be who you are and then demonstrate who you are,” Whitlock said.
Stay true to your brand mission with authenticity
GE Appliances’ approach extends beyond their products.
Since 2016, GE Appliances has been part of the global Haier Smart Home network, for which it received occasional criticism. However, GE Appliances operates independently from its headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, with all manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Whitlock said.
More than 50% of American households own a GE Appliances product, Whitlock said. Its customers value American-made appliances, she said.
“Because we’re known for our quality, anything we do has to be driven by that,” Whitlock said.
Rather than engaging with the criticism of being sold to a non-American parent company, Whitlock said GE Appliances instead pointed to their investment in the U.S.
“We have 16,000 U.S. employees. All of our manufacturing facilities are in the United States. Our global headquarters is in Louisville, Kentucky,” Whitlock said. “Instead of debating inaccurate information, we’ve been intentional about showing the investments we’ve made right here at home.”
The broader lesson for communicators is that authenticity builds resilience. Companies may stumble, but owning mistakes, learning quickly and staying aligned with brand values helps maintain trust.
“It’s OK to fail, but you have to fail fast,” she said. “Be curious. Why did it fail? What can we learn? And how can we serve the people we left out the first time?”
This message is simple but powerful, Whitlock said.
Know who you are, listen to your stakeholders and let your actions speak louder than your words, she said.
“People just really want to be able to see it,” she said. “They want you to be transparent. And when you show them who you are, they’ll trust you to stay true, no matter how the world changes around you.”
Join Whitlock and others for Ragan’s Communication Boot Camp Virtual Conference on Sept. 18 from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.
Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at courtneyb@ragan.com.
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