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No sector is immune from crisis

By Richard Lenarduzzi

A FEW months ago, the team at The Premier Communications Group was called in to assist a firm which was grabbing significant media attention – for all the wrong reasons.

After a series of major workplace incidents, they found themselves on the front page of the local newspaper and on the evening TV news. Media crews remained camped on their doorstep while regulators and other stakeholders demanded answers.

The crisis was spinning out of control. And a big part of the problem was that they didn’t have a crisis management plan in place.

They’re a classic example of why this manta rings true: avoiding a crisis is better than being forced to deal with one.
In the modern workplace it’s now imperative that businesses and organisations have a crisis management plan to deal with a crisis - when it hits.

In case you’re wondering, a crisis is really anything that can damage a business, an organisation, or in some cases, a whole industry.

For a pharma firm it might be a product recall; for a construction firm, a workplace fatality; for a licensed premises, a brawl among patrons or a regulatory breach; or for a professional services firm, staff misconduct such as bullying, harassment or fraud.

Make no mistake, no sector is immune from a crisis.

From a PR perspective, a crisis management plan assists in dealing with a crisis before it results in serious reputational damage.

A crisis management plan outlines the framework for managing the crisis internally and externally.

It prepares a business or organisation for intense scrutiny from regulators, stakeholders, customers and the wider public, as a result of negative media coverage sparked by the crisis.

PREPARING A CRISIS MANAGEMENT PLAN

There are a number of key elements that should be followed:

Assemble a core crisis team, including members of management and staff specialists, who will deal with a crisis. The team’s first task will be to draft protocols on how a crisis will be dealt with internally and externally.

Next, designate a spokesperson who will conduct media interviews.

It’s important to ensure that this spokesperson undergoes media training – teaching them the “Dos and the Don’ts” of dealing with the media.

Pre-draft templates that can be used for media releases, or public statements to be issued to regulators and/or the public if a crisis strikes.

Update contact lists for all senior management and staff. You’ll need to be able to contact them wherever they may, when a crisis hits.

If you don’t have in-house counsel, have the 24/7 contact details of a lawyer on hand.

Finally, the core crisis team should conduct a mock crisis scenario workshop at least once a year. Practice makes perfect.

DEALING WITH A CRISIS

Act quickly and decisively in the first 12 to 24 hours. You need to minimise the negative impact on the public’s perception.

Contact the relevant authorities and regulators; organise counselling for staff, their relatives or members of the public (if the crisis requires it); ensure public safety and confirm all other protocols have been adhered to.

After that, find out the facts.

It’s crucial that the business or organisation gets on the front foot and communicates effectively through the media.

There should always be one line of communication from the business or organisation, with no unauthorised comments made from staff. Any miscommunication throughout the crisis can prove costly.

And these days, working within a 24/7 news cycle, giving a “no comment” simply isn’t good enough.

The business or organisation must draft a holding statement and/or a media release, ensuring the media has some information to report on, however brief.

Prepare the spokesperson for a media conference. It’s inevitable that a media pack will descend on site or head office.

The company spokesperson, who has already been media trained, should be as honest as he or she can be, without referring to prejudicial information and should never, ever speculate or tell half-truths.

Regularly update the media on the crisis by issuing media releases and/or statements in relation to workplace injuries or other serious incidents.

You must ensure that internal communications are carried-out to ensure staff are kept up to date on what’s happening. That’s a must.

AFTER THE CRISIS

Learn from the whole exercise – before, during and after the crisis.

The core crisis team should conduct a thorough and transparent debrief.

The business or organisation should also continue to monitor mainstream and social media for any lingering negative coverage of the crisis.

Moving forward, you should honour any internal or external commitments made during the crisis.

A positive media campaign should then be considered to start reassuring stakeholders and repairing the brand.

Remember, the way you respond to a crisis says a lot about your business or organisation.

Richard Lenarduzzi is Group Director at the Premier Communications Group. To find out more about crisis management, you contact him at richard@premiercomms.com.au

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