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Crisis preparedness has been around for a while – you have to be careful if you are going to separate, risk, business continuity and crisis management. They all work together to build business resilience.
Life is unpredictable and even with great risk registers and issue management procedures the unexpected can, and does, still happen. Ironically, what we do prepare for does not (generally because we do things to prevent it). It’s the one that you didn’t think of that happens.
You have to be ready in a very pragmatic way to handle the unexpected. The true test of ability to withstand crisis is dependent on long term business strategies.
Crisis preparedness should be about ensuring that which you do on a daily basis is done as well as possible. Organisational preparedness involves everyone from the board to the frontline workers.
If your strategy is unsound and your people lack judgement, that will be exposed in a short term emergency. Long term strategy and thinking, long term business planning and communication planning really are tested by short term events. Those who do best are those who are secure and confident in their strategic thinking.
Beware the strategy that involves dumping responsibility for something very important such as crisis management, business continuity planning or safety on to one person. By applying a hat or total responsibility to someone it absolves others of their responsibility – “it’s their problem not mine.”
Crisis Management involves the whole organisation.
Adapted from an interview between Peter Gavan, Director of External Affairs, Severn Trent and Professor David Wilson, Deputy Dean of WBS and Professor of Strategy
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Social media backlash - are you prepared?
Recently I was asked to prepare a small blog for The Ruby Connection with the topic being “Social Media Fab or Flab.” In the blog "An unwilling convert" I came to the conclusion that whilst I am not a compulsive user of social media I do find it useful and can see the various benefits and pitfalls of this communication medium.
When talking with a contact of mine a couple of months ago we got to discussing the risks associated with social media use in the workplace and the increased role its use is playing in reputational crises for organsiations. This discussion was prompted by a recent You Tube video of a Domino’s Pizza employee adding his own “touch” to a pizza. Within hours it was all over the web and social media sites were going nuts over it causing huge damage to Domino’s reputation.
On any given day you can search on sites such as Twitter and find an organisations name and a lament about terrible service, product breakdowns, etc. Just look up your telephone provider on Twitter and guaranteed you will find someone complaining on-line about them. This can happen for good reason or no reason at all.
Does your business have a crisis communications strategy? Does it include social media? Do you have a workplace policy on the appropriate use of social media sites?
Without appropriate communication plans and strategies in place, reacting to media crises before they get out of control becomes exponentially more difficult.
Consider the recent experience of Maclaren in the U.S.A. They have recently had to recall every baby stroller sold in the United States in the past decade (approx 1 million). The purpose is to install a cover for the stroller's hinge mechanism, which is sharp enough to cut through a baby's fingers should they happen to be in the wrong spot as the stroller is opened (12 occurrences).
Maclaren appeared to be very proactive with their approach to managing this crisis by alerting the authorities to the problem and asking their assistance in the recall. They also went public prior to the press getting wind of it advising consumers what and how to have their stroller repaired. The company also included some social media in their response strategies by announcing that they had designed covers for the offending hinges and releasing videos on You-Tube and other sites on how to attach them.
This was a reasonable start but with social media sites the damage starts and spreads like wild fire. There was uproar when consumers could not access the Maclaren website for further information. The site was overloaded with traffic and crashed. To make things a little worse the notification appears in a link on the top of the Maclaren U.S.A. website page with 10 other items in the smallest font - Recall. It is not obvious at all.
This lack of access to information has prompted an even bigger backlash via social media.
Think about how social media can affect your business. What if you had a disgruntled customer that riled up others about a product or a service that you provide – how would you deal with it? Alternatively, what if one of your employees was on-line complaining about the bad day that they had or about you or one of the other workers? Do you have strategies and policies in place to manage these things?
If social media protests can cause a major public relations crisis in a big organisation, imagine the long term effects on a small to medium sized business.
Samantha Ford
Adarna Consulting
www.adarnaconsulting.com.au
When talking with a contact of mine a couple of months ago we got to discussing the risks associated with social media use in the workplace and the increased role its use is playing in reputational crises for organsiations. This discussion was prompted by a recent You Tube video of a Domino’s Pizza employee adding his own “touch” to a pizza. Within hours it was all over the web and social media sites were going nuts over it causing huge damage to Domino’s reputation.
On any given day you can search on sites such as Twitter and find an organisations name and a lament about terrible service, product breakdowns, etc. Just look up your telephone provider on Twitter and guaranteed you will find someone complaining on-line about them. This can happen for good reason or no reason at all.
Does your business have a crisis communications strategy? Does it include social media? Do you have a workplace policy on the appropriate use of social media sites?
Without appropriate communication plans and strategies in place, reacting to media crises before they get out of control becomes exponentially more difficult.
Consider the recent experience of Maclaren in the U.S.A. They have recently had to recall every baby stroller sold in the United States in the past decade (approx 1 million). The purpose is to install a cover for the stroller's hinge mechanism, which is sharp enough to cut through a baby's fingers should they happen to be in the wrong spot as the stroller is opened (12 occurrences).
Maclaren appeared to be very proactive with their approach to managing this crisis by alerting the authorities to the problem and asking their assistance in the recall. They also went public prior to the press getting wind of it advising consumers what and how to have their stroller repaired. The company also included some social media in their response strategies by announcing that they had designed covers for the offending hinges and releasing videos on You-Tube and other sites on how to attach them.
This was a reasonable start but with social media sites the damage starts and spreads like wild fire. There was uproar when consumers could not access the Maclaren website for further information. The site was overloaded with traffic and crashed. To make things a little worse the notification appears in a link on the top of the Maclaren U.S.A. website page with 10 other items in the smallest font - Recall. It is not obvious at all.
This lack of access to information has prompted an even bigger backlash via social media.
Think about how social media can affect your business. What if you had a disgruntled customer that riled up others about a product or a service that you provide – how would you deal with it? Alternatively, what if one of your employees was on-line complaining about the bad day that they had or about you or one of the other workers? Do you have strategies and policies in place to manage these things?
If social media protests can cause a major public relations crisis in a big organisation, imagine the long term effects on a small to medium sized business.
Samantha Ford
Adarna Consulting
www.adarnaconsulting.com.au
Emergency preparedness at home
As we all know there is risk involved in business and the workplace that needs to be acknowledged and planned for. All businesses have (or should have) at the very least emergency evacuation plans or procedures in case of fire.
What do you have in place at home? Do you have a fully equipped first aid kit, fire extinguisher or blanket, emergency supply kit or a Family Emergency Plan? Is there a list of emergency contact numbers including relatives, doctors, emergency services and do you have a plan for who picks up the kids from school or day care when neither parent can?
There are a number of websites that provide you with information on family and personal preparedness. The Australian Red Cross has a program called Emergency REDiPlan to assist people in being better prepared for emergencies.
Each State and Territory emergency agency website will have preparedness materials for you to download for free, additional information is available on the Links page of our website.
Samantha Ford
Managing Director
Adarna Consulting
Website: www.adarnaconsulting.com.au
What do you have in place at home? Do you have a fully equipped first aid kit, fire extinguisher or blanket, emergency supply kit or a Family Emergency Plan? Is there a list of emergency contact numbers including relatives, doctors, emergency services and do you have a plan for who picks up the kids from school or day care when neither parent can?
There are a number of websites that provide you with information on family and personal preparedness. The Australian Red Cross has a program called Emergency REDiPlan to assist people in being better prepared for emergencies.
Each State and Territory emergency agency website will have preparedness materials for you to download for free, additional information is available on the Links page of our website.
Samantha Ford
Managing Director
Adarna Consulting
Website: www.adarnaconsulting.com.au
10 Tips for Crisis Management
- Plan for the worst possible scenarios and hope for the best; consider all risks, all aspects of the business including information continuity, where your interdependencies with other organisations lie and ensure your insurance provides appropriate cover.
- Document business continuity and crisis plans and individual roles and responsibilities – identify who does what and when and allow autonomy to carry out roles. Make sure plans can be adapted to all possible events and include how the business will recover.
- Conduct crisis management and media training for key people.
- Have a plan or strategy for communicating with all of your stakeholders including; staff, shareholders, customers, suppliers and media. Consider a resource kit including telephone trees, media release templates, holding statements, scripts, media lists, etc. Make sure you include social media in your strategies.
- Test and review your plans regularly and learn from your mistakes and those of others.
During the crisis
- Stay calm, identify what has gone wrong, exactly what the crisis is, who it will affect and what you need to do to manage the situation. Activate your crisis plans if required and keep a log of every decision and activity for the duration.
- Tackle it head on and allocate resources appropriately – an issue caught early can be prevented from turning into a crisis.
- Communicate regularly and with consistent messages to all stakeholders.
- Forward plan for other issues that may arise at the same time.
- Consider using a professional to help you manage the crisis and/or the media.
For more information on crisis management and preparedness visit our website: www.adarnaconsulting.com.au
Samantha Ford
Managing Director
Adarna Consulting Pty Ltd
Friday, August 28, 2009
On a wing and a prayer
On a wing and a prayer is how many businesses operate with fingers crossed that “it won’t happen to me.” The last decade has seen a rise in catastrophic natural disasters, terrorism threats and other devastating events such
as oil spills, hijackings, workplace accidents, war, etc.
To make matters worse, in 2008 we entered a global economic crisis that has flow on effects to all levels of business and government throughout the world and a pandemic was declared in June. How do we prepare ourselves and our business for these kinds of events?
It is imperative that we protect our business and critical operations. If we fail to prepare ourselves adequately we will pay the price. The possibility of an event with significant impact on business operations, system outage, devastation from cyclone, flood or fire, a fatality on site, or something that can damage our reputation is always upon us.
Crisis has been broadly defined as an escalating incident that poses a serious threat to the operation, viability or reputation of an organization (Pollock, 2002). All organisations can be impacted by crises.
Every business should have a crisis or emergency plan. It can save lives, company assets and your entire business.
With good planning your organisation can avoid some or all adverse impacts. If a crisis were to occur
today ask yourself, would you be ready? Have you planned for the worst?
For more information on crisis management or business continuity please visit our website www.adarnaconsulting.com.au
Samantha Ford
Managing Director
Adarna Consulting Pty Ltd
as oil spills, hijackings, workplace accidents, war, etc.
To make matters worse, in 2008 we entered a global economic crisis that has flow on effects to all levels of business and government throughout the world and a pandemic was declared in June. How do we prepare ourselves and our business for these kinds of events?
It is imperative that we protect our business and critical operations. If we fail to prepare ourselves adequately we will pay the price. The possibility of an event with significant impact on business operations, system outage, devastation from cyclone, flood or fire, a fatality on site, or something that can damage our reputation is always upon us.
Crisis has been broadly defined as an escalating incident that poses a serious threat to the operation, viability or reputation of an organization (Pollock, 2002). All organisations can be impacted by crises.
Every business should have a crisis or emergency plan. It can save lives, company assets and your entire business.
With good planning your organisation can avoid some or all adverse impacts. If a crisis were to occur
today ask yourself, would you be ready? Have you planned for the worst?
For more information on crisis management or business continuity please visit our website www.adarnaconsulting.com.au
Samantha Ford
Managing Director
Adarna Consulting Pty Ltd
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