We all will have to face a crisis at some point during our career.
Some of us deal with the challenges presented by a crisis in motion more often than we expect and definitely more frequently than we would like. However, there is a way to prepare for a crisis in a way that mitigates negative outcomes.
Getting initial buy-in from leaders
It’s important to get your executives on board with your crisis plan. That means addressing topics important to them in a language they understand and with a focused vision to achieve positive outcomes.
What’s important to leaders?
1. Protection of shareholder value – An Oxford University study reported that companies that responded well to a crisis saw their value rise by 7%. Companies that did not effectively handle a crisis experienced a drop in value of 15% or more.
2. Protection of operations and reputation – Without a streamlined plan and a rehearsed team, recovery from a crisis can be stymied by mixed messages and inconsistent responses.
3. Meeting regulatory requirements – An understanding of how industry regulations can affect business operations is vital. With every high-profile crisis case, regulations increase. For example, after the financial crisis of 2008, the Dodd Frank Act of 2010 increased mandatory safeguards and data protections for investment firms. And after the 2013 data breach at Target, forty-six states enacted legislation regarding protection of data and notification of breach.
How can you speak to leaders in a language they understand?
You are used to dealing with emergencies, big and small. But when it comes to getting executive buy-in, you have to speak their language.
1. Leave crisis management and business continuity jargon behind.
2. Focus on the strategic perspective.
3. Use graphics to illustrate a story.
4. Don’t kill them with content. Provide your executives with what they need to know, not everything you know!
Understanding the role of leaders in a crisis
Leaders come in many forms, from communication experts to human resources representatives. Knowing the roles that your executives can be expected to fill in a time of crisis will help you allocate duties and responsibilities.
Communication roles include handling internal and external communications, monitoring and posting social media messages, acting as spokespeople, conducting press briefings, providing consistency of message, restoring balance of transparency and self-protection, and reaching target audiences through appropriate channels.
Finance experts can deal with procuring emergency cash, raising credit limits, monitoring insurance coverage and claims, expense tracking, filing deadline extensions (tax, financial reporting, etc.), addressing loss of stock value and long term financial impacts, and communicating with investors and other financial partners.
Legal leaders can serve as liaisons to outside counsel while focusing on investigations, legal documentation, records retention, employee relations, and legal liability mitigation issues.
Human resource representatives can communicate with employees, provide staff and family assistance, develop internal communications, take care of next of kin notifications, assist with payroll processing, and expedite staffing needs.
Training your crisis management team
You don’t know when or where a crisis might occur, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do some pre-planning, especially when it comes to training your leadership. Training sessions can focus on outlining the specific strategic issues they will be expected to handle and ensuring that your objectives are their objectives. Be sure to align the training exercise complexity to the appropriate level of leadership.
Some of the common pitfalls for developing a leadership training plan includes trying to use one-size-fits-all exercises for diverse teams, offering too much content in a short period of time (information overload), setting nebulous objectives, and not presenting clear expectations.
Providing response tools and aids for resolving a crisis
Leaders need (and want) tools that can help them handle a crisis. To prepare your company leaders for their roles in crisis situations, be sure to individualize the content of the communication, provide complete and accurate information, include the necessary contact point information they will need to do their jobs (email, phone numbers, office numbers, etc.), and provide multiple formats for easy access of the information (interactive .pdf, custom app, wallet cards, etc.)
In most instances you can create a “good ol’ one pager” for leadership guidelines as part of your advance planning. In this low tech, low cost tool you can bullet point vital information to make it stand out, provide hyperlinks to email addresses, organize the content for easy readability, and access by inserting boxes, using eye-catching headline banners, and/or using larger, easy-to-read type.
The next step is yours!
A crisis will happen. You don’t know when and you don’t know where…. and you hope it won’t be soon. But it will happen. Your best line of defense is to go on the offensive and prepare your leadership for their roles in the ever-looming crisis. Remember, a crisis handled badly will stay in the public’s memory long after the crisis itself is over.