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TERRORISM AND OTHER DISASTERS: SPECIAL REPORT, ACHIEVING THE BEST BY PREPARING FOR THE WORST
Crisis Planning and Preparedness...
Banking Goodwill, Averting Disaster
Terrorist incidents, volatile business contractions, uneasy economic climate, plant explosions, health care crises, hostile corporate takeovers, governmental shakeups, and financial failings are crises that upset the routine of business life. The business community fears these occurrences or their variations. Some jolting incident puts every organization into a reaction mode. The consequences of miscommunication in a crisis can be devastating to all involved.
(PRWEB) December 24, 2003 --"By dealing with the unexpected, preferably before it occurs, companies can bank public goodwill that may be useful later. Playing catch-up means that you have lost the game," contends Hank Moore, Futurist and Corporate Strategist. Moore is the author of THE HIGH COST OF DOING NOTHING, released by Skyward Publishing. Moore has conducted Think Tanks for five U.S. Presidents and worked with 90 of the Fortune 500 companies.
Among the types of crises that Hank Moore has advised his clients include government reorganizations, plant explosions, contaminated food and drugs, school shootings, executive kidnappings, installation bombings, hostile company takeovers, natural disasters and problematic employee behaviors.
Moore has learned that strategic planning for crises can avert them 85% of the time. "In times of crisis, business does what it should have done earlier: study, reflect, plan and manage change," he observes.
"Every business and community in America is presently at a crossroads," Moore believes. "There exist two current options: It can be seen and known as a dynamic community that addresses its problems and moves forward in a heroic fashion...as a role model to the rest of the world. Or, it can bury its head in the sand and hope media attention dies down...thus becoming a generic tagline for other crises."
It is the responsibility of corporate management to practice Crisis Management and Preparedness. Management must study practical experiences of what can go wrong, put a crisis team into place, understand the workings of news media, identify community opinion leaders, and predict potentially harmful or controversial situations.
"Comprehension of the dangers includes case studies of how other corporations handled emergencies," Moore states. "Learn from those who were successful, those who failed to achieve the desired effects, and those whose corporate credibility was damaged by doing nothing."
Moore recommends that every organization take the following courses of action:
1. Establish a committee to write, implement and benchmark a formal Crisis Management and Preparedness Plan. Its contents should include a mechanism for determining potential crises.
· Identification of audiences to be effected.
· Procedures to follow during a crisis.
· Contingency plans to facilitate routine business during crisis.
· Selection and training of a crisis management team.
· Coordination of what information can and cannot be released.
· Once written and tailored for organizational needs, the plan must be discussed and understood at all levels within the company.
2. Try to defuse disasters, confrontations, loss of public credibility and decreased ability to do future business by:
· Investigating steps that might prevent crises.
· Establishing adequate standby measures.
· Formulating a follow-up program to recoup the company's good name.
· Follow through with significant community relations activities to bank goodwill.
3. Make provisions, policies and processes for interfacing with news media. They should include a list of emergency phone numbers, available to the media, designated work areas for media and an internal hotline number for media, as well as a separate hotline for the public.
Take assessment of damages, and investigate the truth. Never exaggerate, speculate, or withhold information. No statements should be "off the record." Provide complete answers, and respond to media requests for additional information in a timely manner. Failure to return calls implies something to hide. Maintain accurate records of all inquiries and news coverage.
During any emergency, utilize these rules for communications:
· State the issues.
· Define problem areas.
· Identify issues.
· Move forward.
4. For crisis situations, there must be one designated spokesperson with enough credibility and command of information to present the company image. Guard against the fact that, sometimes, the spokesperson becomes the negative focus of the story...not the message itself.
When a company makes a statement, it plays off the history of past statements. If a reverse stand is taken, then the company must provide a plausible explanation. Media will rarely change its position after the fact.
The selection and training of spokespersons is a judgment call by corporate management and public relations professionals. Extensive training must be conducted on media presentation skills, message points, speeches to non-media audiences, follow-up written communications and community positioning. It's more than just looking good before a camera.
5. Test crisis plans during simulated drills, using qualified outside strategic planning consultants to evaluate results. Company officials should take these simulations seriously. The military does, terming them "war games."
6. Part of being prepared is routine activity. Have a plan in force (with the added benefit of legal counsel), and be sure that every employee has a copy. It should include easy-to-read fact sheets and backgrounders on company operations, current phone numbers, and a delineated line of authority (from company resource people to the spokesperson)
7. Recognize a crisis in the making. Elements that prevent most companies from predating crises are:
· Ignorance of the information.
· Making of incorrect assumptions about the opposition.
· Bad judgment by failure to get objective information and lack of planning.
· Failure to communicate your story via all levels of line staff.
Crises can have many liabilities upon companies, including loss of profits and market share.
Moore has learned that crises are caused by:
1. Refusal to take action.
2. Letting problems fester until they become epidemic diseases.
3. Lack of accountability.
4. Waiting until it is too late to avert crisis.
5. Taking correctional measures after too much damage has been done.
6. Waiting too late to make good for damage. Saying you're sorry isn't enough.
7. Living life for the moment, without understanding the implications and repercussions.
Crisis management and preparedness can minimize negative impacts of any emergency. Crises of one sort can and will happen to every company. They can be turned from disasters into opportunities to project corporate strengths. The manner in which a crisis is handled often wins praise for companies whose positions are improved in the public eye. Those who are prepared will survive and thrive.
Skyward Publishing business books are making a mark in today's shaky climate.
THE HIGH COST OF DOING NOTHING, ISBN: 1-881554-21-X, by Hank Moore. Mr. Moore knows why good companies go bad and why they start with much energy and end up mired in bureaucracy and plodding toward mediocrity and failure? http://www.skywardpublishing.com
SURVIVAL KIT FOR LEADERS, ISBN: 1-881554-25-2, John C. Kunich, J.D. and Richard Lester, Ph.D. As Kenneth Blanchard, author of THE ONE-MINUTE MANAGER, writes, the authors "have loaded SURVIVAL KIT FOR LEADERS with powerful methods not found in any other leadership and management book known to me."
http://www.skywardpublishing.com
GLOBAL DEALS, ISBN: 1-881554-30-9, Michael Hick. With terrorism increasing, the world is less safe, but Hick's advice can help you conduct business in an unsettling international climate. http://www.skywardpublishing.com
HOW TO BUILD A WINNING TEAM, 1-881554-14-7, by Peter A. Land, is a must-read when building business teams. If teamwork is the destination, HOW TO BUILD A WINNING TEAM is the roadmap. http://www.skywardpublishing.com
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Best News
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Call: 417-239-1125, Skyward Publishing
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