5.7 crisis management and contingency planning

contingency planning vs crisis management

• contingency planning: predicting potential emergencies and preparing procedures to follow in advance. preemptive.

• crisis management: overall management of emergencies when they occur. reactive.

factors affecting crisis management

factors

• transparency

  • honesty about crisis: causes, consequences, what org intends to do in response

  • holding back/manipulating info will backfire

• communication

  • if there is public interest, need give info clearly, fully and promptly → prevent rumours from the media

  • mishandling, using wrong message/medium → negative brand image

  • should show that

    • going about normal work

    • controlling and responding to crisis

    • retaining support of media, employees and customers

• speed

  • how much time to respond to crisis before it is reported in the media/social media → prevent rumours

  • communication plans should include social media

  • monitoring social media messages as a form of rumour management

• control

  • present image of calm and confidence → helps restore image of org after crisis

  • preparing contingency plans and using them in drills increases ability to keep control

  • media log: details of newspapers etc that have contacted org + what info was sent and when expected to reply

  • media should know who in the crisis coordination team to contact/who has responsibility for each aspect

  • should not delegate crisis management: makes senior management look like they don’t care about consequences → take autocratic approach

contingency planning steps

1. identify potential crises

2. Assess the likelihood and the degree of impact on business operations → how thorough to prepare

3. if cannot remove a potential risk, try minimise the damage: fixed assets, people, reputation and public goodwill,

   a. publicity department telling the truth, indicating the causes when known and giving full details of how to contact the business and the actions being taken to minimise the impact on the public.

   b. staff training and practice drills with mock incidents are often the most effective ways of preparing to minimise negative impact.

4. Plan for continued operations of the business - the sooner the business can begin trading again, the less the impact is likely to be on customer relations.

adv of contingency planning

main points: costs, time, risks, safety

• adv

  • Reassures employees, customers and local residents that concerns for safety are a priority.

  • Minimises negative impact on customers and suppliers → reduce the costs of recovering

  • time taken to respond to disasters or crises will be greatly reduced as training and practice sessions

  • Promotes a culture of preparedness within the organisation and reduces the risks of accidents causing serious damage or injuries.

  • public relations response is more likely to be faster, transparent and appropriate, especially if senior managers are used to communicate what the company intends to do, by when and how

• disadv

  • Costs of planning and training drilling. may discourage small businesses

  • needs to be updated constantly as the number and range of potential disasters can change, and this adds to the management time that needs to be devoted to contingency planning.

  • If the plan is reactive (responding to negative events) and not a proactive one (reducing the likelihood of these events occurring) then the risk reduction of contingency planning will be much less.

  • often still more focused on safety issues than on planning for what to do if they occur