Plan for Crisis at Work
Risk Assessment and Contingency Planning in Business
Organizations need contingency plans for the same reason individuals purchase insurance: just in case disaster strikes.
One needs only to look at the newspaper to see that corporations are experiencing unanticipated crises large and small that not only affect the community, but also generate media interest. You can rightly assume that for any one large crisis that garners widespread media attention, dozens of other smaller crises are affecting local businesses with proportionally devastating effects. Most organizations think about insurance to cover loss of property or merchandise, but not many think about the kind of protection they need from the loss of their reputation among customers and the community.
Why Organizations Fail to Plan for Crises
There is a variety of reasons corporations ignore the important aspect of crisis planning. Most organizations have a “not me” attitude. It takes precious energy to confront the possibility that risk is inherent in any organization’s operations. Acknowledging the possibility of crisis can upend assumptions of stability and cause turbulence in an otherwise complacent organization.
Another reason crisis planning is ignored is that even when a business recognizes the need for a crisis plan, confusion exists as to how to develop a good plan. Fortunately, crisis planning isn’t a solitary endeavor. Resources such as consulting firms, an internal crisis planning task force, or the duplication of other successful crisis plans may be helpful.
First Steps in Crisis Planning
Once you have acknowledged the need for a crisis plan for your business or organization, you must outline the basic components of the plan. As a first step, identify areas of vulnerability. One way of doing this is to ask key personnel to imagine a worst-case scenario, and prepare for that. Other forms of intelligence gathering can include learning from the mistakes of similar organizations, and taking the pulse of customers or shareholders to see what weaknesses an outsider perceives.
Crisis Categories
Common types of crises to prepare for include natural disaster crises, technological crises, confrontation, malevolence, and management failure. Although natural disasters can’t be prevented, early warning systems should be in place, and managers should know what to do to minimize danger and loss in the event of a flood or fire. In the case of complex technologies, managers must anticipate components interacting in some unexpected way, which can lead to failure.
Planning for confrontation crises may include evaluating the organization’s vulnerability. Although it’s not fully possible to respond to a confrontation that hasn’t yet occurred, managers can write a philosophy of how they want to be perceived. Planning for crises of malevolence also includes awareness of vulnerabilities. Therefore, food and drug companies create tamper-proof packaging and animal research labs implement high levels of building security.
A management failure crisis can include deception or misconduct. Articulate the corporate culture, and pay attention to risk assessment findings that follow these values. You must develop, and more importantly instill a code of ethics for employees at all levels. Include a strong commitment to product safety and disclosure. You can implement internal surveillance and a whistle-blowing program as a crisis prevention strategy.
Related articles: Cope With Crisis in Corporations and Stop Rumors at Work
Source:
Lerbinger, O. (1997). The Crisis Manager. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
