Tornados, Earthquakes, Floods and the Euro
I recently found myself at risk of experiencing a tornado, flash flood and an actual earthquake – all at the same time. This, coupled with the global impact of the current crisis in leadership and financial instability in Europe, got me thinking how crisis preparedness too often stops with an organization’s operations, leaving communications pros to fend for themselves.
Three tips:
1. Establish an emergency response team (ERT) whose members are representative of important areas of the company and led by someone the CEO trusts implicitly. Set up protocols to access the best information and delineate team roles in the event of activation.
2. Practice makes perfect by conducting mock crisis scenarios that help the ERT think through how they might act in the event of a natural disaster or crisis. Once a quarter should suffice.
3. Feed the beast. In a crisis, information is the currency of survivors. You don’t share, you die. The strategy of communicating with all key stakeholders (employees, media, vendors, elected officials, etc) is solid and necessary – or they will come to their own conclusions by going elsewhere for facts.
Risk exists everywhere, and occasionally it becomes a crisis. Whether risk is in the form of acts of God or Man, we have to be prepared. Set up an ERT, practice and be ready to act when risk boils into crisis.Saxum is an integrated communications firm offering public relations, marketing, creative and social media services to help clients elevate their brand beyond what’s expected and toward what’s possible. We are a strong, talented partner you can trust. www.saxum.com
Renzi Stone
