Crisis Comms: Navigating the way through the storm
Nothing tests your organization more than a crisis, as it strikes at the things that matter most - reputation, customer relations and bottom-line results. Effective leadership communication is key to reducing the negative impact of a crisis, as well as capitalizing on any opportunity it presents.
Key Points:
- It’s critical that effective leadership communication is ever-present, particularly during times of crisis. Leaders must be prepared, which is where internal communicators can position themselves as coaches and consultants.
- Encourage leaders by talking to them in language they understand, involving them during the crisis planning process and proactively shaping strategy.
- Working through a crisis, fromplanning to implementation, encourages teamwork, collaboration and professional development.
The natural and accidental, to the financial and legal - over the last 12 months we've seen organizations both large and small across the globe face a barrage of trials. From the earthquakes of Haiti, New Zealand and Japan, Sony's hacking fiasco, to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and Toyota's vehicle recalls.
Amongst these crises, we've seen leaders grapple with the challenges such situations present, leading to examples of great leadership communication in tough times, as well as those that have left a lot to be desired.
In today's business arena leaders must be prepared for the inevitable, unexpected and unprecedented
In the case of the former, Queensland premier Anna Bligh's calm and compassionate approach to January's floods and cyclone emergencies resurrected her reputation from deeply unpopular to being labeled by Queenslanders as the "embodiment of the whole state's resilience", and secured her a sixth successive election victory.
The same cannot be said of former BP CEO Tony Hayward, who managed to become America's most reviled figure in 2010, following a series of PR gaffes and blunders. Most notable was an ill-advised comment about "getting his life back" - forgetting that, when the Deepwater oil rig exploded, 11 people died.
If these events show anything, they underscore how critical it is that both effective leadership and effective communication are ever-present, especially during times of crises.
In today's business arena, where the globalization of mass media, transparency in operations and the dizzying pace of technological advancements has reduced the time organizations have to employ decisive action, leaders must be prepared for the inevitable, unexpected and unprecedented. But it heralds an opportunity where internal communicators can act as real influencers in the organization.
Front and center
When it comes to delivering good news to receptive audiences, most leaders can be masterful communicators. But the same should apply when the circumstances are difficult and the audience is skeptical, or even hostile, says Sonia Aplin, head of communications at Ericsson, Australia and New Zealand.
Aplin, who handles both external and internal communication during crises, played an integral role in helping her leaders to communicate during the Queensland floods and New Zealand earthquakes.
"At a time when your organization is threatened, you want to see your leader step up and take accountability and responsibility for responding to the crisis. You expect that, as the leader of the organization, that's what they are there for. It's really critical that leaders are front and center during a crisis," she says.
"Whenever I see someone from marketing or communication as the key spokesperson during a crisis, I cringe. I think that's really inappropriate and terrible from a credibility point of view because people automatically assume that there's an element of spin in what they say."
Scenario planning
But how do you encourage a reluctant leader to communicate?
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This article was originally published in Strategic Communication Management.
Have your say
Have you experienced crisis with your organization? What channels were used to keep employees informed during and post-crisis? How did you help leaders to communicate through crisis?
Recommended resources:
TOP TIPS: The 10-point guide to effective employee communication during a company crisis
How the comms team at KBC Group weathered the financial crisis
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