Speedy crisis management essential to preserve reputation
Today marks the half way point in our 28 day analysis of organisations in reputation management mode. Already, over 100 organisations have endured the media spotlight and battled to protect their hard-won reputations. Some have fared better than others. The success stories have usually been characterised by a swift and appropriate communication response whereas “no comment” has made a bad situation worse for others.
Today’s organisations in crisis include examples of both:
Disneyland Paris: tourism; cleaner died after falling into water at the park
Hipp Organic: food manufacturer; ASA rules that advert for baby milk must be withdrawn over misleading claims
Paramount Pictures: entertainment; sued over injuries suffered by film extra
Speed of response is increasingly important to get ahead of the story and preserve reputation (witness the number of crises which escalate and spread driven by social and other online media). Taking a day to set up communication channels and work out how to produce content during a crisis is not a viable option. A prudent approach to reputation protection demands that you gear up ahead of time so that you can communicate almost instantaneously in the event of a crisis.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Corporate culture and communication: the keys to crisis prevention
It’s easy to blame crises on the actions of one person, the front-line employee who did or said the wrong thing that led to a crisis event. Easy, but wrong.
Today’s organisations in crisis include an airline whose employee turned away a blind passenger, and the death of a landlord when simple checks were not carried out on a gas fire in his pub. Previous incidents have occurred when safety procedures were ignored in order to get the job done on time, when quality control was short-circuited to meet a deadline and when a call-centre employee was abusive towards a customer.
The catalyst for a crisis may indeed be the action of the front-line employee. But the root cause is usually the culture of the organisation (which is really most important, safety or profit?) and internal communication. People need to know exactly what is expected of them, and the principles and priorities which guide their behaviour. Getting these factors right is hugely significant in crisis prevention.
Hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons are today’s organisations in crisis:
Enterprise Inns: pub chain; fined following death of pub landlord when checks on gas fires were not carried out
FlyDubai: airline; customer service – blind passenger prevented from boarding his flight
Seaworld: tourist attraction; guest drowns at the water park
Crown Currency Exchange: currency exchange; company went into liquidation leaving customers without their money (note the knock on mini-crisis for websites such as Moneysavingexpert which included the company in their “best buy” lists)
Vodafone: telecoms; closure of call centre with loss of 400 jobs
Veolia: waste and recyling; fined after death of employee when health and safety measures were overlooked
Do keep a close eye on your own organisational culture and internal communication if you adhere to the principle that crisis prevention is always better than crisis cure.
It’s easy to blame crises on the actions of one person, the front-line employee who did or said the wrong thing that led to a crisis event. Easy, but wrong.
Today’s organisations in crisis include an airline whose employee turned away a blind passenger, and the death of a landlord when simple checks were not carried out on a gas fire in his pub. Previous incidents have occurred when safety procedures were ignored in order to get the job done on time, when quality control was short-circuited to meet a deadline and when a call-centre employee was abusive towards a customer.
The catalyst for a crisis may indeed be the action of the front-line employee. But the root cause is usually the culture of the organisation (which is really most important, safety or profit?) and internal communication. People need to know exactly what is expected of them, and the principles and priorities which guide their behaviour. Getting these factors right is hugely significant in crisis prevention.
Hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons are today’s organisations in crisis:
Enterprise Inns: pub chain; fined following death of pub landlord when checks on gas fires were not carried out
FlyDubai: airline; customer service – blind passenger prevented from boarding his flight
Seaworld: tourist attraction; guest drowns at the water park
Crown Currency Exchange: currency exchange; company went into liquidation leaving customers without their money (note the knock on mini-crisis for websites such as Moneysavingexpert which included the company in their “best buy” lists)
Vodafone: telecoms; closure of call centre with loss of 400 jobs
Veolia: waste and recyling; fined after death of employee when health and safety measures were overlooked
Do keep a close eye on your own organisational culture and internal communication if you adhere to the principle that crisis prevention is always better than crisis cure.
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Poor customer service invites a crisis
As we near the half way mark of our 28 day review of corporate crises, the diversity of incidents and issues is striking. From corruption to IT failure, from product safety to management bust ups, from regulatory enquiries to NGO protests, organisations have been managing a whole range of crises. But there’s one category of crisis that is almost entirely preventable, but causes more problems than any other: customer service. In our study, we’ve witnessed a range of customer service issues that have come to the attention of national media, often fuelled by social media. Get your customer service right and you reduce your potential for crisis.
See below for three organisations in crisis management mode today:
American Express: financial services; anti-competitive practices
Opel/General Motors: automotive; factory closure with loss of 1,200 jobs
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre/Home Office: policing; resignation of CEO over its future direction
As we near the half way mark of our 28 day review of corporate crises, the diversity of incidents and issues is striking. From corruption to IT failure, from product safety to management bust ups, from regulatory enquiries to NGO protests, organisations have been managing a whole range of crises. But there’s one category of crisis that is almost entirely preventable, but causes more problems than any other: customer service. In our study, we’ve witnessed a range of customer service issues that have come to the attention of national media, often fuelled by social media. Get your customer service right and you reduce your potential for crisis.
See below for three organisations in crisis management mode today:
American Express: financial services; anti-competitive practices
Opel/General Motors: automotive; factory closure with loss of 1,200 jobs
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre/Home Office: policing; resignation of CEO over its future direction
Monday, 4 October 2010
Could you manage an international crisis?
The latest posting in our 28 day look at the crises affecting businesses this month is a little late. The reason? I’ve been travelling to Bratislava to present on crisis management at a conference. So, with apologies for my tardiness, here are three organisations in crisis management mode today:
Alliance Boots: retail; job cuts
Talacre Caravan and Leisure Park: tourism; death of child at holiday park
Transport for London: transport; industrial relations
My overseas jaunt made me think about some of the challenges of managing interntional crises and some of the elements that need to be considered:
- do you have contact details for everyone you might need to contact – including international codes?
- do you have access to a translation agency 24 hours a day, or an alternative solution to produce a statement in multiple languages?
- do you have teleconference and videoconference facilities set aside for use in a crisis – and does someone on the team know how they work?
- are the head office approval procedures clear – especially if there’s a timezone difference?
- are you operating across geogrpahic boundaries with the same crisis communication principles?
- have you tested your plans across borders?
The organisations listed today are dealing with UK-specific crises. But if you operate across more than one country, you need to know the answers to the questions listed above if you want to be confident of protecting your international repuation.
The latest posting in our 28 day look at the crises affecting businesses this month is a little late. The reason? I’ve been travelling to Bratislava to present on crisis management at a conference. So, with apologies for my tardiness, here are three organisations in crisis management mode today:
Alliance Boots: retail; job cuts
Talacre Caravan and Leisure Park: tourism; death of child at holiday park
Transport for London: transport; industrial relations
My overseas jaunt made me think about some of the challenges of managing interntional crises and some of the elements that need to be considered:
- do you have contact details for everyone you might need to contact – including international codes?
- do you have access to a translation agency 24 hours a day, or an alternative solution to produce a statement in multiple languages?
- do you have teleconference and videoconference facilities set aside for use in a crisis – and does someone on the team know how they work?
- are the head office approval procedures clear – especially if there’s a timezone difference?
- are you operating across geogrpahic boundaries with the same crisis communication principles?
- have you tested your plans across borders?
The organisations listed today are dealing with UK-specific crises. But if you operate across more than one country, you need to know the answers to the questions listed above if you want to be confident of protecting your international repuation.
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Sunday papers bring bad news for some
With Sunday supposedly being a day of rest, it’s ironic that it’s the time when many major crises break. That’s because many of the Sunday papers specialise in investigative journalism, and carry extensive business sections. As a consequence, PR professionals cannot afford to be without their crisis communication plan over the weekend.
As we reach day ten of our 28 day review of the crisis landscape, the following organisations prove the point:
Sainsburys/Waitrose/B&Q et al: retailers; technical problem prevents credit card payments
BA: airline; emergency landing
Goldman Sachs: financial services; criticism over bonuses
A swift and effective crisis communication response today is essential if organisations are to avoid featuring prominently in the media agenda throughout next week
With Sunday supposedly being a day of rest, it’s ironic that it’s the time when many major crises break. That’s because many of the Sunday papers specialise in investigative journalism, and carry extensive business sections. As a consequence, PR professionals cannot afford to be without their crisis communication plan over the weekend.
As we reach day ten of our 28 day review of the crisis landscape, the following organisations prove the point:
Sainsburys/Waitrose/B&Q et al: retailers; technical problem prevents credit card payments
BA: airline; emergency landing
Goldman Sachs: financial services; criticism over bonuses
A swift and effective crisis communication response today is essential if organisations are to avoid featuring prominently in the media agenda throughout next week
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Why do crises always happen at the weekend?
Everyone seems to be struggling with work-life balance these days and many of us are bringing home work at the weekend. For those businesses managing crises, there’s no option: the task of reputation protection must continue. Indeed, the old adage that crises always happen on Fridays or the day before your holiday, seems unaccountably true. Certainly these organisations are unlikely to be having a quiet weekend:
BMW: automotive; product recall
Fisher Price: toys; product recall
Motorola: telecoms/technology; legal action over copyright issues
NPower: energy/utility; customer refund following regulatory investigation
Preparing thoroughly to manage a crisis cannot guarantee peaceful weekends. But it does mean that you’ll be better placed to manage the incident swiftly, professionally and effectively whenever the balloon goes up, wherever you are.
Friday, 1 October 2010
Humans cause crises more often than “acts of God”: plan accordingly
As we enter the second week of our 28 day snapshot of organisations managing reputational issues, it’s clear that most situations are not created by physical events or accidents (although some are). Many more are the result of people issues or management decisions: fraud, security, closures, redundancies and customer service are just five examples of this (see today’s list for a handful of examples). Crisis and issues management plans need to reflect this: if your plans only deal with physical events then you are exposed to the many “softer” – but equally damaging – issues that may arise.
Air France/KLM: airlines; legal action following allegations of a cartel
Apple: technology; Italy demands it removes “offensive app”
HBOS: financial services; arrests related to alleged fraud by three staff members
Thomas Cook: travel; job cuts predicted in light of poor financial results
Walkers Crisps/Omnichem: food/chemicals; HSE fine following death of worker in toxic cloud
Lloyds Banking Group: financial services; tops the FSA’s league table of complaints
Vox Sciences/Spinvox/Nuance: telecoms/technology; allegations of text spam
Tetley: food/drink; allegations of human rights violations after the death of three workers in India
Kiddicare.com/Tesco/Mothercare: retail; products recall of “baby positioner” over fears it may be linked with infant deaths
Nintendo; entertainment; profit warning based on delay to new 3D console causes share price slump
Crises can be caused by explosions, accidents or natural disasters – but not exclusively. Make sure that a regular reputational risk assessment identifies the other potential issues and crises that could hit your business and plan your contingencies accordingly.
As we enter the second week of our 28 day snapshot of organisations managing reputational issues, it’s clear that most situations are not created by physical events or accidents (although some are). Many more are the result of people issues or management decisions: fraud, security, closures, redundancies and customer service are just five examples of this (see today’s list for a handful of examples). Crisis and issues management plans need to reflect this: if your plans only deal with physical events then you are exposed to the many “softer” – but equally damaging – issues that may arise.
Air France/KLM: airlines; legal action following allegations of a cartel
Apple: technology; Italy demands it removes “offensive app”
HBOS: financial services; arrests related to alleged fraud by three staff members
Thomas Cook: travel; job cuts predicted in light of poor financial results
Walkers Crisps/Omnichem: food/chemicals; HSE fine following death of worker in toxic cloud
Lloyds Banking Group: financial services; tops the FSA’s league table of complaints
Vox Sciences/Spinvox/Nuance: telecoms/technology; allegations of text spam
Tetley: food/drink; allegations of human rights violations after the death of three workers in India
Kiddicare.com/Tesco/Mothercare: retail; products recall of “baby positioner” over fears it may be linked with infant deaths
Nintendo; entertainment; profit warning based on delay to new 3D console causes share price slump
Crises can be caused by explosions, accidents or natural disasters – but not exclusively. Make sure that a regular reputational risk assessment identifies the other potential issues and crises that could hit your business and plan your contingencies accordingly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)