Talk it up now: Develop Your Crisis Management Communications Plan

Know how you will communicate in a time of crisis to gain confidence and peace of mind. 

After 9/11, a commission was formed and a report was published. According to the Executive Summary portion of “THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT,” the roles of communication were reviewed. Ironically, the terrorists’ communications were described as “…sufficient to enable planning and directives of operatives and those who would be helping them…” 

While New York City and its people did their best to cope with the unthinkable, its communications among responding agencies were found to be inadequate. 

We do tend to learn from disasters and catastrophes. And certainly employers can benefit from others’ “lessons-learned,” and many do when developing their own crisis management plans. A vital piece to any plan will be your communications strategy. 

As they say, “Information is power.”  During a crisis, it’s especially important to keep open those lines of communication. When catastrophe strikes, communication trumps almost everything else. 

What should you consider? Here are some elements to an effective communication strategy that you will want to think about: 

1. Identify how you will keep open your lines of communication.
2. Know what information needs to be immediately communicated.
3. Evaluate system options. Perhaps you will want to develop a telephone calling tree or an e-mail alert program. You might want to consider establishing a toll-free telephone number, with a call-in voice recording, through which employees can call you and leave messages.
4. Create a contact list of those you will need to contact in an emergency. Included in this list should be information about employees, vendors, suppliers, contractors, etc.
5. Include information about how to report an emergency; for instance, a fire.
6. Develop written procedures that set in motion an accounting for all employees. If an evacuation is ordered, for instance, you want to make sure all managers have that information at hand.
7. Outline how you plan to help those employees who need special assistance. Depending on the nature of the crisis, some employees may need outside support. One resource to tap into is your benefits plan. Many benefit plans have employee assistance programs (EAPs).
8. Detail how you will handle the critical functions of your business. For example, consider how data will be retrieved. Do you have payroll procedures for running an emergency payroll? 

Finally, you want to make sure your supervisors, along with any other key individuals, are properly trained. These people are the backbone of any organization, as they typically are the ones who deal directly with your employees. So you will want to equip them with the resources and information they will need to stay in touch with employees and maintain business continuity. Here are a few ways to do that: 

• Train supervisors to immediately recognize the warning signs of a potential crisis.
• Make sure supervisors are cognizant of the emotional-support signals that employees may exhibit during a crisis.
• Include related training during new employees’ on-boarding activities. This training serves to identify procedures; and it also sends an important message to new employees that you care about and value their health and safety. 

Finally, any crisis management plan, including the communication pieces, should be reviewed at least annually to make sure the information is current. Out-of-date crisis management plans will not serve you, your business or your employees well. 

You can learn more about crisis management plans by reading my two other Insights found at www.HRTools.com: 

Make Sure Your Business Has a Crisis Management Plan 

Take Actions: Preparations for a Crisis Management Plan

Know how you will communicate in a time of crisis to gain confidence and peace of mind.