Some bad things happen that can neither be predicted nor prevented. For example, you can’t predict a historic flood that would cause widespread damage to one of your facilities.
However, many unhappy events (aka crises) can be predicted and prevented if a company’s culture is such that exposing potential problems is encouraged.
The very best way to manage a crisis is not to have one in the first place. How do you accomplish that goal?
Step one is to look at every area of your organization to see where you might be susceptible to having a big mistake or misstep.
What are the questions to ask?
- Are we having more product returns for quality reasons than normal?
- Is the number of customer complaints going up?
- Are long-time customers leaving us?
- Can we identify potential safety issues?
- When somebody brings a bad situation to our attention, do we sweep that under the rug?
- Is employee turnover suddenly higher?
- Are people saying bad things about us on social media?
- Is it apparent employees don’t understand the ethical behavior we expect?
- Are we cutting corners in our training programs?
What is the best way to respond to what you find?
Face those issues and do something about them.
- Engage in preventive maintenance – fix it before it breaks. If you spot a potential safety issue, do something about it before somebody is injured.
- Train your people to identify issues. Encourage them to take ownership of those issues.
- Communicate what you are doing to address problems. Report regularly on progress in making improvements. That will encourage other people to come forward in the future.
Crisis prevention isn’t fancy. It’s just fundamental blocking and tackling that’s well executed.
When something bad is prevented, that is usually a lot easier and less expensive than when something gets out of hand and becomes a genuine crisis that requires you to bring in lawyers, public relations experts and perhaps other specialized consultants as well. You have never experienced sticker shock like you will when their invoices cross your desk.
For a host of good reasons – definitely including saving money — crisis prevention is truly the first element of crisis management.
What are the recommended action steps?
Audit organizational vulnerabilities to prevent crises.
Listen to your people when they spot a problem.
Engage in preventive maintenance by fixing vulnerabilities before they get out of hand.
Davis Young
Principal
DY Author & Speaker LLC
(440) 248-9550
[email protected]
To learn more about best practices in communication, visit www.dyauthorandspeaker.com
