West Virginia Executive Winter 2019 | Page 31

[ business ] Crisis Management Seven Steps to Prepare Your Organization JENNIFER VIEWEG A technology data breach. A #MeToo harassment scandal. A product failure or recall. An environmental spill. A work- place accident. The potential for crisis in business is varied and numerous. Proper handling of a crisis provides an opportunity for leaders to preserve and potentially improve their organization’s reputation with customers, opinion leaders and the general public. However, a poorly handled crisis can lead to irreparable and potentially devastating damage. These seven steps can help you prepare today for any crisis your organization may encounter tomorrow. Step 1: Find your ethical compass. Amid a crisis, pressure is high, deci- sions are critical, and time is short. Under these circumstances, ethical lines can become blurred, particularly if they are not clearly defined. This is why you must define your ethical compass. For example, in 2017 United Airlines was embroiled in crisis when a paying customer was forcibly removed from a flight and ulti- mately required medical attention. The crisis was compounded when United’s CEO supported the abusive actions of the employees rather than apologizing to the customer and acknowledging that his company’s policies should be reviewed. Being secure in your ethical compass can help you avoid making missteps and ex- acerbating crisis situations. Step 2: Set ethical standards for your organization. Step 3: Develop a crisis response plan. Once you know your ethical compass, set those same boundaries as the standard for your organization and communicate them to your employees. This step is essential because those on your team must be aware of what you consider acceptable behavior in order to follow your example. To illustrate this point, last year banking and financial services company Wells Fargo admitted their team mem- bers had falsified millions of customer accounts. Multiple news outlets reported that these ethical breaches were facilitated by leaders who set unreasonable sales goals for employees that encouraged them to prioritize performance ahead of honesty and financial results over responsibility. Organizational leaders can help avoid these types of crises by cultivating ethical climates within their organizations. This involves defining acceptable and appropriate treatment of employees, customers, neighbors and the environment and, equally important, communicating those boundaries with employees so those guidelines can be deployed and implemented at all levels of the company. Setting an ethical foundation and communicating those guidelines to employees can enable your organization to emerge from crises stronger or possibly avoid them altogether. Crisis response plans enable organi- zations to handle challenging situations effectively by preparing leaders to respond immediately to any crisis, be forthright and accurate with information and keep stakeholders up to date in a timely manner. While crisis plans do not explore all pos- sible crises that could occur for a specific organization, they identify the necessary tools, resources and team members who can be deployed in the event of a crisis. They also prepare materials in advance that expediate an appropriate response and provide guidance on how to respond to crises of varying severities. If your organization does not have an effective and up-to-date crisis response plan, con- sider engaging a strategic communica- tions professional who can offer exper- tise in crisis response. The expert will work with you to develop a crisis plan for your organization and may also offer relevant training to help prepare your leadership team for a crisis. Step 4: Tell your story. Stories are powerful. They have the potential to inspire, teach and guide. As they relate to crises, stories can be useful in educating and informing audiences. As a leader, you need to tell your story so audiences are aware of your organization: WWW.WVEXECUTIVE.COM WINTER 2019 29