You might anticipate a PR crisis on the horizon but more often crises, which hold the potential for substantial reputational damage and other risks to organisations, strike with little warning.
We have over 25 years’ of PR crisis management, having worked with private and public sector organisations, the Police, the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, Public Health England and various national media outlets on issues including: senior level staff misdeeds, counterterrorism, crimes impacting organisations, the aftermath of employee fatalities, and communicating public information around serious disease outbreaks.
Effective crisis PR management requires a calm, professional and carefully-planned response, often at high speed. The following guidelines give a flavour of how we work with our clients:
Develop A Plan
Ideally don’t wait until a crisis hits to think about how you might handle it. We work with you to research the issues which have happened in your sector or to competitors previously.
How Bad Is It?
Defining specific threat levels. These could range from ‘immediate danger to life’ and ‘catastrophic impact on your organisation’s reputation,’ through to handling inappropriate staff comments on social media. Rank scenarios in order of likely impact.
Training
Your plan should detail who will coordinate a response. Ideally, the ‘worse’ the issue, the more senior the respondent should be. However, consider whether they are being advised professionally, or trained to communicate appropriately? Identify any skills-gaps and resolve them.
Sharing And Preparing
How will employees answer difficult telephone enquiries in a crisis? How will they greet visitors? What are they likely to say to their family and friends? How will ‘bad’ news be communicated internally?
Who needs to know what, when and why?
Word-of-mouth and social media travel fast. Employees offer massive potential as positive ambassadors if they are kept properly informed. On the flip side, if you leave an information void long enough it will become filled with rumour and inaccuracy.
Stick to the truth
You can emphasise one side of a story for the benefit of your audiences, but it’s crucial not to twist the truth – it will come back and haunt you.
If you’re looking a discreet, skilled and experienced consultant specialising in crisis management PR to contact us today for a confidential discussion.