No matter what you’re in the business of, be it a child nursery, a dog grooming company or hotel chain, something’s bound to go wrong. It’s only a matter of time before you lose a kid, accidentally slice a cocker spaniel or expose a customer or 2 or 100 to bed mites. Getting over the ‘it’ll never happen to me’ rhetoric is half the battle but then you also need to implement a crisis management plan before disaster strikes.
According to Wilcox et al (2003, p. 184), there are a number of strategies a company may choose to utilize in order to deal with a crisis; techniques which can aptly be demonstrated by a restaurant in the wake of a mild food poisoning incident.
Attack the accuser
Restaurant: ‘Which self-respecting person orders pork on a Wednesday anyway?’
Denial
Restaurant: Define ‘your pork’? Just because it came out of our kitchen, was served on our plate in our restaurant doesn’t really mean it’s ours per say. Couldn’t the wholesaler or farmer also claim possession?’
Restaurant: Define ‘your pork’? Just because it came out of our kitchen, was served on our plate in our restaurant doesn’t really mean it’s ours per say. Couldn’t the wholesaler or farmer also claim possession?’
Excuse
Restaurant: To be fair, that pork came in here with an attitude...
Justification
Restaurant: The customers looked like the ‘I prefer it rear type...’
Restaurant: The customers looked like the ‘I prefer it rear type...’
Ingration
Restaurant: ‘We totally understand, we’d be embarrassed if we threw up in public too’
Restaurant: ‘We totally understand, we’d be embarrassed if we threw up in public too’
Corrective Action
Restaurant: Free pork, on the house, for a year!!
Restaurant: Free pork, on the house, for a year!!
Full Apology
Restaurant: ‘Sorry, our bad...’
Restaurant: ‘Sorry, our bad...’
During a recent crisis management exercise it became blatantly clear that the underlying message is to prepare, act quickly and stick to the facts. Sounds simple enough but many companies fail to conduct a risk audit, others take too long to respond as we saw with President Bush and the 911 attacks and the class activity highlighted the dangers of making assumptions and being pressured into delivering false statements.
In the midst of a crisis, an organization is put centre-stage and its communications and behaviours are carefully scrutinized. It is therefore imperative that companies prepare for such inevitable occasions and turn disasters into a showcase of knowledge, expertise, care, concern and some good ole common sense.
References
Wilcox, D., Cameron, G. Ault, P., Agee, W., (2003). Public Relations Strategies and Tactics. 7th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
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