About a week before the historic meeting (in 2002) of American archbishops in Rome to discuss the worsening Catholic Church sex scandal, PR specialist Richard
Levick was contacted by an Order of the Church (Editor's note: Levick could not divulge to us which part of the Catholic Church contacted him.)
The crisis had been brewing for years, and it now was about to come to a head. And although the eyes of the world would be on the meeting -- media trucks already had set up
camp outside of the Vatican -- the Order still didn't seem to recognize the severity of the situation.
By dragging its feet, the Order was immediately "put on the defensive," says Levick, an attorney and president of Levick Strategic Communications (Washington, D.C.),
which has handled the communications for hundreds of high-profile legal cases, including the controversy surrounding U.S. forces in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where alleged terrorists
are being held. "We all think it's getting better even when the bulls are charging at us."
Levick points to the actions of the Order, or the lack thereof, as emblematic of what often is the inability of both institutions and corporations to face reality when
confronted with a crisis.
Ed Moed, managing partner and co-founder of mid-size PR agency Peppercom Inc. (New York City), whose clients include Bank of Montreal, Steelcase and
Tyco International, says the lack of crisis preparedness stems from the still-misguided belief among senior managers that a crisis "can't happen to us" or, if it does, "we
have a strong business continuity technology procedures in place." Yet both views lend a false sense of security, and they do little to gird companies when a crisis does hit.
Moed and Levick participated last week's PR News-sponsored "Advanced Crisis-Management Workshop: How Crisis-Ready Are You?" Webinar. (For details on how to listen
to the replay of this event, please go to http://www.prnewsonline.com.)
Even with the hyper-scrutiny of corporate America by regulators and the media -- not to mention the continuing fallout from the corporate scandals of the late 1990s -- many
companies continue to think they're somehow immune from crises and, if they do have to deal with them, they'll lowball reactions in the hope that they will just go away.
Perhaps now more than ever, senior PR executives, who constantly strive to demonstrate their value to their company's decision-makers, must play a bigger role in convincing
managers on the need to better prepare for myriad crises. (To see how your company stacks up against a crisis response checklist, see table.)
According to Fortune, 85% of communications managers from Fortune 1,000 companies have a crisis plan in place, but less than one-third have ever tested to make
sure it works.
A 2004 Conference Board survey found that almost 70% of communications executives from the largest 1,000 U.S. companies feel their companies' senior management wouldn't
react well to a financial crisis; only 20% of those executives said they've tried to prepare their companies in the event such a crisis happens. "The bottom line is that the
crisis-management process and communicating infrastructure resources are never put through a reality check," Moed says.
As difficult as it may be to deal with headstrong managers (and healthy egos), Levick stresses, "It's incumbent upon PR execs to explain painfully and clearly [to senior
staffers] what the challenge is" when dealing with a crisis. And until lawyers and PR execs break out singing "Kumbaya" (unlikely), they have to learn how to play in the same
sandbox when dealing with crises. "Legal training is to solve legal problems, not business problems," Levick adds.
Here's a major part of the problem: Failing to properly define any guiding principles in how an organization will (holistically) respond to crises. "Too many organizations
don't set goals" for dealing with crises, Moed says. "You have to make sure everyone is on the same page: 'What do we do?' 'What do we say?' Then it's a matter of monitoring the
post-mortem to see what worked and what didn't."
As far as the initial response to a crisis goes, much as lawyers like saying "no comment," in this day and age such a response is fraught with peril.
"There are two sides to every story and, when you say 'no comment,' the media gets the entire story and you don't get your side of the story" into the mix, Levick says. "If
that's a risk you're willing to take, then say 'no comment.'"
Contacts: Richard Levick, 202.973.1303, [email protected]; Ed Moed, 212.931.6116, [email protected]
Crisis Response Checklist
Step One: First Alert
- Calmly alert site leader
- Notify Financial, CEO and PR/Communications offices
- Begin to fill out incident fact sheet
- Inform employees on site that all calls be passed to designated spokesperson
Step Two: Collect All of the Facts
- Utilize incident fact sheet -- date, time, sources, etc.
Step Three: Assess Situation Quickly and Inform Key Groups/Constituents
- Inform immediate neighbors affected/other branch operations
- Work with HQ to communicate with various audiences
Step Four: Create Action Plan/Prepare for Media Calls or Visits
- Develop talking points
- Start media contact record sheet
- Designate media spokesperson
- Discuss media inquiry coordination with civil authorities involved
- Set up a separate media room
- Designate separate telephone lines for incoming and outgoing calls
- Anticipate media questions, review media interaction guidelines, assemble important background literature
Step Five: When Reporters Arrive
- If necessary, issue safety/protective equipment and escort to media room
- Inform reporters of any restrictions on movement or photos
- Advise them of time and place for future updates
- Follow up on additional media inquires
- Do not speculate -- stick to what you know and stay true to your facts
Source: Ed Moed, Peppercom Inc.