There is an old saying that insists: Experience is the best teacher. When it comes to crisis communications training, it would appear that experience is also the primary
teacher. A recent survey conducted by PR News and Levick Strategic Communications determined the vast majority of PR professionals learn how to handle crises while
on the job.
In a poll of 481 people spanning the corporate and nonprofit sectors and governmental agencies, only 20% stated they were previously trained in crisis communications management
within an academic setting. The other 80% learned it on the job. Within that majority, 18% learned these skills on their own, with no previous training and no senior colleagues
to fall back on for support.
For Larry Smith, vice president at Levick Strategic Communications, the predominance of occupational training versus academic studies is no surprise. "I'd certainly be in the
80% who learned on the job - I haven't been to college since Richard II was the King of England," he says, with a laugh. "I don't derogate such educational training. But I think
it's one more reference to just how different the worlds of business and education are - you learn the words in school, but on the job is where you learn to put the words into a
sentence."
However, the survey numbers came as a surprise to Mike Paul, president of New York-based MGP & Associates PR. Paul wonders whether PR professionals who are only
learning to deal with crises as they occur adequately represent companies and nonprofits.
"The same way we do an audit with a client, a client has to do an audit of us," says Paul about determining the viability of a PR professional's capacity to handle crisis
communications and litigation PR. "Companies need to make sure the PR people aren't just breathing and exhaling hot air."
Furthermore, those who received their training on the job overwhelmingly found that brand of preparation to be highly relevant to their present responsibilities (94%), whereas
those who received their training in an academic setting had a somewhat smaller level of enthusiasm for the quality of preparation relevance (73% said yes, 16% said no and 11%
said "somewhat").
Victory Through Brain Power
So how can the industry beef up the level of crisis communications training within schools? Mike Paul advocates incorporating hands-on political strategy training to assist
future PR professionals learn about dealing with and preventing crises. "The best crisis control communicators come from the world of politics," he says, noting this sphere
covers a wide swath of challenges in "analyzing, strategizing and understanding audiences and messages."
Another advocate of a broader education for PR students is Lynne Maraschiello, a Los Angeles lawyer who is creating a new UCLA course focusing on crisis communications
and litigation PR. Maraschiello believes it is crucial to incorporate not only an aspect of legal studies into college-level PR courses, but to also reach out to law students to
broaden their understanding of today's PR requirements to avoid the legal-PR squabbling that often weighs down a rapid response to an unfolding crisis.
"Attorneys are always saying: Keep your mouth closed," she says. "PR people are always saying: You need to talk or we cannot balance the scales. This education needs to be
given to both sides."
Larry Smith advocates organizing in-depth internships for college and university students at PR agencies that would include simulated training on how to deal with unwinding
crises. "The most important skill in PR is adaptability," he says. "If you can't adapt, you won't be successful in this business."
For Greg Brooks, principal with West-Third Group of Plattsburg, MO, it is incumbent upon PR people (both in school and on the job) to have proper understanding of basic
risk management principles, not to mention basic business sense.
"One problem with the PR industry in general is that we're a bunch of hammers that see everything as a nail," says Brooks. "The C-level concern is not 'Do I say the right
thing to the press in a crisis?' Their concern is: 'How do I not muck up my stock price and expose myself to further liability and risk?' That is the essence of crisis
communications."
Contacts: Larry Smith, [email protected]; Mike Paul, [email protected]; Lynne Maraschiello, [email protected]; Greg Brooks, [email protected].
PR's Role in Litigation / Crisis Communications
1. Where do you work?
- Private company 25%
- Publicly traded company 17%
- Communications agency 20%
- Nonprofit/Association 14%
- Government 10%
- Other 14%
2. Please select whichever of the following describes your professional experience:
- I am a member of a team that has handled 1 to 20 crisis and/or litigation media matters 40%
- I am a member of a team that has handled more than 20 crisis and/or litigation media matters 11%
- I have led a team on 1 to 20 crisis and/or litigation media matters 27%
- I have led a team on more than 20 crisis and/or litigation media matters 22%
3. How would you describe your training for litigation and/or crisis communications work?
- Academic 20%
- On the job, as part of a team handling 20 or fewer crisis and/or litigation media matters 32%
- On the job, as part of a team handling more than 20 crisis and/or litigation media matters 22%
- On the job, handling a crisis and/or litigation matter that arose and for which you had no prior training 18%
- Other 8%
4. If your training was mainly on the job, would you say:
- The training was guided by senior communications colleagues 14%
- It was a sudden immersion course due to exigent circumstance 25%
- It was a combination of the two . 52%
- Other 9%
5. Of the 124 respondents who got their crisis communications training via university or college, the following reported whether this preparation proven relevant to their
present responsibilities:
- Yes 73%
- Somewhat 11%
- No 16%
6. Of the 180 who got trained on the job, the following reported whether this preparation proven relevant to their present responsibilities:
- Yes 94%
- Somewhat 4%
- No 2%
Total number of respondents: 481
Data:PR News and Levick Strategic Communications