President Bush has declared war on terrorists. Thousands of reserve troops are being called to active duty. This means it's time for your company to sort out its policies and
procedures involving employees called for military service. Here are some of the most urgent organizational elements to put into place now to avoid or manage adverse visibility
later:
The Corporate Military Action Response Team (C-MART)
This special group of individuals should work as an incident response organization when employees are activated for military service. This group has three basic duties:
- Identify those called up for military service and make arrangements to contact and stay in contact with their families.
- Monitor the call-up situation and keep senior management informed with respect to the impact on the organization.
- Be prepared to respond, react, and mobilize appropriate corporate resources to assist the Military Council in the event a response/explanation is required due to unplanned
visibility.
Security, Human Resources, and Public Affairs (the Military Council)
These staff functions coordinate with each other in planning for and responding to visibility caused by employee military activity, a result of the very unusual "war" America
is engaged in:
- Security monitors where employees are serving and asset exposure. National security issues may intrude in certain aspects of this process.
- Human Resources manages the people aspects of these situations - benefits, personnel policies, etc. An Employee Assistance Program may be part of your Human Resources
function and current policies on trauma response should be reviewed in light of the impact on co-workers and the community should an employee be killed, wounded, disabled,
captured by opposition forces, involved in an accident or incident, or missing in action (MIA). - Public Affairs/Media Relations manages visibility including media calls, and calls from family and friends. In most companies such calls are forwarded initially to the Public
Affairs function because it is on the front line for external interests, and keeps everyone informed of key events and issues.
Standby Statements
Put in place brief, positive statement formats to use in the event that your company's employees are hurt, killed, or captured in combat or in military accidents. The media
won't be satisfied with talking to just any spokesperson; they're going to want to hear from the boss, especially when the first casualties, or extremely serious casualties,
occur.
Internal Briefing Operations
For the duration of the military action and any subsequent follow-up activity that involves your employee-reservists, a reasonably frequent schedule of management briefings
should be held by the C-MART and the Military Council to:
- Help management stay abreast of personnel changes and policies.
- Offer assistance to families and arrange for constant contact.
- Monitor how other companies are responding.
- Learn from and watch how the news media are covering military stories to include these patterns in your preparation process.
Doing Business in a Threatened Environment
Your security department will take a very active coordinating role to provide protection for personnel and facilities inside and outside the country. Domestic security
precautions will increase greatly if you are a defense contractor or a potential target of terrorists. Here's what Security will be doing and the questions they'll be
answering:
- Physical Security. A complete review of all physical security programs.
Do your plans for protection of facilities and people reflect the reality
of possible attack? - Backup Systems. Hopping around the world on business trips will be
severely constrained in the short term. Companies will have to make use of
currently available computer/communication facilities to avoid travel-related
concerns and problems. Are you prepared for the increased use of video conferencing
and the Internet? - Secure Communications and Business Information. Communications will
be monitored for any reference to the conflict, anti-government statements,
or potential intelligence activities. You should also consider the possibility
of communications disruptions. How will company operations continue?
While you're making your preparations, it makes sense to brush up on the laws, rules, and regulations that apply to employers of reserve troops.
Concerns for Multinational Companies
War Zone Activity. Identify facilities in or near the war zone. Are they critical? Can they be protected feasibly? If not, what alternatives exist?
Employees Abroad: Assume they will become targets because an American company employs them.
Expatriates and Their Families: Move them from war zones, especially if they are citizens of belligerent countries.
Foreign Governments Under Siege: May expropriate assets (physical and financial) in-country. Reduce your exposure.
Foreign Nationals at the Helm: Overseas employees may take advantage of the situation to forward their own agendas, using your company's assets and name.
Brian Hollstein, CPP, co-authored this column with James E. Lukaszewski, APR, Fellow PRSA. Hollstein is the former head of Corporate Security for Xerox Corporation. He spent
10 years in the FBI. Lukaszewski is chairman of The Lukaszewski Group Inc., a consultancy specializing in crisis communication management. He has recently authored, in
collaboration with the PRSA, a three-volume crisis management strategy series, available through http://www.PRandMarketing.com. Reach
Jim at [email protected] or 914/681-0000. Reach Brian at [email protected].