There is a common misconception that some information and documents produced are secret. That they will never see the light of day. This is no longer the case and that in itself offers a hugely important lesson – never write anything down that could cause embarrassment to your organisation.
Of course, there will always be some information that needs to be formally detailed, for instance for risk management, audit trails or similar purposes, and this may be critical of an organisation and potentially embarrassing. It is, though, the way that the information is conveyed, the language used and the exact terms of what is written down that needs to be carefully considered. Always think ‘how would this be viewed if it became public’?
It does however, remain largely unseen as far as planning for risk and crises go. There is interplay between workplace expectations, corporate and HR policies but also common practice which is all still largely ill-defined and considered.
Organisations still think that it won’t happen to them. But it can, all too easily.
There are several reasons why we have to beware:
- Leaks – the nature of electronic materials means that they are more easily shared and that means there are more points at which information can become public. There is very little consideration nowadays as to who should see information, or be involved in discussions on documents. The default position is to share widely but this is not always appropriate. The more information is shared the less personal buy-in there is that process and discussion. This makes leaking easier.Leaks can also mean that details of commonly accepted practices are made public. Recently, allegations about offensive language used by contractors towards their key client groups were broadcast and then repeated in the newspapers. Just look around your own workplace and it is often all too easy to see practice which, if it were made public, would impact on reputation.
- Freedom of Information – you have to understand the nature of the client and the legal requirements that they operate under. For instance, working with the public sector could means that documents produced have to be released following a Freedom of Information request. If that happens, are you totally happy with how you conveyed the advice delivered, the language used, and how any names were named? All too often not enough consideration is provided to the potential audience of the work.
- Accidents – some incidents are beyond parody. The Thick of It’s episode where discussions about ‘quiet bat people’ become news because the meeting notes were clearly visible has been often repeated in real life.
Andrew Mitchell, during his time as International Development Secretary was caught leaving Downing Street, not on his bike, with “protected†government documents on display. Bob Quick, then senior counter terrorism officer was pictured holding the contents of a secret anti-terrorism plan in full view – he had to resign. Danny Alexander was photographed holding a memo detailing forecasts for public sector job cuts and Caroline Flint, as a Labour Cabinet minister, displayed a document on the property crisis.
Emails can be sent to the wrong person by accident, sometimes with great hilarity but there are often personal as well as corporate reputations at stake.
Not everything is a big conspiracy and the role of muck-up also comes into play often through employees doing silly things that are filmed and then end up on YouTube. Sometimes there is malicious intent but mostly it is high jinx. Tweets, postings, social media updates, all can generate media and political interest.
Whichever it is there will need to be a reaction with reputation protection firmly in mind.
This means that organisations have to be aware of where potentially damaging stories can come from and have the systems and preparation in place to deal with them. It is not always the actions of isolated individuals but about the way that an organisation goes about its business and practices and behaviours it allows.
Considering this is good risk management and good crisis prevention.