I recently provided my views to PR Week on the crisis, entirely self-made, that has engulfed Thomas Cook. That caused me to reflect on some of the reasons why organisations continue to fail to understand how to deal with a crisis.
There is plenty of advice around for those that want to listen about how to handle a crisis and how to avoid them in the first place as well.
So here is my contribution to the debate.
Internal conflict – a lack of focus or conflicting desires on what the outcome should be. Conflict between PR and legal teams being a classic example. That can lead to…
An inability to say sorry – this is the foundation upon which everything else should be built. Anyone not appreciating that should just be given statements about Thomas Cook. They have now replaced BP as the poster boys for bad crisis handling. If there is a victim in the crisis then they and their families should be the absolute focus. Insurance payments and everything else comes second. Talk to the families, involve them, treat them like human beings not potential future liabilities.
A focus just on the media – they forget any victims involved or their families and look just at the headlines and think about how the media should be handled. This can range from only talking to them, through to giving them information on an exclusive basis, making decisions only with the headlines in mind etc.
And no social media – hopefully this is something that no longer applies but Twitter, for many, still exists only as a way of broadcasting pre-vetted information, not of engaging in a dialogue.
No advisers in place – this relates to a failure to manage risk properly in the first place. There are always dangers for any organisation but have they been planned for? What do they do if things do go wrong? Who do they call?
A poor senior team – let’s face it some Chief Executives and other senior team members do not take advice. That could impact on the strategy or whether they become the ‘face’ of the organisation or not. Some just cannot be told that they do not have a face for TV.
Not thinking about the politics – part of only thinking about the media is failing to remember that politicians will be called on to give comment either voluntarily or because they feel they must. Such statements can be in the media or in Parliament where they can often be hugely more critical. These comments are then carried in the media and the cycle goes on.
Keeping secrets – the idea in this day and age that anything remains a secret is at best naïve but worse potentially hugely damaging. For Thomas Cook it was a massive insurance pay out but for others its leaked memos or reports. There are also conversations that are subsequently reported on. All this can keep the problem going over days and even weeks. And when it is revealed that there was a secret then the entire focus is on the behaviour and actions of the organisation with the initial incident being relegated. You will have created your own new story.
Cover-ups – instead of trying to take an open and honest approach, many still prefer to try and batten down the hatches and wait for the storm to pass. That won’t happen. Issues have a habit of coming up time and again so expect to be revisited at the very least. All the time that the media and the public think that they are not being told what is really going on then the more they will agitate for answers.
There are also a whole range of other ‘good behaviours’ from dealing with the media in a professional manner through to responding promptly.
I am sure that others will have views as well and that this list could doubtless be much longer but too many organisations still seem unprepared. There is enough experience and examples out there to help people avoid making mistakes. They just continue to do so….