Companies that proactively address potential crisis situations are more likely to rebound and emerge even stronger.
Crisis—the word evokes Titanic-sized disasters: earthquakes, fires, major accidents, life-and-death situations.
But in today’s interconnected world, potential crises come in all shapes and sizes. A rumor on social media…a cybersecurity breach…a poor hiring decision—all of these can quickly escalate into a major crisis, doing untold damage to a company’s reputation, not to mention its stock price.
Enter PI|PR, a unique joint partnership between JConnelly and Beau Dietl & Associates, a leading security and investigation firm.
I sat down with key members of the PI|PR team—Jennifer Connelly and Patrick Hurley, Executive Vice President at Beau Dietl & Associates—to talk about crisis and what businesses need to do to protect themselves in this perilous environment.
Bonnie Clark: How do you know if you’re dealing with a true crisis?
Jennifer Connelly: Social media has really changed the equation. What might have been considered a small blip 10 years ago has to be treated more urgently given the power of social media and the influence of the citizen journalist.
Jennifer Connelly, CEO and founder, JConnelly
Patrick Hurley: It’s part of being in business today. Unfortunately, many of the smaller and mid-size organizations don’t see it that way. Large organizations can usually absorb security breaches—whether it’s workplace violence, theft, intruders—they’re well prepared to deal with it. But smaller organizations are not. One security issue could wipe them out.
BC: What is the common mistake companies make when thinking about or responding to a crisis?
JC: They end up having to play defense when a crisis occurs because they are chasing—rather than controlling—the story. Real crisis preparation starts by thinking through all the potential threats to your business and creating a comprehensive plan to address them—the who, what, when, why and how of your response.
PH: Not planning and not practicing. This preparation minimizes the mistakes that normally occur in early stage responses to a crisis. I’ve seen crisis drills where you have a CEO, COO, C-level executives and senior managers all in a room together—for a table-top practice exercise and, the drill breaks down from the start and they all start fighting with each other because they’ve never really thought about who is supposed to do what at the onset of a crisis. At that point, they quickly come to understand the value of planning and preparation.
BC: Why do you think so many businesses aren’t thinking ahead and putting a proactive assessment and crisis plan in place?
PH: It’s like most things that are, unfortunately, seen as discretionary costs. Everything is good until something goes wrong. For years, security professionals have been trying to quantify the ROI on investments in security and crisis management. But, if an organization is doing it right, nothing, or very little, is happening so many organizations don’t see the value in it regardless of the threats.
JC: I see the same exact thing all the time. Whenever a crisis happens, the phone rings in two places: lawyers offices and PR firms. Imagine a world where you already had a PR relationship in place with a firm that knows your business, the players, the story?
BC: Alright, so let’s say a company is facing a crisis. What are some of the first things you would do to control the situation?
PH: Getting in front of it, leveraging intelligence resources, and seeing the patterns of a crisis emerging, what’s happening and why it’s happening, then taking immediate steps to mitigate the effects. That normally starts with communications to employees, partners, suppliers and clients. From an immediate safety perspective, organizations have a duty of care obligation to their employees, clients/customers and anyone who sets foot on site. Meeting that obligations starts with preparation well before anything happens.
Patrick Hurley, executive vice president, Beau Dietl & Associates
JC: I think keeping things simple is crucial. Most crises seem more complicated than they actually are. Over-explaining—or bringing too many voices into the mix—can make you seem defensive, disjointed and raise more questions.
BC: This is such an important topic—one that affects every kind of business in every part of the world. What is the one piece of advice you would offer to a business owner who is worried that he or she may be vulnerable to some type of threat?
JC: Speed counts. In this hyper-connected digital world, firms should be ready to respond to a crisis immediately. That’s why it’s so important to have that existing relationship secured and a plan in place.
PH: It’s cheaper to fix something before it happens. Talking about a crisis you weren’t prepared for doesn’t do an organization much good especially after they missed an opportunity to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities before something had actually happened.
BC: Food for thought. Thank you for your time—and let’s hope everyone takes your good advice: anticipate and plan!
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