Crisis Management

When a crisis hits, the wrong reaction, the lack of preparation, or a misunderstanding of the situation can have a catastrophic effect on an organization's reputation and financial standing. So it's imperative that businesses are not only prepared, but also have fast and smart responses for any event that should unfold. Executing our proprietary methodology, we work with clients to anticipate and rehearse for crises, and to manage any unexpected threats that arise.

Sometimes, no matter how thoroughly a company has assessed its own vulnerability and taken measures to prevent crises, they happen anyway.   Unfortunately, there always will be airline disasters, oil spills, plant explosions, product recalls, class action suits, data breaches, malfeasance in the C-suite, and personal pecadilloes by high profile executives who embarrass the organizations they lead.

In a best case scenario, companies have conducted audits to identify which sorts of mishaps are most likely to befall them, have put in place crisis management protocols, and have rehearsed them at least annually.  Such "fire drills" are relatively inexpensive, not terribly time-consuming, and prove extraordinarily valuable when an inevitable crisis ultimately hits.  At minimum, a crisis communications plan ought to be a permanent icon on the desktop of every manager with crisis management communication responsibility.

Although few could have anticipated the awful events of 9-11, United Airlines was exceptionally well-prepared to communicate in the aftermath of that tragedy because of the comprehensive crisis response plan it had in place for less historic accidents involving its planes.

Dupont, Sara Lee, and Kodak also were in the vanguard of companies to create comprehensive crisis communications plans, keep them up to date, and rehearse them with reasonable frequency.  The benefits of doing so can be measured not only by the immediate costs of having to scramble for resources to deal with a crisis when one is unprepared for it, but also the far larger and longer-lasting cost to a company's reputation, which quite often can reach seven figures as calculated by market capitalization.

Call the trusted advisors of McEwen McMahon - a crisis management PR firm in New York city -  to ensure that your company has evaluated its risk of falling victim to crises and taken the right steps to prepare for them.