By Jason Snyder
In the past two weeks, the world’s most well-known, wealthy and powerful organization has suffered three very significant hits to its image and reputation. One of those hits was particularly catastrophic. The others had the potential to be just as bad.
That organization, of course, is the United States of America and its intelligence agencies. What happened should serve as a reminder to all organizations that crises can strike at any time, and having a plan in place to handle them is absolutely critical to minimizing damage to reputation and ensuring business continuity.
In the Wednesday, Jan. 6, edition of the Wall Street Journal, President Obama said that U.S. intelligence agencies knew that al Qaeda in Yemen was targeting the United States but “failed to connect the dots” to thwart a Christmas Day bombing attempt. The previous day’s Journal described the suicide bomber who killed seven Central Intelligence Agency employees and contractors and a Jordanian intelligence officer as a double agent the CIA had recruited to provide intelligence on senior al Qaeda leadership. And on Monday, Jan. 4, the Washington Post reported that six weeks after two people crashed the state dinner at the White House honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Secret Service divulged that a third person also made it in without credentials.
In this day and age, such security breeches further damage the world’s perception of America as a superpower and leader. They further compromise the safety of U.S. citizens and undermine future efforts to protect them. These breeches empower those who continue to work against the United States and its principles.
Although these U.S. crises are a matter of life and death and play out on a much larger stage, they offer cause for pause for businesses and organizations of all sizes.
Based on media reports that indicate the CIA had a high level of trust in the double agent who double-crossed its staff in Afghanistan, gaining entry to a base on Dec. 30 so he could kill himself and seven CIA agents in a suicide bombing, it’s fair to believe America’s most highly sophisticated intelligence organization did not believe in that situation it was susceptible to this type of attack. Likewise, in our experience, manufacturers, health systems, technology companies and many other organizations — for profit, nonprofit and governmental – are not well prepared, if at all, to manage a crisis when one occurs. In the words of Jonathan Bernstein, a well-respected crisis management expert, “If auto safety was like some crisis management programs, we’d be buying seat belts and air bags while our cars were skidding toward a wall at high speed.”
Manufacturing plant owners and managers are well aware of the possibility of a crisis occurring in their facilities, just as health system executives know that patient deaths due to negligence are a reality. But spending the time, money and energy to develop crisis management plans and regularly train to be prepared to manage crises are not near the top of their priority lists, despite the fact that a wrongful death in their hospital or release of potentially harmful chemicals into the environment can lead to litigation, damaged reputation and financial loss. What they stand for may well be called into question and open the door for those who compete against them to grab market share.
In today’s rapidly changing media environment, news of this type spreads quickly and “virally” through the world via Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other social media outlets, not to mention the questions from the traditional print and broadcast media outlets. Not only do organizations need a plan to manage crises, they need to actively monitor the evolving social media space for conversations that could affect them. There are plenty of examples to choose from, but some of the most memorable crises that played out through social media can be found at Social Media Today.
Hiding behind “No comment” or following the Tiger Woods’ strategy of radio silence is no strategy for crisis management and communications. Realizing that a plan to salvage your organization’s reputation in a time of crisis is just as important as a plan to market your products is essential. Jeff Chatterton of Checkmate Public Affairs offers a “gift” for the new year: 10 ways organizations can sink themselves with conceivable, real life situations that happen every day. I leave you with those as you think about how you’d handle a crisis at your organization, but I also ask you a question: What other every day situations would you add to Jeff’s list?
