Escaping Disaster when Disaster Hits
Seven Tactics You MUST Employ in Your Crisis Plan
You’ve undoubtedly read countless accounts that analyze how companies have responded in a crisis. Most of these accounts focus on the failures – such as the poor execution of disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina – and these serve to scare leaders into making sure it doesn’t happen to them. But there are success stories as well (Who can forget how quickly Johnson & Johnson bounced back from its Tylenol tampering crisis?)
Regardless, the idea of dealing with a crisis – from the more “traditional” disasters such as fires, floods or tornados to more complex risks resulting from terrorism, “cyberspace” crime, computer network malfunction and product failure – leads most executives into uncharted territory. Some may even ask whether it’s worth the time, expense and aggravation to plan for something that may likely never happen.
But it is? A warehouse fire can keep you from shipping product. A sexual harassment suit can cause a client exodus. Malfunctioning assembly lines or poor product quality control or unexpected product side effects can force a product recall. Any one of these situations (or the many other potential crisis) can put an ill-prepared company out of business.
So, if a crisis does befell your organization, how prepared are you? Are you confident that your crisis plan will support your efforts to handle the situation and maintain business continuity – or at least restore it quickly? If not, what steps can you take to improve your crisis plan and avert preventable disasters?
Below is a list of tactics that Stauber Associates recommends as part of a typical crisis management plan. Our experience in catastrophic loss situations ensures companies are prepared – preemptively, with appropriate coverage, and during a crisis with on-site expertise.
While no plan can prepare you for every potential disaster or contingency, a comprehensive strategy ensures you have the confidence to face most situations – with enough flexibility to handle issues not addressed in the plan. more...
