Crisis Communications
Crisis Communications | Human Resource Executive Online
Although HR leaders may have been using -- or at least begun thinking of using -- social media for recruiting, project management and knowledge transfer, they may not yet have considered the benefits of using such tools in the case of emergencies. The sooner, the better, experts say.
By Lin Grensing-Pophal
In late March, Fargo, N.D., was faced with the most serious flood threat in its history. The Red River crested at just over 40 feet -- a historic event.
Innovis Health, a 21-location healthcare provider with sites in Minnesota and North Dakota, found itself in the midst of the crisis. While the other major area hospital was forced to close, Innovis remained open, but was challenged to communicate with the public -- and employees, many engaged in community sandbagging efforts.
In addition, employees' families and friends -- literally, from around the world -- were frantically trying to get in touch with their loved ones, tying up phone lines and stressing the community's already over-stressed communication system.
An Unexpected Communication Solution
While most organizations today are at least aware of social media and its potential uses in recruiting, project management and knowledge transfer, its use as part of an organization's crisis-communication plan is not as widespread -- yet.
Patricia Thorp, president of Thorp & Company, a PR firm in Coral Gables, Fla., has more than 20 years of experience in planning crisis-management-communication strategies for HR professionals.
She says the use of social media in crisis management with internal audiences "is really fascinating because every company in America should be doing it, and yet when you look for examples, you see very few."
Such usage has been embraced by educational institutions -- especially in the aftermath of tragedies such as the Virginia Tech shootings, where two hours elapsed between the first shooting at 7:15 a.m. and the school newspaper's first blog post at 9:47 a.m. Students, themselves, were using their mobile phones, digital cameras and social media to document the tragedy in real time.
Back in Fargo, facing a cresting river, Innovis was caught short by the need to communicate in a crisis situation. It had no plan in place to use social media to connect, in real-time, with key audiences, including its employees.
The initial intended audience of using social networking -- such as blogs and Twitter -- was the local media, says Kris Olson, Fargo-based vice president of marketing, quality and physician services, but she was shocked by how quickly use of such tools spread to other audiences.
Connecting with its internal audience was initially a "side benefit," she says.
To start, Innovis just sent out some information as an "FYI [to tell the community], 'We're still here; we haven't evacuated.'
"We suddenly had a means to stay in touch with physicians in town and with our employees," she says. "It was absolutely phenomenal -- and very positive."
The use of social media also helped employees stay in touch with family and friends around the country who were worried and looking for updates.
"One of our directors of nursing has a son in Brazil, a son in San Francisco and a sister in New York," says Olson. "She wasn't getting home at night to tell them 'I'm okay;' instead she forwarded them the blog and Twitter addresses and they could keep track without having to have repetitive phone calls."
And, Olson says, employee satisfaction and pride were positively impacted by these efforts. Many employees contacted her after the flooding to say: " 'This really gave us pride in who we work with,' " she says.
"We struggle constantly with how to notify our entire staff about what's going on in an immediate urgent need -- this gives us an opportunity to do that," she says. "Wherever they're at, they can get and give information."
Important First Steps
Social media should not be an afterthought in crisis communication, says Thorp. Unlike in years past, where companies had the luxury of time to plan their approach in response to a crisis before the media picked up on the story, today the immediacy and ready availability of social media and other communication tools (cell phone, digital cameras, etc.), mean that information is literally shared as soon as it becomes available.
HR departments are in a position to help ensure that their organizations have a process and plans in place so that information from the company reaches important internal constituencies. That means putting those plans in place now, before a crisis occurs.
The benefits are clear:
* Ability to immediately connect with employees during crisis situations in which safety may be an issue.
* Ability to arm employees with important messages about what the company is doing to respond to questions that they -- and their families, friends and acquaintances -- may have. These "key messages" are critical to help protect the company's image and ensure consistency.
* Ability to provide employees with a trusted source of information rather than forcing them to rely on other reports shared through the mass media or social media channels that they may already be a part of.
* Ability to remain in contact with employees who may not have access to internal communication tools -- e.g., the company intranet site.
Dallas Lawrence, vice president of digital media at Levick Strategic Communications, a Washington-based firm that specializes in crisis communication, says employers should poll workers to find out what sites they are using.
"Every single company in America that has more than 10 employees, has at least one that is using social media," says Lawrence. "If your company is in a crisis and you're not using social media to monitor what's being said and to proactively communicate with internal audiences, you're missing a huge opportunity," he says.
And companies need to establish their online presence, and get employees involved, before a crisis occurs, experts say. HR should also make sure employees are trained on how to use the social-networking tools.
Rodger Roeser, owner and president of Eisen Marketing Group in Cincinnati, recommends the use of "dark sites" to help get information out quickly.
"Dark sites" are Web pages that are created -- but not yet posted online -- that address specific issues that the company could, potentially, face. Such sites should be prepared for use on all available channels -- the company intranet or Internet site and home pages on social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook -- should an incident actually occur.
"You need to know how to respond to a crisis before it happens," he says.
Carol Russell, CEO of Russell Herder, the Minneapolis-based advertising agency that worked with Innovis on this project, agrees. In a perfect world, she says, the development and management of social media would be "planned and put in place ahead of a crisis."
In this case, however, when Russell heard about the flooding she contacted Olson to ask how the agency might be able to help.
"We came to a mutual decision that social media would be a great way to keep the lines of communication open," Russell says.
Within a matter of hours a blog, which was new, and the enhanced use of Twitter, which had already been in place, were put into action. Both were staffed 24/7 by the agency, which stayed in close contact with Olson.
Both Russell and Olson credit the strong relationship between the healthcare system and the agency with their ability to move quickly and efficiently to put the pieces in place without upfront planning.
Internal Connections
There is a surprising lack of focus on the use of social media for communicating with internal audiences during crises, Thorp says, noting that HR can play a role in changing this situation.
She recommends that HR professionals reach out to, and partner with, their PR and corporate communication colleagues.
The HR person and the PR person need to go to the C-suite and say 'look, here are 15 reasons we really ought to get this started' and be the leaders for the company getting these newer techniques used," she says.
Making connections with other groups within the organization is critical for HR professionals, Lawrence says, noting there can be a great divide between internal and external communication groups.
"It can be a physical as well as a mental divide," he says. "Oftentimes, the marketing team can be thousands of miles away."
He tells of one major automotive company whose marketing team was headquartered in Los Angeles, with corporate communications located across the country. The disconnect between the two left both ill-prepared to respond to their internal and external constituencies.
Engaging senior leadership and gaining their support, as well as providing training and education to staff, is critical.
Olson says she was shocked to discover how many of the leaders in her organization "didn't even know what Twitter is."
Roeser agrees that social media needs to be included among the tools used by organizations for communicating with employees during times of crisis, but stresses that social media should not be "in place of" other communication tools.
"It can, though, be an addendum to good, existing, sound, principles," he says. There is no replacement, he stresses, for "good, solid, one-to-one communication and relationships."
But, Lawence says, "Any company that relies on traditional media solely to communicate in a crisis will fail. It's just that simple."
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June 1, 2009 Copyright 2009© LRP Publications
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