Communicating in Crisis

Creating an effective internal crisis

communication plan
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

In April 2017, United Airlines broke the internet. Video footage

of a passenger being physically removed from a plane,
kicking and screaming, promoted a viral reaction that quickly
escalated into a PR crisis for the airline giant.

T
he incident itself was bad a global sensation in a matter of
enough; but what really minutes. Failing to prepare or respond
damaged the reputation of in the right way will incur even more
the brand was the initial reaction damage, and in some cases, may
of CEO Oscar Munoz, who offered a threaten the very existence of an
limited apology for “having to re- organization.
accommodate…customers.” The
much-needed heartfelt admission of When we consider those corporations
fault and apology didn’t come until a that have faced and managed crisis,
day or two after, causing significant there is a clear distinction between
damage to the reputation and those that come out on the other side,
financial standing of the business. and those still struggling with the
fallout for months or even years after
At the height of the crisis, the fact. The key lies in how those
United Continental (UAL) shares brands manage communications
slipped by 4% and the top related to crisis or disaster response,
trending topic on Twitter was from the inside out. Effective
#NewUnitedAirlinesMottos – with communication with employees both
suggestions from the public including prior to and in the height of a crisis
“not enough seating, prepare for a plays a major role in how it’s reflected
beating” or “we treat you like we treat and managed externally.
your baggage”. It was, quite simply, an
embarrassment. In this eBook, we’ll explore the basic
steps of creating an effective crisis
A crisis can take different shapes and communication plan. This focuses
forms, and every single organization on the internal plan, response, and
is vulnerable - regardless of their communications with employees and
size, sector, or ethos. Thanks to the stakeholders, and critically, the tools
connected nature of a digital world, a that facilitate and enable this process.
crisis also has the potential to become

2 3
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

Contents
What constitutes a ‘crisis’? 6

Response matters: Pan Am vs. Swissair 8

The role of communications in a crisis 10

Internal communications: the key to managing crisis 10

When employees are left out of the loop: HMV 12

Crisis Management: Defining your internal crisis communications plan 12

#1: Brainstorm and anticipate crises 14

#2: Define your crisis team and responsibilities 15

Empowering employees in crisis: Walmart 16

#3: Map out your employee and stakeholder groups 17

#4: Identify and audit your communication channels 18

Confirming staff safety: Cisco 19

#5 Develop, review, and push out company safety and

emergency protocols 20

#6 Develop holding statements, offline templates, and

writing guides 22

Using your intranet as an internal crisis communications tool 23

Internal actions have external consequences 28

4 5
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

What constitutes a
A crisis of malevolence, when extreme steps have been taken to ruin a
competitor for organizational gain

‘crisis’? Organizational misdeeds, including deception, skewed management values,

or collective management misconduct

Process disruption, such as an issue within the supply chain or distribution

process, including strike action or poor yield

For organizations, a crisis can be defined as:

“
Any situation that is threatening or could threaten to
harm people or property, seriously interrupt business,
significantly damage reputation and/or negatively
impact the bottom line.
Jonathan Bernstein - Crisis Management Expert

Commonly cited crises range from:

Natural disaster, such as an earthquake, flood, or extreme weather

Technological crisis, such as a cyberattack, outage, virus or other

interruption to technological operations

Environmental, such as pipeline leaks, spillage of hazardous materials or

waste, or resulting from construction Some types of crisis can be anticipated negative crisis if stakeholders attach
or even mitigated during the process controversy to it, or have a long-
of identifying and planning for them. standing loyalty and attachment to
Employee or management misconduct
This may be the case for a major the old brand.
merger or acquisition, for example,
Leak of privileged or internal information; in contrast to a cyberattack
or a change in senior management, An organization is also not always
that exposes a technological vulnerability, this is a deliberate act for which
redundancies, or store closures. liable or responsible for a crisis, as is
someone internal is responsible
Negative outcomes resulting from the case with a natural disaster or a
organizational change can normally physical or external threat, such as an
Product failings, faults, or recalls
be managed – or at least minimized – act of terrorism or vandalism. In these
with effective communication. situations, the crisis is accidental,
Conflict with interest groups; whether political, social, environmental, and the organization may even be a
cultural, or purpose In a similar vein, some crises are victim. However, the organization
not actually negative in nature – at is responsible for how it chooses to
Financial, such as significant losses, fraud, bankruptcy, or going into least, not originally. For example, a communicate and respond in the
administration new product, or perhaps a rebrand of height of crisis.
an existing product, may become a

6 7
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

Response matters: Ultimately, what constitutes a crisis

can be extremely broad in definition.
that a crisis is no longer something
to be responded to as and when

Pan Am vs. Swissair Having a comprehensive crisis

communication ‘plan’, therefore, is
it happens; it should form a core
part of business strategy. We must
not feasible in reality; each and every establish internal frameworks and
crisis will be unique and require a best practices to ensure information
tailored response. is distributed effectively, employees
respond appropriately, safety is
However, there is a realization now protected, and impact is minimized.

3/4 49%
of board members (76%) believe their of board members say their
companies would respond effectively companies engage in monitoring or
if a crisis struck tomorrow internal communications to detect
Both of these aviation brands management instructed employees trouble ahead
were subject to tragic events, to identify families of US diplomats
but the contrast in their crisis on its flight and issue a warning via
communications and response
demonstrates the reputational impact
embassies. Families of diplomats were
removed as a result. When it came 49% 32%
a mis-managed incident can have. to light that only an elite group was
given this privileged information, say their companies have playbooks say their companies engage in crisis
On 21 December 1988, a terrorist bomb there was public outrage. Pan Am for likely crisis scenarios simulations or training
on board Pan Am Flight 103 exploded moved from victim, to villain.
above the town of Lockerbie in
Scotland; 243 passengers, 16 crew and When Swissair Flight 111 crashed near
11 people on the ground were killed. Peggy’s Cove on the Nova Scotia Coast
Source: Deloitte, Global Crisis Management Survey Report
Pan Am decided it was not going to on 2nd September 1998, the response
communicate about the incident was a stark contrast. The airline
because it was the ‘victim’, not the coordinated its internal efforts and
‘villain’. No assistance was offered mobilized staff to provide support,
to victims’ families, employees were organizing for families to be flown
silenced, and the media was denied from Geneva to Halifax and to stay in
comment. accommodation close to the incident.
Each family was given $5,000 to take
The media response was one care of their immediate needs and
of suspicion, and investigative full cooperation and transparency
journalism later discovered that all in public communication was given.
US airlines flying the same route had The organization received very little
received a bomb threat, specifying the negative publicity as a result.
route and dates of the attack. Pan Am

8 9
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

The role of Internal

communications in communications: the
a crisis key to managing crisis
One of the challenges and frequently asked questions we see surrounds
responsibility for crisis management. Simply, whose job is it? When crisis strikes, organizations and understanding of staff is a
have a duty of care to their employees. tremendous challenge, particularly
Our staff are also our strongest given that crises, by nature, tend to
advocates and ambassadors, or be time-sensitive with the potential
potentially, our greatest liability. to escalate rapidly. If you’re forced
However, internal communication is to disseminate messages through a
also often neglected as management manager cascade, wait for IT to grant
place priority on the external permissions for a ‘send to all’ email,
reputation and message. or manually call each individual
employee to verify their safety, it could
The two can’t exist independently. be hours - even days - until you’ve
Get internal comms wrong, and connected with every individual.
organizations can undermine all
efforts to manage a crisis externally; For those organizations with up to
the resulting lack of trust, low morale, 75% of their staff based in non-desk
negative publicity or backlash, roles, out in the field, or without easy
employee turnover and poor customer access to a computer, this is even
relations will compound the crisis. more acute. When crisis hits, how do
Given the potential impact a crisis However, at the very center of you ensure staff are in the loop?
can have, it’s generally accepted effective crisis management lies During a disaster, every employee
that those at the top table – senior communication. Communicators with a social media account – whether Ensuring information flows and that
executives and board directors who are the primary link between their they want to be or not –automatically the right messages are executed at
have a responsibility to manage the organization, its stakeholders and becomes a spokesperson for their the right time, to the right individuals
interests of the organization and its the general public. This means that brand. Attempts to halt or silence or stakeholders, through the right
shareholders – must play a primary Communications Teams are not social media simply aren’t feasible; vehicles or channels, can have a
role in crisis management. When only responsible for the process of better to equip employees with significant impact on how a crisis
disaster strikes, or an organization is anticipating, scanning and identifying accurate information, and ensure is handled and brand reputation
thrust into the spotlight, stakeholders crisis risk, communicating that to those messages going external are managed. This responsibility
aren’t interested in hearing from the relevant stakeholders and employees aligned with the business. ultimately lies with internal
PR Manager or Communications to prevent and mitigate crisis where communicators.
Officer: they want the main feasible; they also hold the key to Successful management of a crisis,
figurehead; the CEO, the MD, senior effective management of a crisis when then, must begin internally. However,
leadership. it hits. ensuring the safety, alignment

10 11
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

When employees are Without adequate internal and external communications:

left out of the loop: Operational response will break down

HMV
Stakeholders will not know what is happening and quickly become
confused, angry, and negatively reactive

The organization will be perceived as inept, at best, and criminally

negligent, at worst

The length of time required to bring full resolution to the issue will be
extended, often dramatically

The impact to the financial and reputational bottom line will be more severe

Source: Jonathan Bernstein, Bernstein Crisis Management, 2016

We’ll now explore the key elements those charged with managing internal
to consider as part of your crisis communication – play, alongside the
communication plan, and the role tools, technologies, and channels
communicators – and particularly available.
When music retailer HMV called in
the administrators following financial
difficulties, job losses were an almost
inevitable outcome.

However, it was the lack of effective

internal communication of the
changes that resulted in a humiliating
PR nightmare for the chain, when
disgruntled employees took over the
company’s official Twitter account
to express their feelings about
the firings, utilizing the hashtag
#hmvXFactorFiring.

Failure to sensitively prepare and

break the news to employees – as
well as embed processes to lockdown
internal accounts! - proved hugely
detrimental, showing the power of
those on the inside to bring down a
brand.

12 13
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

Crisis Management: #2: Define your crisis team and responsibilities

We’ve already highlighted the need Given the broad nature of a crisis and,
Defining your internal crisis for senior representation to ‘front’ a
crisis, but nominating spokespeople is
typically, the urgency involved when
it hits, there are a variety of roles to

communications plan the very tip of the iceberg. consider. For example, who will be
responsible for:

Dispensing information in a crisis?

It goes without saying that prevention Each crisis is unique and as such, will
Fact-checking and verifying information, and standardizing that message
and mitigation are preferable in a require a tailored response. However,
throughout the business and externally, to ensure consistency?
crisis situation; but if a crisis does we can put in place frameworks,
emerge, the organization and its protocols, and a fair amount of the
employees must be prepared for it, legwork required to make sure things Ensuring that staff are accounted for and notified, and given regular updates
resolve it quickly, have the necessary run as smooth as possible if – or when as needed?
information, processes, and channels – the time comes. Better now than in
freely available, and understand what the height of a crisis. Seeing that the correct information is escalated to senior representatives or
is expected of them. third parties required to resolve the crisis or take action?

#1: Brainstorm and anticipate crises Taking on the role of ‘backup plan’ if named individuals are on leave or
unavailable?
The ostrich approach of burying As part of pre-crisis planning,
our heads in the sand and believing monitoring processes for identifying Having authority and responsibility for making critical decisions?
“it won’t happen to us” can prove emerging risks should be established.
risky. Taking the time to proactively This may be as simple as setting
Providing input or consulting on those decisions?
identify and brainstorm potential up Google alerts for company
crisis scenarios that could impact mentions, establishing a notification
your organization not only helps or whistleblowing system for Identifying those individuals in vital during a crisis; making an escalation
pinpoint those situations that may ground-level employees, or setting roles or departments, as well as the of decisions mandatory can create
be preventable; it will also help raise up monitoring of product or service appropriate level of seniority, should unnecessary barriers and increase
valuable questions or vulnerability provision to identify any red flags that form the foundation of your plan. time to resolution dramatically. Does
points that need addressing as part of could indicate a potential crisis. Typically, this includes representatives it really make sense to have the CEO
your plan. from HR, legal, communications/PR, sign off on every statement? Does
Not all crises can be anticipated, of and senior management. every member of the board need to be
Don’t fall into the trap of keeping course: but those that can should consulted on each decision?
this process at a senior management be caught early. Failure to spot an Be wary of making things too
level. Employees can offer valuable impending crisis not only allows less complicated or instilling too much red
perspective and bring different ideas time to address it, but poses an even tape, however. Time is of the essence
to the table. Including representatives greater threat to brand reputation,
from across your business can help by making your organization appear
bring these to light. incompetent.

14 15
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

Empowering employees #3: Map out your employee and stakeholder groups

in crisis: Walmart Every organization has a diverse range

of employees, each with different
visiting customers or undertaking
sales meetings. Some hard-to-reach
preferences on how they like to (or employees may have no access to
are able to) be contacted. They may be a computer or corporate account,
dispersed across multiple locations, making e-communications redundant
working non-core hours, or frequently in a time of need.
based out in the field, perhaps

When Hurricane Katrina wreaked items, the company made a cash

Online Workers
havoc in the US in 2005, resulting donation of $17 million to the relief
Buyers
in 1,836 deaths, one of the notable effort and offered 97 percent of its Finance
corporate response success stories displaced employees jobs elsewhere. Marketing & Communications
was that of Walmart. HR

However, perhaps most notable was

Hard to reach employees
Thanks to the coordinated efforts their flexibility and willingness to
of its Emergency Operations delegate responsibility in order to Transient Workers
Centre (EOC), Walmart actually maximize the efficiency of their Sales
reached hurricane-hit areas before response. In preparation, senior Merchandising department
Area management
government relief arrived, showcasing executives of Walmart called a
tremendous logistical efficiency and meeting in which store managers Offline workers
disaster planning abilities. Alongside were given authority to make on-the- Store workers
Delivery drivers
its $3 million donation in donated ground decisions.
Warehouse operatives

Chief Executive Scott Lee was reported as saying:

“
Identifying those different When the Brussels bombings
A lot of you are going to have to make decisions above
employee groups can help identify occurred on 22 March 2016, resulting
your level. Make the best decision you can with the any communication ‘gaps’, where in the death of 32 civilians and the
information that’s available to you at the time, and, above individuals may not be easily injury of 300 more, a few of our own
contactable in a particular scenario or Interact employees were on a business
all, do the right thing.
disaster. trip in Belgium, conducting sales
meetings. Knowing in advance who
In a further act of employee advocacy, Walmart’s example is a great reminder Expand this map out. Potential and where these individuals were,
Walmart made local employees that even if we have a small, defined audiences during a crisis will and the best way to contact them,
available for media interviews, rather crisis communication team, the include those employees’ families, enabled senior management to reach
than pushing senior leadership. The reality is that during disaster, every communities, media, customers, them and confirm their safety quickly
desire to retain a ‘community feel’ individual employee has a role to play. government officials and other and efficiently, as well as providing
and ensure efforts weren’t regarded as authorities, suppliers and more. Each guidance and support on what to do
self-serving or promotional showed has a ‘stake’ during different types of next.
the corporations’ understanding of disaster or incidents; identifying who
the nature of the disaster and how to these may be will make responses
communicate effectively. more efficient during a time of need.

16 17
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

#4: Identify and audit your communication channels

It’s time to bid a fond farewell to There is no silver bullet: in a time of
the traditional phone tree as the crisis, the more avenues or routes to
sole notification system for your your employees you have, the better.
organization during a critical Alongside your go-to channels such as
situation. Having identified your email or phone, consider your social
employee and stakeholder groups, channels, intranet, manager cascades,
you should have an understanding of communal areas, text messaging and
the different channels available – and more. Confirming staff safety: Cisco
preferred – for communication.

Social

Press release External

Website

Organization When a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck Japan

Email
Intranet in 2011, multinational tech leader Cisco Systems struggled to reach its 1,400
regionally-based employees in a timely manner. Despite the company’s
Slack commitment to employee safety, it took over a week for HR staff to locate all of
Internal
its area employees and confirm their safety.
MS Teams
Learning from their experience, the company implemented a sophisticated
SMS emergency notification system which enables HR to draw on updated rosters of
employees in affected areas and instantly contact them through various modes
of communication: work, home and mobile numbers; work e-mail addresses,
and text message.
When was the last time you took the scenario of having to wait for
stock of them? Checked that the permissions to be authorised by With the new system in place when the terrorist bombings occurred in
information stored in them is current determining these ahead of time. Brussels in 2016, leaders were able to account for the company’s 150+ regional
and up-to-date? Tested them in a Ensuring you have comprehensive employees within 24 hours. Thankfully, all were safe.
scenario-based environment? and regularly reviewed contact
information, that the systems you
Do the necessary individuals have have in place are tested regularly,
correct rights or permissions to and your elected communicators
distribute information through those are able to distribute information at
channels? Speed of communication a moment’s notice, are all critical to
is critical in a crisis; remove barriers efficient communication during a
for trusted individuals and prevent disaster situation.

18 19
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

It’s also important to remember managers to compose a message from Consider the location and accessibility and information architecture, and
that internal communication in a within the company intranet and of essential policies or protocols: the use of functionality such as ‘Best
crisis isn’t one-way. While top-down ‘broadcast’ it across multiple channels, if staff have to spend valuable time Bets’, which pushes the most relevant
information and updates are crucial, prompts recipients to confirm they digging through buried HR folders content to the top of search results for
it’s equally – if not more – vital that have read communications. In the on a shared drive, they’re going to pre-determined keywords, will help
staff are able to get in touch with Cisco example, we can understand abandon the exercise pretty quickly. staff find what they’re looking for.
managers and ensure that information the importance of knowing who has Centralized hosting of policies on your
is checked and cascaded correctly. If seen a message: analytics showing intranet with effective use of tagging
you send out a message asking staff who has read, acknowledged, or not and keywords, an intuitive navigation
to confirm their safety or location, yet seen the communication provides
or requesting that they read and an instant overview for those charged
acknowledge vital information, how with distributing communication.
do you determine who has seen it? Reminders or additional prompts to
read and acknowledge can be pushed
Functionality such as mandatory read to those yet to confirm receipt.
acknowledgements and analytics data
can answer this need. The Interact
Broadcasts feature, which enables

#5: Develop, review, and push out company safety

and emergency protocols

While it’s impossible to plan for every procedures as necessary. Integrate

eventuality, it is essential to have them into onboarding processes and
common policies in place to safeguard perhaps most importantly, continue
staff and provide guidelines for how to educate employees about what to
to respond in a crisis or emergency do or where to go for information
situation. in a crisis. This may be in the form
of periodic training or awareness
These typically cover everything days, an annual distribution of
from how to notify managers or essential policies requiring a read
the organization of travel plans or and acknowledgment receipt, or use
arrangements when out of the office; of surveys, quizzes, or polls to assess
the process for whistleblowing or employee knowledge.
escalation of concerns; to response
actions in case of an emergency such
as extreme weather, fire or damage
to company property, or threats
made against individuals or the
organization.

Establish regular review timescales

to revisit and update policies or

20 21
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

#6: Develop holding statements, offline templates, Using your intranet as an internal
and writing guides
You may not know what the message the necessary information to release
crisis communications tool
will be during a crisis, but you can a full statement or response and can
establish in advance how you’re going be deployed instantly within a broad
to communicate it. Standard holding range of scenarios. Examples may
In many organizations, the company intranet is a central information point –
statements can cover you during the include;
and particularly for dispersed employees.
‘grey area’ period before you have all
Maximizing the functionality and touchpoint and checking mechanism

“
accessibility of your intranet during for senior management to confirm
We have deployed our crisis response plan, which places a time of corporate need can help staff safety, and manage the internal
the highest priority on the safety and wellbeing of our ensure the right information flows response effectively.
to the right people, provide a critical
staff and customers. We will release more information
and updates via [X channels] as soon as possible. News Pages: share important news and information with employees in a

“
top-down cascade, ensuring a single version of truth by providing this in a
centralized location. Reassurance, guidance, and ‘next steps’ from senior
We are hugely saddened by this news and our thoughts management will help employees feel calm and informed.
are with those affected. We will be communicating
directly with staff members to provide additional support. Broadcasts (unique to Interact): distribute urgent, point-in-time

“
information across multiple channels to alert individuals of crisis, confirm
safety, and provide critical information. Interact Broadcasts enable messages
We have received warning of [X threat]. We would like to
to be composed within your intranet and broadcast to staff via SMS, mobile
assure all staff that we are looking into this as a matter app push notification, email, a blocking notification within the intranet,
of urgency and will provide further information via the and/or a display banner.

intranet as soon as it becomes available.

Establishing guidelines and basic broadcasting information via

templates for internal – and external your intranet. Is there a highly
– crisis communication can ensure visible and accessible area on
you respond more quickly, include all your homepage where critical
the crucial information required, and information can be posted, or used
align your tone and approach with to signpost employees? Emergency
the company position. In the height communications that are hidden
of a crisis, it can be all-too-easy to within the ‘Company Information >
forget simple, yet vital, elements of a HR > Policies and Procedures > Crisis
message. and Emergency Information’ content
area of your intranet simply won’t be
As part of this process, define also seen.
where messages will be displayed,
particularly if you’re going to be

22 23
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

Utilize Broadcasts as a mass crisis alert system to push out notifications

Broadcasts can be tailored to persona, department, location or team,
across multiple devices and multiple locations, in the case of a serious
enabling you to target messages appropriately. In the height of a crisis,
incident or emergency situation when the distribution of critical
where lack of information can spark speculation, rumor or even panic,
information in a time-sensitive way is crucial. By composing a single
broadcasting regular updates as the situation changes or develops can keep
message that can then be distributed simultaneously across multiple
employees informed and prevent things escalating unnecessarily.
channels to hundreds or even thousands of employees, you save critical time
and ensure speed of communication - as well as consistency of message.
For mobile or hard-to-reach employees, the ability to send a text message Timelines and @mentioning: Provide shorter but frequent updates on
to personal devices or use push notifications can prove vital: 90% of SMS any given situation, and ensure the relevant individuals are notified by @
messages are read within three minutes, meaning you can connect with mentioning either by individual, department, location, or persona. Push
remote employees when it matters most. notifications and email notifications can be set up to ensure those updates
are seen.

If staff are potentially in harm’s way and the verification of their location or
safety is imperative, Broadcasts can be used to confirm their whereabouts
or situation. Employees can be requested to acknowledge they have read a
message, with visibility for communicators of who has received and read
messages providing at-a-glance status updates. Re-send options to those
who haven’t yet acknowledged the message provides an efficient way to
repeat key messages.

24 25
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

House crisis or emergency protocols, procedures, policies, and after flooding gripped the city of Houston in 2017. A link to the
documentation: Utilizing your intranet CMS, or through integration with content area was hosted on the homepage of their intranet,
selected SharePoint folders or your cloud storage provider, you can provide Acadian Central.
simple, easily searchable and centralized access to critical information your
employees need. Use the mandatory read function to ensure employees
have read and acknowledged information or push these to your Onboarding
homepage to get content in front of new starters.

Create a Crisis Management Team: a dedicated crisis team area on your

intranet, or even just adding ‘Crisis Management’ as an additional field or
expertise against individuals’ profiles, will enable grass-roots employees to
identify and contact those responsible during a crisis quickly and effectively.

For example, a warehouse employee arriving at work and discovering a

flood or severe damage to the property will be able to search on the intranet
app for ‘crisis management’, identify a team member, and instantly call or
message to notify them. That individual can initiate communication and
safety protocols accordingly.

Create an ‘employee toolkit’ during a crisis: We now recognize that

there’s no such thing as ‘internal’ anymore; thanks to the connectivity
offered by social media, information given to employees inside an
organization can become public in an instant. So why not support
employees and help align the message by giving them the right tools?

A ‘toolkit’ with items such as prepared or official statements, quotes or

shareable information, a Q&A forum, or any images, videos, or collateral
the organization is happy to share, equips and empowers staff. This can help
prevent speculative or incorrect information entering the public domain,
reducing the associated risk of a crisis being escalated unnecessarily. Your intranet is a powerful communications tool. Utilizing
it effectively will encourage a calm, informed and supported
workforce, which will translate into a more effective external
Coordinate assistance efforts or support: in a crisis or disaster crisis management and a positive impact on organizational brand
situation that has an emotional, physical, financial or situational impact on reputation.
individuals – whether colleagues or the general public – we find that the go-
to human response is a desire to help. Utilizing a content area within your
intranet to create an online ‘volunteer center’ can prove useful to facilitate
or answer this need. Forums can be used for staff to request or offer support,
pages or blogs can be used to post information about support or relief
initiatives, and links can be provided to fundraising efforts and more.

Interact customer, Acadian Companies, utilized this approach to coordinate

staff efforts to help Storm Harvey victims, who faced multiple challenges

26 27
Communicating in crisis Communicating in crisis

Internal actions have About Interact

external consequences
Interact is a global enterprise software company that serves intranet software
to over one million users across more than 850 organizations. We specialize in
In a digital age in which transparency of manipulating its engine controls
solving internal communication and collaboration challenges by combining
and accountability are demanded by to falsely pass laboratory emissions
our sophisticated intranet software with outstanding professional services,
the public, organizations increasingly tests. The scandal was damaging
focusing on developing long-term strategic partnerships with our customers.
recognize the irreplaceable value of enough; but as the story unraveled,
brand reputation. A risk management the response of the brand was almost
strategy that seeks to uphold and catastrophic. Executives claimed to
Interact has offices in Manchester and New
protect this, particularly during a have no knowledge of the cheating,
crisis situation, will understand only to admit they did just days York, and operates across the whole of the US
that every action undertaken later; statements were released and
and Canada, EMEA and Australia.
internally has a direct impact on how then contradicted; the response
the organization responds and is was inconsistent and the PR and
perceived externally. communications teams struggled to Contact Us:
stay afloat. 3 years on, and the brand New York: +1 (646) 564 5775
Without an internal crisis continues to face backlash and legal Manchester: +44 (0)161 927 3222
communication plan, organizations action for its attempted cover-up. info@interactsoftware.com
place themselves at considerable risk. www.interactsoftware.com
Employees and stakeholders may Crises happen. They can’t be avoided
respond inappropriately or incorrectly, or mitigated altogether; but with
safety may be threatened, and crises effective planning and preparation,
can escalate, rather than resolve. they can be successfully managed.
The resulting impact on the external When our employees are informed,
brand can prove disastrous; what’s reassured, understand their role in a
more, reputational damage can take crisis and are empowered to respond
months or even years to overcome. appropriately, the domino effect on
how a business survives under the
Consider, for example, the Volkswagen spotlight is significant – and worth
emissions scandal of 2015, in which the investment in creating an internal
the car brand was accused by the crisis communication plan.
Environmental Protection Agency

28 29
Communicating in crisis

Station House, 21 W. 46th St. 16th FL,

Stamford New Road, Altrincham, New York
Cheshire WA14 1EP, UK NY 10036

+44 (0) 161 927 3222 +1 (646) 564 5775

info@interact-intranet.com info@interact-intranet.com

www.interactsoftware.com

30