Comment:

Whilst I write this a few days after the Virgin rail crash, it is too early to comment on how they will fare as a business in the aftermath. Early indicators, despite a slow response (no statement on their web site for some hours after the incident) are looking positive. Their chairman, the high profile Sir Richard Branson, immediately travelled to the scene and visited local hospitals. He was visibly shaken and demonstrated a caring and compassionate side to his company. In addition, Sir Richard has a huge amount of “goodwill” in his PR bank account.

Our lead article this month, written by our Crisis Management head, Andy Jarosz, covers another recent crisis in the US, for booming airline JetBlue. Whilst delays caused by ice storms injured no one, the inconvenience for thousands was huge. Again, by doing all the right things, they are limiting the damage to their brand and reputation.

How to get it right - an example of great crisis management.

Imagine you are the Chief Executive of a large company. A major incident involving your product or service has dramatically affected your customers, resulting in massive inconvenience, serious injuries or worse. What is your first reaction? What is the first message you give out through the media?

Chances are, for most of us one of the first considerations would be to find out what went wrong: Who was to blame? Was our company responsible? We would want the world to know that we would do everything we could to find out who, or what, was responsible (and hope it wasn’t us).

Now put yourself as the victim of that same incident. You are injured, or have been greatly inconvenienced, by an unexpected turn of events while using a particular service or product. What would be your initial concerns? What would you expect from the leader of that organisation?

For most people they initial expectations will be for the company involved to show that they care, that their primary concern is the safety and welfare of their customers, and that they will do their utmost to look after the immediate physical and emotional needs of the people caught up in the drama. Of course an investigation needs to take place into each major incident. But for the customers of that company (and by automatic extension the future customers, shareholders and many other stakeholders) the first public appearance from the senior management must show caring and compassion for those involved and a personal appreciation of the human aspects of the drama. The time for finding scapegoats or making denials is not in the immediate aftermath of an incident. Humility and arrogance are often seen in their extreme forms in such a scenario and are remembered and attached to that company long after the incident has occurred.

Consider the case of Jet Blue recently, whose flight operations fell into chaos when bad weather in the north-east US caused a string of late cancellations for their customers. The CEO David Neelman took a very public stance in saying that he was “humiliated and mortified” at the events. This even went as far as posting his statement on youtube.com. More details of the story from the NewYork Times can be found by clicking here.

Mr. Neelman has received much praise for his stance, and although time will tell how much his company changes as a result of his promises, he has grasped the need to identify emotionally with his customers. By feeling their anger and pain, he has made bold announcements of how his company will improve that would mirror or even exceed the likely demands that would have come from disgruntled customers and lobby groups.

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Trauma support during the recovery period.

A Virgin Pendolino train was derailed on Friday evening resulting in one death and more than 20 people physically injured. Emergency services have said that it was a miracle that there weren’t more fatalities given the scale of the incident. Jo Crofts, Head of Trauma Support at docleaf, explains that “the immediate priority will always be to ensure that those physically injured receive the medical help they need. My question is how many of the people involved in this incident will receive the emotional and psychological help they may need?”

While there is increasing acknowledgement of the need for psychological interventions after such incidents, the actual translation into action is far from adequate. Providing these people with the appropriate support needs to become the norm and not, as is in many cases presently, the exception.

Man-made disasters such as transport crashes have been shown to have a greater psychological impact on the both the survivors and the bereaved. Risk of adverse psychological outcomes will be heightened if the incident is sudden, unexpected or as a result of perceived negligence.

Appropriate psychological interventions to deal with the post-trauma period are critical if the psychological adjustments are to be made in the long term.

In the weeks and months following an incident the extent of risk and potential psychological impact related to the incident will begin to appear. It is critical that these signs are treated as early as possible in order that they do not become chronic. Preventive interventions should be targeted at those individuals who have been identified as high risk.

Most survivors will not seek psychological support on their own account so there is a need for policy and planning to ensure these people do not fall through the net, and receive the help and support they need.

Studies show that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorders are the two most prevalent psychological effects following a major incident; however only 25% of people impacted will seek appropriate support.

So how are you protecting your people?

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docleaf forms the largest global network of crisis communications specialists.

Not a day passes when a crisis does not hit a company or organisation somewhere in the world. It might be anything from an outbreak of food poisoning in a hotel, or the crash of a holiday coach to a fatality on a building site, a product recall or an environmental issue.

In this Internet world the media, human and commercial impact of such incidents has no geographic boundaries – a combination of effective planning plus expert resources on the ground are the two most effective tools needed to manage a crisis when it strikes.

To meet this challenge docleaf has formed one of the largest international networks of crisis communications specialists. It currently covers eight countries – Australia, Canada, Dubai, Greece, India, Singapore, South Africa and United States and active discussions with other specialist firms in Asia and Europe are in progress to expand the network’s geographic reach during 2007.

For further information about the docleaf International Network read the full press release here or email david.davis@docleaf.com

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A collection of past eNews articles can be found at www.docleaf.com/news/enews.php

Best wishes and keep safe, Dr. David Perl, CEO - docleaf

Visit our website at www.docleaf.com

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