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Managing
bad news
It
is exactly a year ago since American teenager
Natalie Holloway disappeared in Aruba. Her family
have mounted a high profile and vigorous campaign
to find out what happened to her.
As
a result the story has been followed avidly
by the media and has become a war of words between
the Holloway Twitty family, with their supporters
calling for American tourists to boycott the
island, and the island's authorities claiming
that the family doesn't understand Dutch Judicial
procedures.
With
the anniversary looming, we can expect further
high profile media attention in the next week.
This is an example which highlights how a story
can escalate and cause serious damage to an
organisation's reputation. In the case of Aruba,
the reality is that the island is relatively
crime free and this incident was unprecedented.
Perhaps
that was the problem - an unexpected incident
caught all by surprise and they were unable
to respond and act quickly enough for the demands
of the modern media.
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Trinidad & Tobago on the case
Near neighbours,
Trinidad & Tobago are taking threats to
their tourist industry very seriously. The Ministry
of Tourism has responded quickly to warnings
by the FCO advising tourists to avoid certain
areas of Tobago. docleaf's Dr David Perl has
just returned from chairing a series of workshops
designed to develop plans to help all local
tourism stakeholders respond appropriately in
the event of an emergency situation.
David
presented and facilitated a number of sessions
including: The Need for Effective Crisis Management,
Defining the Crisis and How to deal with Identified
Risks. A number of breakout groups were also
conducted to explore strategies for crime prevention
and tourism recovery.
After
the event, he commented: "They have wasted
no time in addressing a potentially damaging
situation. They've introduced practical crime
prevention and local education measures. They
have also recognised the importance of communication
to the restoration of Trinidad and Tobago's
image to ensure that consumers and the travel
industry understand the positive steps that
have been taken," said Dr Perl. "However
if unfortunate circumstances arise which they
can do in any holiday destination - the local
tourist industry is fully prepared to respond
to any situation."
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docleaf
has recently been involved in the handling
of a fatality in the workplace which has left
several employees severely traumatised. Head
of Trauma, Jo Crofts explains that not only
the policies and procedures of an organisation
have an impact on the behaviour of employees
during times of trauma but so to does the
psychological contract.
"Relationships
within an organisation are complex and whilst
many are formalised by job descriptions, legal
contracts and health and safety legislation
- there also exists an unwritten psychological
contract which comes from attitudes and beliefs."
Recognising
this is essential to trauma specialists in helping
an organisation to deal with the aftermath of
a trauma. If an organisation fails to meet its
obligations to employees under the psychological
contract this can lead to delayed recovery of
the individual, loss of morale in the workplace
and anger towards the organisation.
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