How do you align your internal and external stakeholders on your crisis recovery plan?
A crisis can damage your reputation, erode your customers' confidence, and disrupt your business operations. But it doesn't have to be the end of your story. You can recover from a crisis and restore trust with your stakeholders, if you follow some key steps. In this article, we'll show you how to align your internal and external stakeholders on your crisis recovery plan, and how to communicate effectively, transparently, and consistently throughout the process.
The first step to restoring trust after a crisis is to assess the situation and understand the root cause, the impact, and the expectations of your stakeholders. You need to gather as much information as possible, from various sources, and analyze it objectively. You also need to identify your key stakeholders, both internal and external, and prioritize their needs and concerns. This will help you to define the scope, the goals, and the timeline of your crisis recovery plan.
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Ao enfrentar uma crise, o primeiro passo é realizar uma avaliação detalhada da situação. Isso inclui entender a extensão dos danos, identificar as partes interessadas afetadas e avaliar o impacto nas relações internas e externas. Analise as expectativas e preocupações de cada grupo para fundamentar a tomada de decisões durante o processo de recuperação.
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Understanding the depth and breadth of the crisis, its potential impact, and the stakeholders involved is fundamental. And most of the companies fail here. while managing the crisis and putting a strategy together. Assessing the situation allows for informed decision-making and strategic planning. It enables a brand to gauge the scope of the crisis, identify stakeholders' concerns, and tailor recovery strategies effectively.
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Understanding the nature and origin of reputational risks is essential. The crux of comprehending a reputational crisis lies in understanding the extent to which it fractures the trust of the organization with its stakeholders. The European Banking Authority defines reputational risk as the "probability of value destruction for shareholders, resulting from the loss of trust or dissatisfaction in the institution by investors, customers, or market participants. It can materialize in reduced revenues and increased operational, regulatory, or other costs."
The next step is to develop a strategy that addresses the issues, the risks, and the opportunities of your crisis recovery plan. Your strategy should be based on your assessment, your vision, and your values. It should also be aligned with your stakeholders' expectations and interests. You need to define the objectives, the actions, and the metrics of your strategy, and assign roles and responsibilities to your team members. Your strategy should be realistic, flexible, and adaptable, as you may need to adjust it along the way.
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Destaco a importância de desenvolver uma estratégia abrangente. Isso envolve a definição de metas claras, a identificação de mensagens-chave e a criação de planos específicos para cada grupo de stakeholders. A estratégia deve ser flexível para se adaptar às mudanças na situação e às necessidades das partes interessadas.
The third step is to communicate effectively with your stakeholders, both internally and externally. Communication is key to restoring trust after a crisis, as it demonstrates your accountability, your transparency, and your commitment. You need to communicate your strategy, your progress, and your results, using various channels and formats, and tailoring your messages to your audiences. You also need to listen to your stakeholders' feedback, questions, and concerns, and respond to them promptly and respectfully.
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To align stakeholders on crisis recovery, create a centralized communication hub for consistent information. Conduct stakeholder mapping to tailor messaging effectively. Hold regular cross-functional meetings to ensure internal and external communications align. Encourage two-way dialogue, allowing stakeholders to provide input on the recovery plan. This builds buy-in and improves the plan itself. Finally, empower employees as brand ambassadors, equipping them to communicate about the crisis and recovery efforts. This extends your reach through trusted, organic channels, enhancing overall alignment and credibility.
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Corporate empathy: Companies must make an effort to understand how societal expectations have evolved and respond accordingly. Corporate empathy involves actively listening to and comprehending the key stakeholders across five fundamental expectation categories impacting reputation: aspirational, pragmatic, relational, ethical, and social (or contributory) expectations.
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I would like to share a case study here. When a brand failed to assess the crisis. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2010) -Initially underestimated scale of the spill, inadequate crisis assessment. - Shifted the approach after monitoring: Comprehensive crisis assessment led to a change in strategy. Acknowledgment: Accepted the severity of the environmental damage. - Mobilized resources, collaborated with authorities, and engaged in a robust media strategy. Established a $20 billion compensation fund, taking accountability for the crisis. Impact: Demonstrated the importance of accurate crisis assessment in shaping recovery efforts and public perception.
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A comunicação eficaz é um pilar essencial na gestão de crises. Estabeleça canais de comunicação transparentes e autênticos com stakeholders internos e externos. Adapte a mensagem para atender às preocupações específicas de cada grupo, fornecendo atualizações regulares e demonstrando um compromisso claro com a resolução da crise.
The fourth step is to monitor and evaluate your crisis recovery plan, and measure its outcomes and impacts. You need to track your performance, using the metrics and indicators that you defined in your strategy, and compare it with your objectives and expectations. You also need to evaluate your processes, your resources, and your team's performance, and identify the strengths, the weaknesses, and the areas for improvement. You need to report your findings, your achievements, and your challenges, to your stakeholders, and celebrate your successes.
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Durante todo o processo de recuperação, é fundamental monitorar continuamente a eficácia das ações implementadas. Utilize métricas específicas para avaliar o impacto nas relações com stakeholders. Esteja preparado para ajustar estratégias com base nos feedbacks e nas mudanças nas expectativas, garantindo uma abordagem dinâmica e adaptativa.
The final step is to learn and improve from your crisis recovery experience, and use it as an opportunity to grow and innovate. You need to conduct a post-crisis review, and analyze the lessons learned, the best practices, and the recommendations for the future. You also need to implement the changes, the improvements, and the innovations that you identified in your review, and incorporate them into your policies, procedures, and culture. You need to share your learnings, your insights, and your stories, with your stakeholders, and thank them for their support.
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The best crisis management, in my opinion, can be done in two ways: 1- Anticipating and preparing for crises beforehand by identifying scenarios and having a strategy ready. 2- Assessing the situation within hours of a crisis occurring. Both of these approaches crucially rely on learning from past situations—analyzing what went wrong, what worked, and how to improve in the future.
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Communication and education are two of the most important aspects in any good crisis communications plan. Most of your stakeholders won't be as focused the crisis comms process -- they have full-time roles to focus on -- so it's up to communications professionals to educating them on the proper protocols and then testing out your plans regularly to make sure they are as bulletproof as possible. Crisis communications only works when you have the right people at the table, and they know what to do.
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Minha experiência destaca a importância de aprender com cada crise. Após a resolução, conduza uma análise profunda para identificar lições aprendidas e áreas de melhoria. Integre essas aprendizagens ao plano de gestão de reputação, garantindo uma abordagem mais resiliente e aprimorada para crises futuras.
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