#MeToo and Other Crises: Bad Behavior Hurts the Bottom Line
#MeToo has been getting a lot of headlines lately. At the Institute for Crisis Management, we track the numbers and types of crises that befall organizations of all kinds. I will be speaking at the Public Relations Society of America’s International Conference in Austin next week about how employees and executives behaving badly- from sexual harassment to […]
Crisis Communication Training: ICM 2018 Course Schedule
Business crises are on the rise! Get Communication Training. Crisis communication training is critical in this day of rabid social media and 24 hour news. Make sure you are well prepared to protect your organization’s brand, reputation and financial performance. Attend one of ICM’s most sought-after crisis communication course next year. Registration is limited, […]
Discrimination, Workplace Violence News Trends Skyrocket
Discrimination and workplace violence led disturbing trends in 2016, with discrimination stories showing a four-fold increase over 2015 and stories of workplace violence spiking, in part due to several mass casualty events attributed to terror-related activities. ICM included its study stories of terror attacks in places like Orlando, Florida, Nice, France and Brussels, Belgium because […]
Balancing Public Relations Needs with Legal Concerns in a Crisis
By understanding the attorney’s view and building relationships, PR pros can better serve their client or organization. Public relations professionals and attorneys often are accused of having opposing goals in crisis communication. While PR pros usually are focused on humanizing a crisis with transparency and protecting an organization’s reputation in the court of public opinion, […]
Five Steps to Develop the Crisis Communication Plan
VW. Chipotle. Target. What comes to mind with these names? Defective emissions equipment? Or deception and fraud? Food-borne illness? Or mismanagement and stock price free fall? 100 million credit card records hacked? Or denial and inadequate crisis management plans? Each of these examples represents a business crisis that damaged reputations, hurt sales and negatively impacted […]
Mismanagement, White Collar Crime Top 2015 Business Crises
Once again in 2015, many of the oldest and most trusted organizations in the world found themselves in crisis. The Institute for Crisis Management tracked a total of 212,115 crisis stories in the news in 2015, a six percent decrease from the previous year. The crises in the news were no less alarming than 2014, […]
You Need More than a Business Continuity Plan
“ My company has a business continuity plan. Why do I need a crisis communication plan, too?” Business continuity and crisis management are increasingly on the minds of organizational leaders worldwide. As well they should be. Many senior leaders with a business continuity plan in place believe they are well prepared for a crisis. And […]
Fiat Chrysler’s Crisis Triple Whammy
Auto recalls have been big news for the past couple of years. Google any automaker, and you will find information about millions of recalled vehicles for every manner of defect imaginable. In the latest recall drama, Fiat Chrysler is managing a crisis that triggered an aftershock that could spell the beginning of the end […]
7 Tips for Better, Faster Employee Communication in a Crisis
It’s not news: business crises happen every day. Preparation and communication are paramount to successfully mitigating the impact of the crisis on the organization. How we respond to the crisis determines whether it becomes just a nuisance, or a business-defining issue. In a crisis, employees are arguably your most important stakeholders. Yet often they are […]
“Do You Sell a fill-in-the-blank Crisis Plan?”
I had an interesting call from a PR colleague today that sparked an idea for a post. My colleague has a client who wanted her to find them a crisis communications “workbook” or fill-in-the-blank template to create a crisis plan. Apparently the client company was not anticipating any issues, but rather wanted to check a […]