Vulnerability and Risk Assessment
Before building your custom crisis communication plan, ICM recommends starting with a risk assessment to identify those areas where your company is at the most risk for trouble. We want to understand the kinds of issues and crises that are the most likely to happen, and those that, while unlikely, can have a devastating impact on the company’s ability to survive.
Risk Assessment Helps Shape Your Crisis Response
For example, every organization needs to include hacking or cybercrime in its crisis communication plan—it’s a highly probable event. Likewise, an organization may need to include an earthquake in its plan, depending on its location. An earthquake may be unlikely but can have a devastating impact if it does happen. We want to determine what is probable, and what is impactful on the organization. Those are the kinds of situations we want to plan for.
We want to understand the kinds of issues and crises that are the most likely to happen, and those that, while unlikely, can have a devastating impact on the company’s ability to survive.
The ICM Vulnerability Assessment will:
- Analyze crisis news trends in your industry to determine potential areas of risk;
- Review peer companies and how they have managed crises;
- Gather data from a wide variety of stakeholders within your organization, including executives, operations managers, Board members, and line staff;
- Identify the “red flags” that suggest the probability of a crisis; and
- Review the potential economic loss that each identified risk may cause.
Deborah Hileman, SCMP
ICM President and CEO
CEO Expertise for Every Client
Deborah Hileman, SCMP, President and CEO. A certified strategic communication management professional (SCMP), business leader, coach and consultant with more than 30 years’ experience in public and private companies and non-profit organizations, Ms. Hileman has led high-performing communications and marketing teams in health care, manufacturing, insurance and financial services, nonprofits and higher education. Her most significant areas of expertise include strategic communications planning and reputation/crisis management, change management, employee engagement and communication training.
