Do You Have Your Crisis Management Plans Under Control?

In the last several years, there have been numerous crises that business owners have had to face, many of which the owners did not expect, or had never occurred before. In the western states, businesses had to contend with wildfires that burned millions of acres, burnouts on the electric grid, and a lack of water from droughts. In the southern and eastern coasts, they had to contend with hurricanes and, like the Midwest, flooding as well. Besides the physical damage from the natural disasters, this has also adversely impacted bottom lines, as well as impacted teams.

Besides the natural disasters, cities across the country have had a significant increase in gun violence. This has caused safety issues for employees and customers. There have been disgruntled employees who take their disenchantment with the company or a supervisor out on other team members. There are sometimes scandals that impact a business. Whether the scandal is true or not does not always matter—it can be a public relations nightmare.

How do you, as a business owner or leader, plan for these different forms of crises? Some of the issues seem to be out of your control, so how are you able to plan to get through these crises?

Businesses have always had to plan for different problems. For instance, manufacturing companies have programs to train the team of how to react to safety issues. The businesses have had to develop a plan that changes from time to time, based upon the circumstances. There is a protocol of how things are managed should the company experience things that impact safety. There may even be a safety officer who manages these issues.

In like manner, your general counsel can lead the charge to set up a crisis plan for each type of crisis your business might encounter. Whether you have an attorney on staff, or you outsource a general counsel, this professional can help you understand the laws surrounding your liabilities, what protocols are required, and most importantly, how you can protect your employees, customers, and business.

You should look at all the possible scenarios you may encounter and start building a plan of action and protocols should they occur. This should include evacuations, safety measures, roles people will fulfill, internal and external communications, as well as other necessary components.

It is a good idea to include your managers as part of the crisis planning team, as well as team members who are not in management but represent different areas of your company. This team is responsible for exploring the potential issues that need to be addressed and documenting the plan with the help of the general counsel. Then, the team members who develop the plan need to expand their reach to others within the team to be able to practice what the plan is, so that things move smoothly with the least problems. You can also work with local emergency responders and communications experts to put even fuller crisis management plans in place.

This planning opportunity can apply to whatever crisis that may occur. The planning cycle cements the team to work well together on a crisis that they may not have been able to foresee. It also tells your staff you care about their well-being and are being proactive to protect them and others.

Business owners tend to have that “never-give-up” attitude, even with all the challenges that their businesses face. Part of that, must be proper planning and minimizing damages. It is important to plan for a potential crisis, learn from other businesses who have gone through the crisis that you are planning for, and to rally the team to move forward to minimize the negative effect of the crisis on them, your customers, and the company.

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Denice Gierach

Gierach Law Firm

Denice Gierach is an attorney, CPA, Northwestern University business master's graduate, and has owned several businesses from real estate to manufacturing. She is the lead attorney at Gierach Law Firm in the Chicago area. With more than 30 years of experience, she has been a respected and sought-after resource for businesses looking to grow, sell, solve problems, and succeed long term. Her insights across business areas gives a fuller lens to business issues and solutions, and helps businesses grow and succeed with less time spent on legal issues and other time-consuming problems.

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