The importance of being ready: crisis management plan

Considered that crisis events have a long-term potential change in organization’s overall work, being prepared for such events becomes crucial. That’s why companies must have a crisis management plan that brings together many different competencies: communications, legal, security, forensic, and often political among others. Having a plan could enormously help in saving time and being structured in an emergency situation, like the one we’re currently all experiencing.

Try to find solutions only when impacted by the crisis is not a viable strategy. At the same time, it is really difficult to script out how an emergency will take place and last, as we are experiencing now with Covid-19 pandemic. Here it comes the importance of being ready, as the plan is basically a savior in terms of business continuity. Indeed, it doesn’t eliminate the costs that a crisis may bring, but can give companies a better chance to survive.

In this context, a crucial role is played by Human resources. As illustrated by the annual Institute for Crisis Management (ICM) “Global News Coverage of Business Crises” report, more than a third of publicly-reported crises are HR-relevant. In particular, the plan should be efficient in terms of internal and external communication. The crisis’ investigation plays as well a crucial role in order to understand the cause, to disclose obligations and other responsibilities the organization may have and, eventually, contain the damage and start a recovery.