The impending storm of the H1N1 virus this fall has many companies floundering or completely unprepared for the pandemic. President Barack Obama issued a warning on Wednesday, August 19th, urging corporations to “allow more flexible sick leave conditions” and “work from home” abilities when the virus hits.
Rob Ireland, former director, executive and internal communications, HP Americas and partner with Mansfield Communications, is one of a few communications experts who experienced an epidemic crisis during the SARS outbreak in Toronto in early 2003. During that time, he was involved in every aspect of pandemic communications concerning quarantines, critical illnesses, grief counseling initiatives, employee deaths, internal and external communications, CEO messaging and creating a collaborative communications approach with Public Health authorities.
Gartner Research said of Rob’s program, “HP showed that it is possible to do it right.” It is widely used today in many case study reviews of how to handle communications during a pandemic crisis.
Rob has developed a corporate pandemic preparedness plan and is available to speak with the media on both his past experience and how Corporate America can prepare for this ensuing virus.
Top 10 Crisis Preparedness Recommendations
1.Realize that your company will be touched by the H1N1 outbreak.
a. Come to the realization that it will happen to your company. Hoping to get lucky (and avoid the pandemic) is naive.
2. Understand the financial impact of the pending outbreak.
a. Create models that assume percentage losses in productivity (tailored by company – whether one assumes an impact on knowledge workers, sales functions, general office structures or in a manufacturing environment).
b. Preparation and effective management of the crisis costs much less than reacting to the crisis.
c. Safety and health of employees is directly related to effective business continuity.
3. Develop both crisis management and crisis communications plans.
a. Larger organizations should have discrete, but linked, crisis management and crisis communications teams to effectively manage a crisis.
b. Communications is what will sustain a company’s ability to manage a fluid situation such as H1N1.
4. Create a “decision making framework” for the management of a crisis.
a. Will the decisions be made centrally (head office) or in region?
b. What are the company’s policies regarding sick leave, the ability to “work from home”, etc.?
c. How are the company’s values and culture guiding the decisions being made?
5. The company / organization should solicit opinion from healthcare authorities and not make their own independent assessments of risk regarding public health.
a. To become a trusted source of information, organizations should accurately reflect the opinion of the appropriate healthcare authority (national or regional).
b. Organizations should create an active interface with healthcare authorities – receiving timely updates and escalating unusual situations or concerns.
6. Internal communications must be created as an effective, 2-way communications network.
a. The entire cascade, CEO to front line employee, must become a dynamic interaction.
7. Arm front-line managers with the tools needed to communicate the company position within your crisis communications plan.
a. Front line managers, and their ability to effectively communicate, largely dictate the success of a company’s ability to sustain a crisis management plan during such things as an H1N1 pandemic.
b. Create escalation paths for questions that cannot be answered immediately by front-line managers.
8. The best internal communications have extensions that include strategic partners and distribution channels.
a. If other organizations have close interaction with your employees, there should not be significant discontinuities in communications plans.
9. Be prepared to change or augment policies and procedures.
a. During time of crisis, don’t be surprised if your position, or that of healthcare authorities change.
10. Don’t “over focus” on the issue. Once the appropriate steps are taken, monitor the mood of employees to ensure the management of H1N1 hasn’t diminished the company’s values or culture.
a. Continue to celebrate achievement.
b. Continue to engage employees and customers.
For further information please contact:
Mansfield Communications Inc.
New York – Michael Fischer – michael@mcipr.com – 212-370-5045
San Francisco – Eliza Walsh – eliza@mcipr.com – 415-722-1185
Toronto – Ed Borkowski – ed@mcipr.com – 416-599-0024 ext 238
