Crisis Planning

When a Metrolink commuter train crashed head-on into a Union Pacific locomotive last month, 25 people were killed, and 135 were injured. Talking to reporters the day after the crash, Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell candidly said human error was likely the cause. Tyrrell did what any good PR person should: She cleared the statement with her boss and communicated openly and honestly with the press and the public. However, within two days, she had resigned after Metrolink officials and federal investigators criticized her comments as premature and inappropriate.

In a different case, one of Santa’s prize helpers, Fisher-Price and its parent company Mattel, faced a public relations nightmare last year when they were flooded with calls from customers, media and the government concerning the safety of their toys. Dozens of toys were recalled due to excessive amounts of lead paint and small magnets that could be harmful if swallowed. Sure, you probably played mumblety-peg with a pocketknife when you were a kid, but today’s toys are supposed to reek of sanitized safety. How would you have handled this one?

Handling a crisis is kind of like playing football: The best defense is a good offense. That’s why every organization – small, medium or gargantuan – should have a comprehensive crisis communications plan.

OK, so now you’re probably thinking: How hard can this crisis communication thing be? You take control of the situation early. You’re proactive in communicating openly and honestly with the press. You make changes, and then you move on.

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. There are issues like who’s going to decide what information is shared and what isn’t. Who’s going to be the spokesperson? What’s the channel of communication? What about your employees and shareholders? Who’s going to communicate with them, when and how?

Your crisis communications plan will be your roadmap, so it needs to be complete in covering a variety of likely and, more importantly, unlikely scenarios. It also must have the buy-in of senior management. The early hours of a crisis is not the time to be talking about who’s going to say what when. And here’s the last tip: Keep it updated. A crisis communications plan that doesn’t address incidents in new areas of your business or employ new media tactics won’t be much help.

Mattel’s Chinese-made toys became an international incident. But the company used its crisis communications plan and weathered the storm. They responded with explanatory emails to employees, scheduling interviews between the CEO and top-tier media, and posted web videos for customers. The communications team met regularly to go over the ever-changing issues and tweak its responses. A year later, the efforts are paying off with positive brand perception surveys and sales, which are up slightly.

Whether or not you agree with Metrolink’s early candor, you have to admit they got off to a rocky start. They appear, however, to have regrouped somewhat. There has been no official cause ruling from the National Transportation Safety Board, yet, but Metrolink has announced they’re adding a second engineer to some runs and increased on-board testing of engineers, among other safety measures.

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