The financial crisis demonstrated a key role that a board fulfills- providing careful guidance and leadership steering a company through a crisis. When and if the need arises, the board of Directors and Officers should have a crisis management plan in place. Below are tips on how to formulate a constructive crisis management response plan.
Conduct a vulnerability audit. Take some time to objectively examine your entire organization. Identify factors or areas that would make it more vulnerable in a crisis. Perhaps there is a website that is unable to handle a sudden surge in traffic. Maybe another area of your business is vulnerable to a cyber-attack (in that case, you may want to consider Privacy & Network Security insurance). Finding the weaker areas early on can help you fortify or even prevent the effects of a future crisis.
Create an operational response plan. The plan should detail everything from what actions the organization needs to take to who is responsible for doing- lay out timelines to go with the actions.
Crisis communication. A crisis communication plan should be in place. This should cover what the messages are, who is responsible for communicating the messages and how they are to be transmitted. This can cover everything from disaster response to how to communicate with employees if business is interrupted for some reason.
Train employees. Employees should be trained on how to respond in a crisis, so they are on the same page as board members.
Crises can range from company indiscretions to outside economic forces or violations of law or corporate policy. While allegations should always be investigated, a board should always be careful not to overreact- jumping to lengthy internal investigations could take significant time and financial resources. Good judgment should be applied to determine the scope and objective of the investigation.
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Source: Employee Benefit News
