Imagine for a moment that your company building was impacted by a natural disaster; what will happen to the day-to-day operational activities?
Suppose, some of the executives in your company were responsible for a scandal, how will you manage the company’s brand/reputation?
Unplanned events occur, and it can be devastating to businesses if there is no preemptive planning. When outlining Business Continuity Management programs, too often organizations confuse the terms Incident Management and Crisis Management. When we separate the two into distinct programs, we create clear goals, responsibilities and lines of authority.
Incident Management
An Incident disrupts the day-to-day activities of the business by impacting any tangible assets. This can include the loss of the company premises, an illness or a sudden passing of a key staff member, systems failure, damage to supplies and/or other key business processes that support the purpose of your business.
When disruption is reported, you must manage the incident immediately. Here is the crucial four steps process.
- Measure the impact of the disruption
- Identify appropriate strategy for response
- Resume processes or manage the impacted systems
- Coordinate with Recovery Teams responsible for implementing the strategy
It is possible that by effectively responding to the incident management process, you can prevent a crisis.
Crisis Management
A crisis can damage your business’ brand, affecting its reputation and even result in you being dragged into a legal battle.
A crisis could be a result of rumours, product defects, adverse publicity, negative social media activities, or actions of employees, distributors or suppliers, which reflect poorly upon the organization.
After multiple fatal crashes, GM had to recall 1.6 million cars to fix faulty ignition switches. When Vanity Fair published an article about Tinder creating a hookup culture, Tinder reacted with an emotional meltdown on Twitter. A FedEx employee was caught on camera throwing a package over the fence without ringing the bell. The video went viral making it to the news. These are just a few examples that almost broke these companies. We live in a society where the consumers we serve desire transparency and openness, rightfully so. Having a crisis management strategy in place would help your organization communicate effectively internally and externally minimizing damage.
In some circumstances, Incident and Crisis situations might be invoked simultaneously but the plans must be developed and maintained separately. This distinction will be greatly valued during moments of Incident or Crisis management and must be taken seriously. Both plans must:
- Define areas of responsibility
- Identify clear protocols for invoking the related plan(s)
- Test and exercise simultaneously: This ensures that all participants get a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities
- Educate and inform all members of the organization of the two separate plans and teams involved
