CRISIS MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY BUILDING

A crisis is defined as ‘an abnormal and unstable situation that threatens an organisation’s strategic objectives, reputation or viability’ (BS 11200 - Crisis Management). Every organisation is unique and has its own context-specific considerations as to what constitutes a crisis.

It is not possible to anticipate or prevent every event, however having a sound crisis management capability in place ensures that an organisation is well prepared to respond effectively and appropriately to incidents of any nature. This makes the business more resilient, helping to reduce the impact of adverse events, protect people, aid recovery, support business continuity and limit damage to brand and reputation.

Within crisis management there are two interlocking elements: incident management and crisis communications. These should be handled in close conjunction – ensuring that the company both conducts the right actions and communicates effectively to all affected stakeholders.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT PLANNING WORKSHOP

In order to help organisations build their crisis management capability, NYA can conduct a workshop to look at the components of a ‘best practice’ crisis management capability. This is a good starting point ahead of building a crisis management policy and plan. Such a consultation includes guidance on:

• CMP framework and policy statements

• Culture and values of the organisation• Senior level endorsement• Organisational framework • CMP objectives and ownership

• Developing the plan

• Potential scenarios • Incident categorisation • Decision-making authority • Stakeholder mapping • Crisis management team (CMT) structure • CMT members and training • Resources

• Guidelines for activation

• Immediate actions • Initial CMT/IMT meeting agenda • Events log • Contact recording checklist • Administration • Security • Post-incident review

• Putting together aides-memoire• Crisis communications • Contingency plans for events such a kidnap,

extortion, cyber breach and evacuation

NYA works regularly with some of the world’s leading organisations in a range of industry sectors, which gives us a unique insight into some of the issues that companies typically face when building their crisis management capability.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT DOCUMENTATION - REVIEW AND DEVELOPMENT

NYA can review existing plans or work with clients to build plans and protocols where none exist. A crisis management plan (CMP) identifies key risks and crisis scenarios and their potential impact; lays out the crisis management team (CMT) structure, roles and responsibilities and communications cascade; identifies internal and third-party resources required and states the organisation’s policy in relation to key issues in advance.

NYA works with organisations to produce an ‘all hazards’ crisis management plan, which may then contain contingency plans to address particular scenarios such as kidnap, contamination, emergency political evacuation, cyber breach, extortion other perils.

Crisis management documentation must be ‘owned’ by the business. Once an initial draft has been produced this becomes and living document that should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT TEAM INTRODUCTORY TRAINING

It is recommended that CMT members be given basic training on the CMP and their individual and collective roles and responsibilities, ahead of any scenario testing (simulated incident exercises). Such training provides clarity and confidence amongst CMT members and typically covers:

• The key concepts of crisis management• The organisation’s crisis management

infrastructure and resources• Levels of decision making authority• Their roles and responsibilities - both individually

and collectively• The organisation’s activation and de-activation

procedure• The decision-making process, including log keeping• Crisis communications (across all stakeholders)

SIMULATED INCIDENT TRAINING EXERCISES

Simulated incident training exercises can be scaled, from a relatively simple desktop exercise (two-four hours) to a more complex scenario (four hours to a day), depending on the current maturity of the organisation’s CMT.

Training exercises help to build the confidence and competence of the team, giving participants the opportunity to practice dealing with worst-case scenarios under controlled conditions and learn and practice a decision-making process under stressful conditions. They also test the organisation’s CMP and indicate where adjustments need to be made.

NYA can develop simulated incident training exercises on any requested crisis scenario, designing them to address both incident management and crisis communications and test the organisation’s capability against the ‘six pillars’ of crisis management. Scenario developments and problems are presented to the CMT for consideration and management. Exercises typically include live injects and ‘animations’ - from family members, the media and other stakeholders, as well as mocked up social and other media feeds.

NYA can provide coaching throughout or fulfil an observation only role. We provide a ‘hot debrief’ immediately after the exercise followed by a written report.

CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS TRAINING WORKSHOP

NYA can provide a workshop that focusses specifically on crisis communications: guiding participants through crisis communications strategy and planning, stakeholder mapping, communications channels, messaging and considerations relating to key stakeholder groups such as the media, families and company employees. This is an important step ahead of building the crisis communications component of a crisis management plan.

MEDIA TRAINING

NYA can provide the services of expert media trainers to brief company spokespersons on how to handle media interviews (whether live or by phone), field questions and respond in a way that helps protect and enhance the reputation of the organisation. Media training is best done in person and can take from around three to four hours to a full day, depending on the time available and the subject matter to be covered. Full media training in a radio or television studio with live recording and feedback can also be arranged.

CRISIS LEADERSHIP TRAINING

NYA provides specialist training courses to give crisis team leaders the knowledge and confidence to better manage their crisis management teams. Such training is always very bespoke to the organisation and built around the operating environments in which their crisis teams are likely to deploy, the company’s crisis management processes and protocols and any other relevant considerations.

Courses include critical leadership skills, to ensure that crisis leaders can get the best from their teams and / or quickly bring together an unfamiliar team to operate as an effective decision-making body. They typically involve a mix of classroom-based theory and practical, outdoor exercises and simulations, giving participants the maximum opportunity to practice their leadership skills in circumstances that are as realistic as possible.

NYA’s crisis leadership training team comprises former military personnel as well as individuals with significant corporate crisis management experience, combining key leadership lessons from the military with a relevant and appropriate commercial approach.

Since 1990 we have been committed to helping clients understand the threats to their people, information, property and reputation. Our global team provides you with the expertise to mitigate and manage security risks so that you can focus on opportunities and meet objectives.

CONTACT US TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CRISIS CAPABILITY BUILDING SERVICES AND HOW WE CAN SUPPORT YOUR REQUIREMENTS.CALL US ON +44 207 291 7700 OR EMAIL INFO@NYARISK.COM