In an earlier post, I looked at the kinds of crises an organization should prepare for, in particular a smouldering crisis such as Swine Flu.
Last year, I became involved with one of the dairy companies (not Sanlu Group) in mainland China accused of adding melamine to its milk products. When they first approached us, they were in a panic. In some countries, senior managers found guilty of similar charges face stiff penalties; in China, the penalties are even more severe.
The challenge for us in this case was that our client had never experienced a crisis of this magnitude before and had no experience dealing with media outside the mainland. Their immediate reaction was to ask us to cover up the story in the Hong Kong and regional press. Obviously, this wasn't going to happen.
Over the next several weeks, we learned as much about handling a crisis in the mainland as our clients did working with overseas media. Some of the key points we raised with our clients, and which they eventually accepted as the scandal spread include the following:
Dos
- Have a crisis plan in place with pre-prepared talking points and sample press statements/releases
- Speak with one voice. Have staff refer enquiries to the crisis team leader or spokesperson
- Give staff the prepared statement for responding to enquiries by customers or other stakeholders
- Work with stakeholders to get your story across, including customers
- Cooperate fully with government regulators
- Be truthful, always. "No comment" makes people think you're hiding something. If you don't know the answer, say you will get back with details once you know them
- Be accessible to media at all times. They will ultimately shape the story
- Be visible. Have a prominent spokesperson speak on behalf of the organization
- Apologize if you are at fault. When Maple Leaf Foods was found to be responsible for a tainted meat outbreak, CEO Michael McCain immediately apologized
- Be proactive and fix the problem
- Work with third-party testers to verify your product is safe
Don't
- Attempt to minimize the impact of the crisis, especially when human lives are at risk
- Hide senior management from the media
- Try to push the blame onto other parties unless you have solid evidence for doing so
- Treat the incident as a simple product recall. Milk is a basic necessity, and news stories of children dying are highly emotional
Photo: Marc van der Chijs
