Category: Organization Development

USDA and meat industry ignoring massive warning signs

A pilot program meant to more rapidly identify contamination in the plants which process the meat we eat on a daily basis has been an utter failure, yet still may be implemented as the USDA standard. The Washington Post’s Kimberly Kindy explains:

The program allows meat producers to increase the speed of processing lines by as much as 20 percent and cuts the number of USDA safety inspectors at each plant in half, replacing them with private inspectors employed by meat companies. The approach has been used for more than a decade by five American hog plants under a pilot program.

But three of these plants were among the 10 worst offenders in the country for health and safety violations, with serious lapses that included failing to remove fecal matter from meat, according to a report this spring by the USDA inspector general. The plant with the worst record by far was one of the five in the pilot program.

Worried yet? How about this fact – the USDA has allowed other countries to use a similar process in plants exporting red meat to the U.S. for at least the past two years, if not more.

Now, part of the reason pilot programs are run is to test, and that means it’s not uncommon for there to be failures. What’s really frightening about this case from a crisis management standpoint is that, despite the negative findings from the pilot program, the USDA seems determined to move forward without stopping up the holes in the process.

Of course, all it takes is one read through this quote, from the same Washington Post article, to see how the USDA feels about crisis prevention:

In interviews, six USDA inspectors working in the pilot plants raised health concerns. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they believed their jobs would be in jeopardy otherwise.

Several said company and government workers are yelled at, threatened and shunned if they try to slow down or stop the accelerated processing lines or complain too aggressively about inadequate safety checks. They also warned that the reduction in the ranks of government inspectors in the plants has compromised the safety of the meat.

“We are no longer in charge of safety,” said an inspector with more than 15 years of experience. “That’s what the public needs to know.”

Mindless backing of a failed policy, greed pushing operations to unsafe speeds, and a culture that punishes those who dare to speak out about the dangers involved…sounds like a recipe for disaster.

——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
——————————-

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

How will the organization handle the revelation of Scout-on-Scout abuse records?

The Boy Scouts of America is surely ramping up crisis management efforts as it faces what could be another major blow to its reputation, with a Florida judge ordering the first known release of documentation regarding Scout-on-Scout abuse. The Sarasota Herald Tribune’s Elizabeth Johnson reports:

A local judge has ordered Boy Scouts of America to produce records documenting Scout-on-Scout sexual abuse from the last decade.

Twelfth Judicial Circuit Judge Peter Dubensky’s order, filed in June, is the first known of its kind requiring release of Scout-on-Scout abuse documents, says Sarasota attorney Damian Mallard.

The decision came as part of three ongoing lawsuits filed in Sarasota County on behalf of three separate victims who claim they were sexually abused by fellow Scouts on overnight camping trips.

The suits allege the organization was negligent in not sharing information regarding Scout-on-Scout abuse prevention, reporting, or really, from how it reads, any policy on the subject at all, despite being aware enough to keep records of incidents.

At this point the Boy Scouts have already been in all kinds of hot water related to discrimination and past sex abuse coverups, so it’s a bit late for them to “do it right,” per se. Their only choice here is really to minimize damage, and it shows in the statement issued by the organization’s director of PR:

“The abuse of anyone, especially a child, is intolerable and our thoughts and prayers go out to those who may be a victim of this type of reprehensible behavior. While we can’t comment on the lawsuit, we extend our deepest sympathies to those involved. The safety of our youth members is of paramount importance. Recognizing that youth protection requires sustained vigilance, the BSA was on the forefront of developing youth protection policies and continues to develop and enhance efforts to protect youth through clear policies, as well as training and education programs for scouts, parents, and adult volunteers. The BSA has continuously enhanced its multi-tiered policies and procedures, which include background checks, comprehensive training programs, and safety policies, like requiring all members to report even suspicions of abuse directly to local law enforcement.”

As the Boy Scouts have discovered, it’s tough to get out from under years of bad behavior. In fact, we can tell you from experience that, without fail, it costs far more in both time and money to recover from crises than it ever would have to prevent them in the first place. Of course, you can keep fooling yourself with that, “it can’t happen to us” attitude…until it does.

——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
——————————-

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

“Where the hell have you men been,” asks the colonel in a 1981 Bill Murray comedy film, Stripes. (video)

“Training, Sir,” he answers, drawing out the word “training” until it sounds ridiculous. And funny, of course. The troops, feeling responsible for their sergeant’s hospitalization and under the “emergent” leadership of Murray, had worked all night preparing for the training competition. The Colonel allows a demonstration of this undisciplined training. The comic result is that it “ain’t half bad.” In fact, the Colonel wants these men on a special mission because they have shown such initiative in training themselves.

All that was needed were the three keys steps of organizational development training strategies to move them along and, of course, leadership, attitude, and desire.

It’s easier than you think. Most employers and employees consider training itself bothersome, even unnecessary, while the opposite is true. Yes, it seems the awesome, yet tedious task to planning out organizational development training strategies, while there is real work to be done. This returns to a necessary foundation–a re-start–a re-group–a rethink of how an organization reaches its goals and achieves its mission, often a long time after it was conceived.

That being said, since planning organizational development strategies consist of only three simple things, let’s get started. Knowing that it has to be done, leaders have to use all the charisma with which they are endowed to ease pain.

We all know how important learning and training is for the organization, and if that organization is growing and evolving, even more so. So, how do you deal with organizational growing pains? Expansion isn’t always the answer in order to keep the company functioning at optimum level; in fact, there is a point where the company gets too big. We talk about “red-tape” in government. Same here.

We go back to the company vision and goals to kick-start organizational development strategies. Our simple keys are tactical in nature. Smaller bites to create the Strategic system.

1. Remember that company vision and those goals to make it a reality? What are the company goals? Now that there are more people involved, what steps must be taken to optimize learning, the current amount of knowledge held now and the rate of usage? How much time will you have to accomplish what has to be done and how many people are needed per unit to accomplish a single goal.
2. What is the company division of labor or how does it divide the work? You aren’t really starting over–although sometimes it might be easier. I suggest have someone do just that. Working alone or with a partner, draw up an organizational plan based on what they know so far. Everyone else work with the current division of labor, departments and divisions achieving the goals now. Naturally, you have to look at relevancy and experience to the work being done, but also at rates of success. Ask questions like would training help or is a re-organization needed. Which would be best over time. Finally, remember the two-person team working on organizational plan on their own? Compare the two plans. Any insight? With key staff members looking at protecting turf sometimes the information is skewed and a fresh look brings a reality into play. Now, the units should be assigned the work that is most relevant, making the total operation more efficient. Over time backups and redundancies will happen as people are transferred and promoted.
3. What is the company flexibility factor? Can you tell the difference between someone who is having trouble learning or is learning at a different rate with someone who needs an attitude adjustment? That’s a tough call if it gets that bad, but with the degree of flexibility allowed in a large company, bad attitudes should not be a problem if they weren’t already. A certain amount of flexibility by management over this period and stated as such will show the employees that management cares about them, and that is always a plus. Convinced it will be good for the company overall and good for them because they will be doing work that is best suited to the job they do, you can’t go wrong.

Whenever people are involved, it’s always best to involve them in the decision-making process, or at least gain buy-in. The employees will be forced to take time out of their work schedule and managers who write their evaluations will have to let them, hopefully, with positive reflection. And, everyone is closer to success. The next steps of implementing the training should come easier.

*Just a short note to let you know I have shut down my website and re-named my Acting Smarts blog to Shaw’s Reality, which reflects my more eclectic writing these days and I use in place of my website. Still doing some acting, directing and performance criticism; however, I am more involved in writing these days and want to focus there. I promise straight talk and not to encrypt or decrypt, or be cryptic about anything on my site, which is meant to enlighten those who read between the lines. Harry’s Reality is still on sale at Amazon will be available through all other ebook distributors and directly through Smashwords after September 30th.

Happy training.

For more resources about training, see the Training library.

The fourth annual Millennial Impact Research report was published in July and it inspired a flurry of articles about this important topic for nonprofits. This report deals exclusively with the relationship of Millennials with nonprofits and how to engage them and increase their engagement level with you. At my blog, Marion Conway – Consultant to Nonprofits I wrote an overview of the report covering the highlights and takeaways for the three main categories of the report: connect, involve and give. Here’s the link:

Millennial Impact Research Report – Highlights and Takeaways

The Millennial Research Report has many in-depth features including brief videos of respondents. It is very accessible and well organized and I encourage you to see the whole report if you are interested in engaging this demographic – 18 – 34 year olds with your nonprofit.

One of the best features of this report is its recommendation section – called Millennial Impact Benchmarks. The Millennial Impact Benchmarks provide a path that any organization can follow to develop its culture toward Millennial engagement. The system is three phases levels—Millennial Inviting, Millennial Immersion, and Millennial Impact each describing how you can work with Millennials to connect, involve, and give at each level.

Here is a description of each level:

Inviting – Millennial Inviting is the first level of Millennial engagement. No matter its size or the resources of your nonprofit, every organization can adopt the strategies and cultural changes to take the first step and involve Millennials

Immersion – Millennial Immersion is the second level of Millennial engagement. Organizations that reach the benchmarks of this level have designed programs with Millennials, not just for them. At this stage, Millennials are actively participating in unique ways to help the cause enhance awareness and outreach efforts of the community.

Impact – Millennial Imoact is the third level of Millennial engagement. The ultimate goal – the pinnacle of a Millennial engagement strategy – is to provide leadership, service and truly transformational opportunities for Millennials to affect the direction of the community.

http://www.themillennialimpact.com/benchmarks

The full Benchmarks section with four detailed grids can be found here.

An important way we make progress on any front is to assess where we are, set benchmark goals to attain and develop and follow an action plan. This reportk provides a roadmap for doing just that in engaging with Millennials. There’s no time like now to begin.

Marion Conway

THINK before you communicate!

[Editor’s note: Thank you to reader Kim May for bringing this case to our attention! If you see a topic you think would make for a good blog post, send it on over to erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com]

Would a picture of a dead dog with a concerned-looking man performing CPR make you want to buy a running shoe? Seems like a pretty obvious no, yet somehow Pearl Izumi execs gave the go-ahead to run an ad depicting just that in Canadian Running magazine. Have a look at this ad:

Crisis Management 101 dictates that an organization, before doing any type of communication, considers how it may be received by stakeholders. It’s no secret that animal lovers can be fiercely protective, many people still carry wounds from lost pets, and animal rights groups do not hesitate to make a scene over even perceived cruelty to our furry friends, meaning this was one VERY predictable crisis.

While publishing the initial ad was an undeniably foolish move, Pearl Izumi went all in once it recognized the need for crisis management. An sincere apology was posted to its Facebook wall, and the company shared a couple videos from, and donated a cool $10,000 to, the Humane Society.

The steps Pearl Izumi has taken should help neutralize the reputation damage it was taking, and it’s certainly nice for the Humane Society to get a hefty donation, but it has to hurt a bit to think that, if their advertising folks had spoken with their PR people about potential downsides, the situation could have been avoided altogether.

——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
——————————-

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Over 50% of respondents in recent poll still not using social media for crisis management

Living and breathing crisis management as we do, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that most organizations simply are not up to date or proficient when it comes to the tools and tactics they’re relying on to carry them out of an ugly situation.

This summer, PwC US surveyed businesses to determine how they are planning and preparing for crisis management, and of course social media was a hot topic. Here’s a quote:

According to PwC’s survey, more than half of the respondents – 57 percent – do not officially use social media as a crisis management resource. For companies that have begun integrating social media into their crisis management efforts – Facebook and Twitter cited the most often – not all are seeing improvement in their capabilities. Thirty-eight percent of survey respondents are modestly leveraging it as a tool, but not necessarily seeing improvements in their capabilities, whereas eight percent of respondents believe that social media has become an enabler for their organization to proactively identify and respond to crisis events.

We’d like to address a couple of points here, starting with the majority of organizations that still do not use social media as a crisis management resource. To be frank, if you’re not at least monitoring for mentions of your name and associated keywords online, you must really want trouble. There are several entirely free and automated tools that can do this for you. Not using them is the social media equivalent of removing the batteries from all of your smoke detectors.

That point leads us right into the companies that are “modestly leveraging” social media as a crisis management tool, but not seeing improvements. What this response is indicative of, more than anything, is a lack of understanding as to A) how to set up social media for crisis management and B) how to use the information that’s being pulled in.

Like any new tool, social media requires planning, training, practice and preparation in order to make use of it to your full advantage. Put the time in and you’ll reap the benefits; half-ass things and you could easily join the ranks of respondents saying they don’t see any difference.

——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
——————————-

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

We have all fallen into a writing slump at one point or another. Though evaluation report writing does not involve the same kind of creativity as writing a novel, report writers can experience the same type of writer’s block. Here are 10 tips from my experience and reading that have helped deal with the evaluation report writing slump.

1. Visualize Positive Outcomes
Athletes spend time visualizing themselves performing successfully. Spend a minute visualizing yourself successfully working through that report. Convert this vision to positive self-talk.

2. Just Do It
Tell yourself to stop thinking too much about the report writing, and just start writing. Just the process of writing and arranging my ideas on paper has helped to beat writer’s block.

3. Break the project into smaller steps.
Write your report one evaluation question at a time. Break up your report into smaller sections, and don’t address other sections until you have finished the section you are working on. Make a checklist of sections to complete, and check them off as you go.

4. Focus on Quantity versus quality
Often writer’s block is caused by perfectionism—trying to get the first draft perfect. For your first draft, focus on quantity versus quality. Time yourself and force yourself to write as much as possible in that time period. Then for subsequent drafts, revise, revise and revise!

5. Find your most productive time of day
Determine your most productive time of day. When are you most free of interruptions? When can you focus on your work the best? If possible, arrange your schedule so that you can write during this time.

6. Make it a habit
Incorporate report writing into your daily routine. Write at the same time every day whether you feel like writing or not. Writing something everyday will help keep you motivated to write.

7. Discuss report writing with stakeholders.
Brainstorm ways to involve stakeholders, from sharing completed reports to involving them in drafts. Before data collection, write up a mock results section with the actual numbers missing and ask stakeholders to fill in the blanks according to their expectations. This is a strategy that Michael Patton details in the third edition of his book, Utilization Focused Evaluation. This helps to establish whether the expected outcomes match actual evaluation results. This also helps to engage stakeholders in the reporting process.

8. Ask Colleagues for feedback
Set intermediate deadlines before the actual report is due, to submit drafts of sections of the report to colleagues for review. This can help you stay motivated to write and will help elicit valuable feedback. Two heads are always better than one. This strategy will also help beat procrastination.

9. Read Other Evaluation Reports
Read other evaluation reports to help get into the report writing mode. This can also help you get a better idea of how much detail is necessary in reports. Be careful though that you don’t spend your time procrastinating by reading other reports instead of writing your own report.

10. Practice, Practice, Practice.
Even when you don’t have to write reports, stay in the habit of writing by keeping up a professional blog. Read journal articles and textbooks in your field, and collect key points and nuggets of wisdom. Then practice paraphrasing these key points. These can be incorporated in your blog too.

Business as usual in one country can create a dangerous backlash in another

The U.S. headquarters of Dunkin’ Donuts has apologized for a Thai campaign that depicted a woman in blackface makeup after it raised a ruckus here in the US. While a campaign like this seems to be an obvious no-no, the Thai Dunkin Donuts operates independently from its parent company, and racial stereotypes in advertising are no rarity in Thailand.

Check out this quote, from a Miami Herald report on the Dunkin’ situation:

The campaign hasn’t ruffled many in Thailand, where it’s common for advertisements to inexplicably use racial stereotypes. A Thai brand of household mops and dustpans called “Black Man” uses a logo with a smiling black man in a tuxedo and bow tie. One Thai skin whitening cream runs TV commercials that say white-skinned people have better job prospects than those with dark skin. An herbal Thai toothpaste says its dark-colored product “is black, but it’s good.”

Hours before the apology was issued by Dunkin’ Donuts headquarters, the company’s chief executive in Thailand dismissed the criticism as “paranoid American thinking.”

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” the CEO Nadim Salhani said in a telephone interview. “We’re not allowed to use black to promote our doughnuts? I don’t get it. What’s the big fuss? What if the product was white and I painted someone white, would that be racist?”

What this is, more than anything, is a culture clash, created by what appears to be a lack of forward thinking on Dunkin’ Donuts’ part. Thing is, considering how our borders have been eradicated by the Internet, organizations that operate in multiple regions and span different cultures need to have guidelines set as a sort of preventative crisis management. Sure, Dunkin sales may be up in Thailand, but the actions that branch of the organization takes can, as we see here, create negative situations for the brand as a whole, and especially those in regions that don’t hold the same values or beliefs.

Fact is, your average consumer is not going to research and see that Dunkin Thailand is pretty much its own company and takes no orders from Dunkin U.S., what they see is that Dunkin Donuts made a racist ad, and maybe they’ll talk with their wallets by heading over to Starbucks for their coffee tomorrow instead. Whether it’s, “no racial tones in any advertising,” “our employees will wear region-appropriate uniforms,” or any number of other topics where cultures quite clearly differ, when you enter a new market, or allow your name to be used in said market, taking control any factors that could reflect badly on the organization as a whole is a vital part of the crisis management process.

——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
——————————-

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Jed Emerson is a leader in social capital, with good ideas and clear thinking on this important topic for many social ventures. Here are some highlights from a recent interview:

Continue reading “Jed Emerson on Social Capital”

Good customer service can prevent an incredible number of crises

Having trouble getting some much-needed assistance with a product or service is a struggle familiar to just about everyone. Automated phone systems seem designed to trap callers in an infinite loop, and in-store staff are often as clueless as your average shopper when it comes to details or policy. Thankfully, social media rose as a shining beacon of hope for those desperately seeking customer service! Suddenly, one person, when well versed in communication and company practices, is able to directly answer questions and concerns from a wide variety of stakeholders at once, all without anyone spending a single second sitting on hold listening to coma-inducing Muzak. Even better, you can make sure that the most pleasant of your exchanges are very much public, a living banner advertisement for how awesome your organization really is.

So problem solved! I mean, everybody is making use of Twitter and Facebook to provide great customer service now that it’s so easy, right? Well…no. In fact, we would bet that the organizations a good number of you work for, or even own, aren’t doing any type of social media customer service at all. The idea is certainly growing in popularity, but there’s some sort of disconnect between the idea of heading trouble off at the pass and the actual implementation of that concept that stops many from ever moving forward.

Prevention is the best form of crisis management

One of our favorite sayings at Bernstein Crisis Management is, “prevention is the best form of crisis management.” Countless complaints go unanswered every day, complaints that then wind up permanently posted to sites like Yelp, fed to hungry consumer reports investigators, or simply passed among friends and colleagues as a warning. A bit of automated social media monitoring and some quick customer service could resolve an incredible number of individual problems, before they expand to taint the impressions of others. At the same time, constant monitoring assures that you will be aware of any rise in negative sentiment about your brand, and be in position to research what is driving said sentiment, invaluable information when you’re doing preventative crisis management.

——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
——————————-

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]