Category: Organization Development

Trading emergency supplies for Facebook likes leaves online store’s reputation battered

We’ve seen many examples of organizations reaching out to help those affected by natural disasters via social media. After all, it’s a win-win situation – people get some assistance or much-needed donations and the organizations who lend a hand grab some great positive publicity that helps boost their reputations.

The Tasmanian brush fires that left many people homeless earlier this month looked to be another such opportunity, but instead of acting as good Samaritans, the folks at Australian shopping site SellitOnline.com.au decided to make their offer dependent on how many Facebook “Likes” they could gather.

Here’s the message that was posted on SellitOnline’s Facebook page:

“What we need you do do is get everyone of your friends to join sellitonline Facebook page and the more people we get will determine how many generators we donate.”

Really? People’s homes have burned to the ground, thousands of residents are stranded and you will only donate generators if you get enough Likes?! Callous, uncaring, and a few less printable words immediately come to mind, and it took just minutes for Facebook users to start ripping into SellitOnline and the post was wiped from the Facebook page shortly after.

Aussie media news site Mumbrella sought comment from a SellitOnline spokesperson about the incident, and instead of taking the opportunity to recoup a little reputation with a proper apology they simply stated:

“We apologise if anyone was offended. We will be making a donation anyway.”

Saying that you’re sorry if people were offended is not at all the same thing as saying that you’re sorry for BEING offensive. Even in the wake of a public outpouring of anger towards its actions, SellitOnline continued to behave in an uncaring and insincere manner.

Assuming SellitOnline wishes to stay in business, the company badly needs some lessons in social media, crisis management, and something else that is too easily forgotten in the business world – compassion for fellow human beings. The site may survive this mistake, although its reputation has been battered and beaten, but another slip-up of this magnitude could send shoppers away for good.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[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]

Impact of flu bigger than most realize

Flu season is upon us, and it’s an ugly one this year. According to the latest reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7.3% of U.S. deaths last week were a result of the flu, slightly above the official epidemic threshold.

What does this mean to your organization? You’ve probably already noticed an increased number of call outs, and you can definitely expect to see more. In fact, according to Flu.gov’s Business Planning page:

Each flu season, nearly 111 million workdays are lost due to the flu. That equals approximately $7 billion per year in sick days and lost productivity. Through education and planning, you can help protect your employees from the seasonal flu.

With this flu season already shaping up to be more dangerous than most, what can you do to protect your employees and customers while keeping your organization afloat?

Inform: We’ve already blogged about the CDC’s excellent information-centric approach to crisis management, and the educational resources gathered at that organization’s flu page is a virtual treasure trove for anyone looking to protect their workforce from disease.

Prepare: Flu season comes around the same time every year, and if you wait until your office is half empty you’re going to have a bad time of it. Prepare remote access (easier than ever thanks to broadband connections) where possible and plan ahead to have reinforcements in case you need them. Don’t expect to be able to pull a load of temps from an agency at the last minute either, talk to a few services beforehand and you can have them essentially “on call” when your office is hit with a wave of the flu.

Internal issues aren’t your only concern, however. Your suppliers or contractors are likely to be experiencing flu-related interruptions of their own, and there’s no guarantee that they will be able to keep up their responsibilities 100%. Just as with the temps, speak with a few alternate sources early and set up a “just in case” plan with them.

Don’t forget the customers: Whether your serve the public or offer B2B services, your customer’s needs are liable to change during flu season. You might experience a surge in home delivery requests, or perhaps a sudden rise in the number of phone calls and emails your customer service department has to handle as people avoid leaving the house. You know your customers, and you should be able to sit down and brainstorm as to what their wants and needs will be. Of course, if you haven’t already been tracking data for trends throughout the year, now would be a great time to start. The better you’re able to meet the needs of your customers, the more positive reputation you’ll grab, not to mention the return business.

The flu is the perfect example of a crisis that you simply can’t prevent. Think ahead, plan ahead, and follow through. Leave enough flexibility to roll with whatever punches may come your way, but if you truly put time and effort into covering all your bases, you should make it through the season unscathed.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[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]

Editor’s note: The following case study was submitted to us by Crisis Manager reader Antoni lee, managing director of Australian communications firm Rhetorica. As Mr. Lee told us, “While the incidents themselves may now seem minor to some, the reputation and business damage is ongoing and significant.”

Orica Takes Medicine the Hard Way:A Case Study in Poor Crisis Communication Management

Plant Discharges Cancer-Causing Chemical, Fails To Warn Public

At 6.30PM on August 8 2011, a loud bang came from Orica’s ammonia plant at Kooragang Island (NSW). Over the road, Karl Hitchcock’s kitchen shook.

One of Mr Hitchcock’s contractor buddies ran in saying, “Don’t go outside. It’s raining acid.”

The next day, Mr Hitchcock noticed yellow spotting on parts of the boat parked in his front yard, and when he went over the road to work, he found a green film covering some of the plant equipment.

A kilogram of chromium-six had sprayed into the atmosphere, with some 60 grams of it falling locally onto the surrounding suburb of Stockton.

Neither the company nor the state government communicated with local residents until three days after the leak.

Panic and Speculation Fills the Information Vacuum

In the absence of official information, locals and the media were left to speculate — and to “freak out.”

In their distress, people naturally wondered: What had gone wrong? Had there been a leak? Was it toxic? Had it been contained? Was it safe to go outside…to work…to school? And frustratingly, Why hadn’t authorities or the company given locals any information about what was going on?

Immediate and intense media scrutiny filled the information vacuum. The narrative inevitably became about the evil chemical corporation versus “victims” in the local community.

NGO representatives and self-proclaimed experts readily fed hungry media stories about company practices, its history of breaches, chemical dangers, safety oversights and failures — and the need for better, stronger regulation.

Among the reports were claims that Orica had also leaked arsenic, ammonium nitrate, sulphuric acid and mercury vapour in a series of breaches at plants across the state.

The Wash-up is Never Clean or Easy

Google readily locates the harmful effects of chromium-six: skin allergies, nasal septum perforation, lung cancer, asthma symptoms, thick rashes, scarring and crusty skin sores.

Thankfully, no-one (that we know of) was physically harmed as a result of the Kooragang Island accidents. What did happen? While Orica survived and is performing strongly in several areas, it has suffered financially and its reputation is damaged:

1. Local resident pressure and global media coverage embarrassed and forced the State’s newly elected Premier, Barry O’Farrell, to apologise to the public and to commit to an overhaul of state environmental law.
2. Initial Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and Department of Health reports damned the company.
3. In the face of publicly perceived arrogance and incompetence, Orica shut its Kooragang Island plant for several months. The Premier threatened the company with loss of license to operate.
4. The short term hit to company revenue was $90 million.
5. In the wake of heavy criticism, Orica’s Australian chief, Graeme Liebelt, left the company six months earlier than planned.
6. A subsequent NSW upper house committee enquiry strongly criticised the Minister for Environment, Robyn Parker, as well as Orica, for the “unacceptable delay” in notifying the public and for causing “unnecessary community distress”.
7. The company was fined some $9 million.
8. Class legal action is pending.
9. Orica is spending (at least) tens of thousands of dollars trying to heal the lack of trust it now has with local communities.
10. Resulting legislative changes require companies to report faster and impose heavier fines for breaches. The EPA has more power.

The Hard Lessons Everyone Already Knows

After a crisis, everyone has an opinion about what beleaguered companies did wrong and what they ought to have done. Judgments always cover not only the crisis incident, but how the company responded (or not).

Karl Hitchcock again: “People eat their vegetables out of their gardens. And this stuff would have went all over them. I think they handled it very poorly. The communication is what really got me.”

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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by Antoni Lee, Managing Director, Rhetorica

Don’t ignore this valuable “human resource”

We frequently speak about the importance of your crisis management team working in close connection with other departments for a reason – it works. While crisis management covers a broad spectrum of responsibilities and is often managed by outside contractors, those in specific departments have not only focused their expertise, but also are intimately familiar with how to get things done within their organization.

It’s common to discuss tools to help you in handling external issues in crisis, but for the internal issues that inevitable arise look no further than the HR department for a pool of assistance. Here, a quote from a KBPJ.com artible by Dan Weedin explains exactly why:

• When a crisis occurs, there is instantly fear and uncertainty. The human resources expert(s) in your business should be a calming and reassuring influence. Even if the honest answer to many questions is “I don’t know,” at least there is a communications leader within the organization. Many times, the boss is busy putting out the fire. Someone needs to be available for the employees.
  

 

• If the emergency results in notifying family members, the HR department is the best “voice.” Because they are not dealing with the crisis directly, they can be a much more capable sounding board and empathetic communicator.
  

 

• Human Resources knows the laws and regulations that could come into play with shutdowns, terminations, re-assignments, and other employee-related moves.
  

 

• The Human Resources director has a direct line to the morale of the employees during and after the crisis. Most crises don’t just end quickly. The lingering effects can include uncertainty, fear, drama, lack of production, anger and depression. As the boss, you may be in the middle of dealing with your own feelings, stress, and responsibility, and need someone to be a leader for your team.

An inside source that knows the lay of the land and has files on all of the human resources you have at your disposal sounds like a key crisis management component to us.

How can you best prepare your HR department to handle its role when it comes to a crisis? Pretty much the same way you would any other group: assign crisis roles, create crisis plans that address the potential issues, as well as a few meant to blanket large areas of unpredictable ones, and then practice, practice, practice. If you have an in-house crisis management team, all the better! Set up a nice lunch and have everyone get chummy, then bring them back and get to work on those plans.

If you don’t, then (and you’d better believe we’re speaking from experience here) your contractors will be pleasantly surprised to hear they have a trained and prepared HR team ready to assist when they hit the scene, and that assistance will make it that much easier for them to jump into the situation and get to work.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[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 do you manage this increasingly common problem?

Despite what quite a few shady companies purport to be able to do, there is no way to magically erase negative online reviews. The reality is that if people are saying bad things about you online, the best thing you can do is change their minds

If you run an organization that deals with the public, chances are that you’ve already encountered a crisis management scenario involving negative online reviews. Whether it’s blog dedicated to documenting your failures or an angry ex-customer who’s made it their business to tell everyone on Twitter how much you suck (no offense, they said it!). The fact that someone headed home and decided to dedicate a chunk of time to digging into your organization’s reputation will factor into the decision-making process of other potential customers.

With surveys showing that nearly 74% of consumers are conducting online research before making purchase decisions, you literally can not afford to have those negative reviews popping up prominently in search results.

What’s the first step, then? Actually, much like any good crisis management plan, this one starts before a crisis ever pops up. Make it very clear how people can contact you if they have complaints, questions or concerns, and actually RESPOND to their inquiries. If every organization actively manned their customer service phone lines and email accounts you’d see a lot less complaints making their way into the public arena.

Next up, fully investigate the complaint and if you find an issue, FIX the problem! Yes, there are those random trolls that put up bad reviews for no reason, but it’s far more likely that something you or your employees did has set someone off. Before you go any further, do a thorough, honest audit and be certain that your organizations is up to par in terms of operations, customer service, product quality, whatever the complaint was about.

Sure you’ve got everything straight at home? The next step is to get in touch with the upset parties. Approach them privately, if possible, with a compassionate stance and ask if they’ll give you another shot and write a followup review. It sounds so simple that many dismiss the idea, but in our experience this is the #1 way to remove negative search results online while demonstrating to potential future customers just how helpful and awesome your company really is.

Remember, everyone makes mistakes, and the public is more willing than to accept that fact than most expect. What they’re less willing to accept is someone who encounters a problem and does nothing about it.

Does an online reputation management problem still have you stymied? Go back that rule that solves so very many problems – The Golden Rule. Treat others as you would like to be treated, and your reputation will prosper.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[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]

Foot-in-mouth disease continues to affect organizations and individuals worldwide

Each year around this time Merrie Spaeth, former Director of Media Relations for President Reagan and current president of Spaeth Communications, announces her BIMBO of the Year awards. The BIMBO awards are meant to demonstrate the dangers of associating oneself with the very negative terms you seek to avoid. After reading this year’s winner and (dis)-honorable mentions, you’ll see how using the wrong terms can cause the listener to believe precisely the opposite of what you intended to say.

The 2012 Bimbo Of The Year Award Winner…

“The world will not end on December 21, 2012, or any day in 2012,” read a post on USA.gov. Titled “Scary rumors about the world ending in 2012 are just rumors,” the website tried to debunk end-of the-world rumors and allay fears of an impending apocalypse predicted by the Mayan calendar. (A classic BIMBO causes the listener to believe the opposite of what the speaker is trying to say. In this case, the blog only reinforces fears about the predicted doomsday. This post can’t be helping NASA, which has already received messages from young people who say “they are ill and/or contemplating suicide because of the coming doomsday.”)

USA.gov, “Scary rumors about the world ending in 2012 are just rumors,” Dec. 3, 2012

http://blog.usa.gov/post/37121041300/scary-rumors-about-the-world-ending-in-2012-are-just

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

“I don’t think there is some drastic change needed,” said RIM CEO Thorsten Heins as shareholders called for change after the latest Blackberry model was criticized for lack of apps and other features. Mr. Heins made another appearance in the Memo this year claiming, “This company is not ignoring the world out there, nor is it in a death spiral.” (Mr. Heins gets the dishonorable mention for his repeated use of classic BIMBO comments. He should know better.)

The Guardian, “RIM chief denies Blackberry maker is in a ‘death spiral,’” July 3, 2012

Bloomberg Businessweek, “Research in Motion: The Living Dead?” Feb. 5, 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jul/03/rim-chief-blackberry-death-spiral

“We’re not strippers, we’re maids,” said Melissa Borrett, founder of Lubbock, Texas-based Fantasy Maid Services whose maids clean houses nude. She added, “The nudity aspect of it isn’t, in and of itself, enough to qualify it as a nude cleaning service.”

Lubbock Avalanche Journal, “Nude maid service not sexual, owner says,” April 10, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2012-04-10/nude-maid-service-not-sexual-owner-says

Interested in more BIMBOs? You can catch all of Merrie’s 2012 nominees at the Spaeth Communications website.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[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]

Crisis management for a clash of modern vs. traditional communication

While the rest of the business world has boarded the social media train, an incident earlier this month involving Netflix CEO Reed Hastings brought to light an important question: How do you avoid having your social media communications run afoul of regulatory bodies that are behind the times?

Here’s a rundown of the situation, from a Reuters article by Ronald Grover and Sue Zeidler:

Hastings wrote in the post on the company’s public Facebook page on July 3: “Netflix monthly viewing exceeded 1 billion hours for the first time ever in June.” The post was accessible to the more than 244,000 subscribers to the page.

Netflix received what is known as a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which means the SEC staff will recommend the full commission pursue either a cease-and-desist action and/or a civil injunction against Netflix and Hastings over the alleged violation.

Netflix may have run afoul of the SEC’s Regulation FD, adopted in 2000, which requires public companies to make full and fair public disclosure of material non-public information.

 

 

“We think posting to over 200,000 people is very public, especially because many of my subscribers are reporters and bloggers,” Hastings said on Thursday in a letter. He also said that he did not believe the Facebook posting was “material” information.

You would be hard pressed to find many who would deem a post on a major organization’s Facebook page to be anything less than “fair public disclosure” but apparently the SEC employs at least a few that don’t feel the same way.

Hasting’s initial response was pretty much on track, although we would have recommended padding it a bit by paying some respect to the efforts of the SEC, and he certainly has the court of public opinion on his side by dint of sheer popularity – both of Netflix and social media – but other organizations may not find themselves in such an advantageous position when facing down regulators.

So, what can you do to mitigate the impact of a similar situation?

As we’re so fond of saying, the best form of crisis management is crisis prevention, and you’ll limit the potential for damage simply by being prepared. Get your legal and social media teams together and hammer out the details of a communication plan. Social media can state what they intend to share, and legal can then draw parallels from traditional, approved communication methods (and by reaching out to critical stakeholders like the SEC) so that there is documented proof that your organization made every effort to comply. Keep these two in close communication and even if trouble does manage to sneak in, you should be able to thwart it with little harm to reputation or the bottom line.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[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]

I have always loved the coming of the new year. This time of year has always reminded me to take time to reflect on what has happened and prepare for the what is to come. This is an often missed step along our busy paths to and quest to accomplish so much during a year. However, reflection should be a regular habit in our days. Our busy lives and ever connectedness to everyone and everything often stifle our ability for this.

However, reflection is necessary for adult learning and growth. Many adults would agree with the research that suggests we learn through our experiences. A critical step in this learning process is the ability to analyze and reflect on the experiences. Failure to take adequate time to do this can result in quick reactions that may be driven by emotions that were brought on by the experience.

So in the new year, build reflection into your schedule. Set time to review what has happened and what is expected to happen. Allow time for flexibility and readjustment. And allow time to just de-compress and relax.

Best wishes to you in the new year!

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

This post is dedicated to the committed stakeholders I’ve worked with over the past year, who continue to inspire me to follow their example of helping others.

The season of giving has been upon us again, and some of you have probably been involved in your nonprofit’s own fundraising efforts. Recently I received a fundraising letter from my alma mater that really stayed with me, long after I put it down. The letter reminded me of evaluation and building relationships with those who have an important stake in our evaluations. Yes, as you have surmised, this post is not about financial giving. It is about building relationships with evaluation stakeholders, a lesson I continue to learn. These relationships are vital to crafting an evaluation that is meaningful and useful to your stakeholders. Here are some tips to building those relationships with evaluation stakeholders:

Tip 1: Find and learn from a “champion”.

The letter I received was from a well-known figure who has supported my alma mater in various ways, from speaking at graduation ceremonies to talking with students firsthand to learn about their experiences. Find a like-minded supporter who is a “gatekeeper” of the community—a leader who will champion the evaluation. A gatekeeper gives an evaluator an entrance into the community. This is my advice to fellow evaluators or those commissioning evaluation: Look out for and learn from (or urge your evaluator to do so) someone whom your stakeholders trust, respect, and talk about.

This might be someone who has had face to face contact with your stakeholders, and who has positively impacted them. Ask this person thoughtful questions to help you learn from their experiences. Some of my best meetings have been when I’ve learnt something new by asking a question. A deeper understanding of the program being evaluated and the people being served establishes a strong base for the evaluation.

Recently, I was inspired by one such person, Dave Purdy, who won the trust of communities by his tireless dedication to the cause. Despite challenges, he drove long distances to get to know and serve people with Parkinson’s. One evaluation stakeholder summed up his description of this person’s accomplishments with these simple, yet meaningful words: “he’s just a great guy.”

Tip 2: Sit down face to face

There is nothing like a face to face talk. In this age of e-mail and social media, I’ve made the mistake of not recognizing the value of face to face meetings. But there is nothing like sitting down with people for a cup of coffee. Nothing can take the place of face to face time. Over time, all these interactions build up to help us get to know each other and gain trust. Especially since evaluation can make some feel threatened (for more information, please see a previous post, How to Address Others’ Fears about Program Evaluation), building trust equals building relationships with stakeholders.

Tip 3: Discuss mutual goals

The author of the fundraising letter shared a striking, specific, personal goal of his: that every alumnus from the class of 2012 to 1920, make a contribution. Use face to face time to engage others in:

• Articulating mutually meaningful goals
• Thinking through goals
• Updating stakeholders on evaluation activities and considering progress
• Revising those goals, as needed

It is especially vital to communicate evaluation goals with those commissioning your evaluation. It is so easy for evaluations to get de-railed by competing needs and tangential directions. Re-visit goals during every meeting. Strong evaluations are focused. Carefully and mutually thought-out evaluation goals and objectives will help focus your evaluation, while building relationships with your key stakeholders.

(To be continued…)

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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.

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Priya Small has extensive experience in collaborative evaluation planning, instrument design, data collection, grant writing and facilitation. Contact her at priyasusansmall@gmail.com. See her profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/priyasmall/

Has the onetime industry leader completely stopped caring?

Black Friday presents a great opportunity to grab new customers or bring old ones back with exciting deals. As with many opportunities, this one can also be a double-edged sword, as failure to meet expectations can lead to serious crisis management concerns. For example, Dell Computers, whose bottom line is already hurting due to the trend towards tablets and more capable smartphones, created a major reputation crisis for itself when it pulled an (allegedly) unintentional bait and switch on excited shoppers.

Here are more details, from a Huffington Post article by Catherine New:

The Austin-based PC-maker oversold its widely promoted “doorbuster” laptop deal — a 14-inch Inspiron 14z marked down to $299 from $599. Now, instead of canceling or delaying orders, Dell is trying to pass on a different, bigger model to customers.

 

In nearly two dozen emails to The Huffington Post on Wednesday, some anguished customers said Dell’s delayed and minimal response to the issue prevented them from scooping up other laptop deals. Some reported losing out on cash-back deals with their credit cards after Dell switched their orders. Other customers agonized that the confusion and time spent trying to sort out their order has meant lost quality time with loved ones over the holiday.

If you’d like a glimpse of the type of negative sentiment that Dell brought out in its customer base, just have a quick look at the comments on Catherine’s HuffPost article. Suffice to say, people were extremely upset and felt, understandably, that they had been duped into buying an inferior laptop by the promise of an amazing Black Friday deal, especially because it took Dell almost three full days to notify customers of the problem – a move that many felt was designed to have them miss out on other sales.

So where’s the apology from Dell? The promise to honor all purchases, even if some must be delayed? Well, apparently it’s not coming. Dell simply shrugged and blamed computer problems while bringing on extra customer service reps to handle phone lines overloaded with customers futilely trying to get the product they ordered.

The bottom line here is that if Dell can’t even be bothered to care about its own reputation, then losing market share to handheld devices is the least of its concerns. The company needs a change of corporate culture, and fast.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[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]