Leading Your Team Through the Storm
When a crisis occurs, many organizations, understandably, immediately focus on the court of public opinion. While your marketplace reputation should always be at the forefront of your business, it is important to remember your employees during a time of crisis. Your employees are some of your primary stakeholders and a crisis will most likely affect each of them. Maintaining moral and control in the office is a critical part in demonstrating your leadership capabilities to your team. Here are seven quick tips for handling a crisis internally: 1) Involve Employee Response in Your Crisis Communication Plan Crisis response goes beyond a fire evacuation plan. It involves having a plan to respond to a wide variety of circumstances, whether it be a tragic event, or a reputational crisis. Being prepared will boost your employees’ confidence when responding to a crisis, resulting in a stronger base for rebuilding. 2) Encourage Recommendations from Employees Employees keep the business running, so listening to them can provide clues into what your company needs. Create a dialogue with your employees will allow you to learn about their thoughts, and how the company can prepare for or work to prevent a crisis. 3) Repeat, Remind, Review Prepare your employees for a crisis, even when crisis seems impossible. Consistently training your employees will help to keep your crisis strategy fresh in their minds, ultimately resulting in a better company response. Being prepared will help your employees’ confidence when responding to a crisis, also resulting in a stronger base for rebuilding. 4) Protect Your Employees As the leader, an employee at any level is your responsibility. Their safety is reliant on your desire to keep them safe. By being prepared to protect them, you can save your business’s reputation, as well as your own. 5) Communicate Face-to-Face when Possible Sincerity and ambition is best captured through verbal communication. Taking time to address employees face-to-face signifies their importance to you, and demonstrates your willingness to work alongside them to venture through a crisis. 6) Personalize Your Message Just as you would customize your branding message to different target markets, your internal crisis approach should be of the same mind set. Each team member plays a different position in your organization, all with different focuses and individual goals that contribute to the overall mission of the company. Each employee or position is therefore impacted differently and it is important for them to know how to react or what action needs to take place. This does not involve placing blame on other employees, but focuses on uniting the team and organizing the company’s response as a whole. 7) Provide Support Post-Crisis If a crisis has the potential to be emotionally challenging for your employees, offer assistance to help guide them through the healing process. Showing that you value your employees by supporting them can boost employee morale and help build your business’s reputation. For more information regarding crisis leadership, do not hesitate to contact the Fallston Group at 410.420.2001 or by email at info@fallstongroup.com.
Meltdown in Rio: Ryan Lochte
The Timeline: August 14, 2016 [9:27 a.m.] BREAKING NEWS: Gold medalist Ryan Lochte and three other U.S. swimmers are reportedly held up at gunpoint after a party in Brazil. August 14, 2016 [5:57 p.m.] After reports of story being fabricated, Lochte tweets a statement reiterating the story was indeed true. August 17, 2016 [10:34 a.m.] A Brazilian judge orders the swimmers’ passports to be seized to prevent them from leaving the country. Lochte had already arrived back home one day prior. August 18, 2016 [5:45 p.m.] Lochte and James Feigen are indicted for falsely reporting a crime after video surfaces of the swimmers at a gas station in which they were not held up. The Response: Initially, the response to the incident was poor, at best. Lochte stuck to his story for almost four full days, lying on social media and in television interviews to family, friends, teammates and fans. Days later, Lochte sat down with Matt Lauer to discuss the incident in a bit more emotional manner, but still used alcohol and lack of memory as a crutch to his story. He admitted guilt by acknowledging his exaggeration of the incident, but never fully conceded that the swimmers weren’t robbed. He apologized to teammates, fans and the city of Rio with tears in his eyes and used words like embarrassed, ashamed and I’m sorry. His interview was unscripted and remorseful, but was it genuine? It was, eventually, but only when Lauer shaped his thinking and practically pulled it out of him. The Aftermath: Although the 32-year-old is at the tail end of his swimming career, this incident still has some very serious repercussions. Aside from the public humiliation and shame Lochte brought on himself, his family and his country, he has lost his top four sponsors, including Speedo and Ralph Lauren, surely causing his $3 million net worth to take a hit. He also must consider how close he will be able to remain to the Olympic team and the sport of swimming moving forward. Whether it be as a coach, analyst, or other industry-related position, Lochte has bridges to rebuild before his trust and reputation are restored in the swimming world and the court of public opinion. The stands in Rio were swarmed with anti-Lochte signs during the closing ceremonies, including one very recognizable image: Reputation after Swimming: As was the case with Brian Williams, Ray Rice, Pete Rose, and so on, the bad news for Lochte is that he will forever be associated with this incident. The good news is that America has proven to be a forgiving society, and with Lochte admitting fault, he can now work on turning short-term adversity into long-term advantage. We see many former professional athletes turn analyst/reporter, covering future events they once excelled in. We hope one of the most decorated Olympians of all time can take the steps needed to repair what is broken and remain close to future Olympic swimmers in 2020 and beyond shall he not return to the sport as a competitor. If not, there is always acting – just kidding. For more information on how to build, strengthen and defend your reputation, contact Fallston Group at 410.420.2001 or by email at info@fallstongroup.com.
Workplace Violence Advice
by Rob Weinhold A safe work environment is paramount to everyone in the workplace and should be the first priority of leadership. The recent workplace shooting at the Emcore Corporation in New Mexico highlights the pervasive dangers faced by all business owners and their employees each day. This tragic situation left ten people shot and three dead, including the gunman who is suspected of targeting a domestic partner. Workplace violence is defined as physical violence, threats of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, and other disruptive behaviors which occur in the workplace. Attacks in the workplace often seem unpredictable, sudden, devastating, life-altering and public for many stakeholders – physically, emotionally and financially. Unfortunately, many leaders do not pay attention to the prevention side of workplace violence until it is too late. Top-Line Advice In an effort to provide some top-line advice regarding prevention, the Fallston Group offers the following: 1. Install a controlled access security system complete with designated entry points 2. Monitor access security cameras and badge identification systems which are controlled by a receptionist or security personnel – includes monitoring of hallways, stairwells, ingress and egress to executive suites, etc. 3. Implement one-way exit strategies which allow employees to vacate buildings quickly from multiple areas during an emergency – points of exit which cannot be penetrated from the exterior of the building 4. Limit access to certain areas of property based on job description and authorization 5. Offer workplace violence awareness training for supervisors and managers (educate workforce about the early warning signs of workplace violence) 6. Require detailed documentation of behavior/performance and implement reporting policies – be certain assessments, policies and training strategies are reviewed and implemented on a routine basis 7. Provide employee access to counseling services and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) programs – pay close attention to the culture of the business as problems often creep into the workplace from the personal lives of employees. If practical, offer family life programs to relieve some of the work-life balance pressures some employees may feel 8. Involve law enforcement in the documentation process if behavior is deemed threatening 9. Request law enforcement visits with stop, walk and talk details (free of charge) 10. Form a threat assessment/crisis team who regularly plan for and evaluate issues. In addition to the tactics described above, sound pre-employment screening procedures, prior to offers of employment, is critical. Searching for backgrounds in criminal behavior, domestic violence, weapons charges and crimes of violence are often early indicators of future problems. To learn more about protecting your employees and reducing the exposure points of your business, contact the Fallston Group at 443.690.0765 or log onto fallstongroup.com. It is the ethical thing to do as a leader.
