Master of Disaster ! Who is in charge of crisis management ? | by Bert van Waldbeek

In PATA’s ( Pacific Asia Travel Association ) Crisis Management awareness booklet, that was prepared in cooperation with The Winning Edge, their President and CEO, Mr. Peter de Jong says :

And now is the time to think about putting pro-active systems in place to prevent or reduce the impacts of all the risks your business might be running.

Please ask yourself these simple questions :

Do I use safety belts while driving and why didn’t I use them 20 - 30 years ago ?

The answers are manifold, from “ they didn’t exist ” to “ there was no need “, but we all agree that, in the meantime the need to wear them is proven to be beneficial and that this pro-active safety tool has saved many lives !

As, in the 80’s, the hospitality industry had to embrace environmental issues in order to stay competitive, now is the time to embrace Risk & Crisis Management

If not, the chance that you might loose business like one hotel in Bangkok with a 2-page Crisis Management plan, that lost a conference of 600 participants to another hotel that had a full and well prepared plan. That the rate was US $ 30 higher in the second hotel the organizers perceived as an investment in the safety of their members

So now is the time to add a function to your organization chart :

A senior executive who can take the leadership role in Risk & Crisis Management planning, implementation and then leads the organization through regular exercises to an appropriate level of alertness and readiness

CRISIS MANAGEMENT TEAM

The formation of a crisis management team is an important activity. The purpose is to provide a centralized power structure that can make and implement decisions rapidly in the midst of a crisis. The CM Team’s goal is to exercise stewardship and social responsibility to all stakeholders, and get the organization or destination back to business as usual, as soon as possible.

The Crisis Management Team can also be used outside of crisis situations to be proactive and diminish the likelihood of crises, and to develop the organizational learning processes.

In the heat of crises, the Crisis Management Team must operate swiftly in murky situations.

The CM Team will assess the problem, sort through the treatment options, and administer the needed care quickly. The Crisis Management Team will call in internal and external experts as needed.

For crises that involve multiple jurisdictions, one of the first tasks of the Crisis Management Team will be to inform the other organizations of the situation, and to coordinate an appropriate response.

Adding to the challenge is that leadership in communication issues must be provided, and that in the face of conflicting advice. Lawyers will warn “Tell ‘em nothin’ and tell ‘em slow", while the communications team will appeal for an immediate press conference.

Crisis management experts advice erring on the side of over-disclosure, even at the risk of harming one’s legal positioning. Say something. If the CEO or President is not prepared to talk, reporters will find someone who is. In the age of 24-hour news coverage and immediate, global Internet information exchange, “no comment” is an unacceptable response. Media will fast-forward to sources anywhere on the globe.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Once risks are established and prioritized, the next step is to prepare a Crisis Management Plan and invest in the set up of Crisis Management system, for instance as per the PATA booklet that was prepared by PATA and The Winning Edge after the Bali bombing

Good crisis management can be divided in 4 sections

One major key to crisis management is to seek to reduce the impact of a natural or human-sourced crisis before that crisis arises.

Hospitality managers need to assess how vulnerable their events are to sources of internal and external crisis. They then need to evaluate the likely impacts such crises may have upon their ability to operate such happening s

"Being Ready" involves more than making plans and running an occasional exercise.

Businesses need to evaluate their crisis exposure, develop operational and media action plans, regularly audit those plans, conduct crisis response management exercises.

Managers and staff need to be psychologically and physiologically prepared for the impact and stresses that crisis events impose upon them and acquire crisis management skills.

Crisis Response is dedicated to the immediate aftermath of the event, the response to the direct impact of a crisis and the sustained efforts during the course of the emergency.

The emphasis is on saving lives, controlling the situation, and minimizing the effects of the disaster. This phase includes the logistics of getting medical care, food, water, shelter, and rescue teams to the scene.

Adding to the challenges mentioned is that leadership must be provided in all aspects of communication. This might create conflicts if not discussed and rehearsed in advance

Professional response requires urgent action by all the stakeholders and the coordinated application of resources, facilities, and efforts beyond those regularly available to handle routine problems.

The ultimate assessment of effective crisis management can be made from the degree to which an organisation or a destination recovers and the amount of crisis-resistance added since the crisis arose.

Managers need to develop effective plans and procedures for business recovery (including continuity and resumption) and seek ways in which business operations can quickly "bounce back" beyond "survival" levels.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Operational response is essential; it is the one that saves lives, property and other assets as we learned in a dramatic way in the past month.

Communication is important, it's the one that saves the business as both the chairmen of Pan Am and Exxon learned the hard way during their crises.

However the key to success is leadership, not only during the crisis but, now more than ever, leadership in developing proactive plans on Regional, National, Local and Organizational level.

Now is the time to show that you are installing the “seat belts” in your organization, that you are pro-actively organizing systems and capabilities to handle the crises, which undoubtedly will come !

As Mr. Martin Silk, CEO of ICCA ( International Congress & Convention Association ) says in the foreword of the Crisis Management Guidelines, that was also prepared in cooperation with The Winning Edge,

For your own action on Risk & Crisis Management, please visit, for instance, the following web site :

The Winning Edge is organizing a Risk & Crisis Management seminar in Bangkok on February 28-March 1, 2005, for more details please contact : [email protected]

Bert “Bow-Thai” van Walbeek has been an Hotelier for 35 years and Marketer of Tourism for 25 years, a Motivator for 15 years and a lecturer for 15 years. After completing the Hotelschool in The Hague, the first part of his career was accomplished in Europe working in operational and later sales and marketing positions in Hilton, Inter-Continental, Canadian Pacific and Sheraton Hotels around Europe. The second part started with his arrival in Thailand in 1985, where he spearheaded the successful marketing efforts to reposition the Royal Orchid Sheraton. He also became a member of the Marketing Committee of TICA ( Thailand Incentive & Convention Association ) , and was the Founder and first President of the Thailand Chapter of SITE ( Society of Incentive Travel Executives). By the end of 1988 he was appointed as Sheraton’s Vice President Marketing for the Middle East, an area that covered 5 time zones and 26 hotels. During this tenure he had to face the marketing opportunities of the Gulf Crisis and developed the "Back To Normal" concepts for both the Sheraton Hotels in the area and for the Egyptian General Authority for the Promotion of Tourism. These recovery programs were launched 2 weeks after the Gulf Crisis was resolved. Click here for more...