If you’re creating an employee communication plan for a crisis, you need to include seven elements in that plan. In my last post I covered the first three elements. If you missed that post, you can read it by clicking the link below:

7 Steps To Creating An Employee Communication Plan For A Crises Steps 1-3

This post covers the remaining four elements that you need to include in your employee communication plan for a crises. It will help  you to assure that your employees understand how the crisis affects your business and their jobs.

4. Put The Crisis Into
Historical Context

Your employee communication plan for a crisis should put the crisis into historical context for your business

After a crisis, your employees need to know how the crisis affects your business now, based on what’s happened in the past. You need to remind your employees of your business’ success in dealing with past crises or similar problems.

If your employee communication plan lists past successes of solving problems, it will help you to think of the right ones to reinforce your employees belief in your business’ ability to survive the crisis.

But you need to do more than show them that you’ve survived through similar problems, You need to help rebuild your employees’ optimism about your business’ future.

5. Plan Actions That Will
Rebuild Your Business And
Your Employees Confidence
In Its Future

Your employee communication plan should outline actions that rebuild your employees’ confidence and optimism about the future.

If the crisis results from an accident in which one or more employees is injured, plan ways to encourage your employees’

input for improving safety. Make sure this is more than rhetoric. It must actually lead to change. So your plan should include basic implementation plans.

For example, a crisis created by an accident should note ways of implementing safety improvements. One way to do this is to set up systems to shift group discussions and decision making to the lowest levels possible.

Your employee communication plan should also include periodic surveys and audits to determine employee concerns. You can create surveys and list types of audits in your plan. Then there’s less chance that you’

ll forget this important listening function of two way communication.

6. Reassure Your Employees
That Their Jobs Are Save

No matter how much your employees love you and your business, their primary concern during and after a crisis is “How will this affect my job?”

So you need to reassure them by providing data and statistics that verify that their work environment is safe.

Data on past safety records will help to place the crisis into historical significance for your business and employees, while lessening strife and enhancing work continuity.

You also need to plan ways to let your employees participate in bouncing back from the crisis in a way that helps to satisfy their status needs. Let them know how important they are to your business and how much you value their participation.

7. Plan How You Will Lead Your
Employees Through A Crisis

Effective leadership creates a work environment that meets the needs of both your business and your employees. This calls for upward, downward and sideways communication throughout your business.

Employees get most of their information from the grapevine but they prefer to get it from you.  Therefore, you need to plan downward communication that eliminates the need for the grapevine, and  upward communication (listening) to learn their concerns.

Leading your employees through a crisis requires assuring that your communication with them is timely, understandable, candid, and their concerns.

Creating An
Employee Communication Plan
For A Crisis: Conclusion

Include these seven elements in your employee communication plan for a crises. You’ll then be prepared when the unexpected occurs because you planned for it.

I know that may sound contradictory, but crises planning is all about planning for the unexpected and sometimes the unthinkable.

It’s businesses that don’t plan for  crises that are most often destroyed by them. Don’t be one of them. Start your plan today.

If you need more help with managing employees, see Employee Performance Review: Tips, Templates & Tactics. It includes  an e-manual and 8 bonus training MP3s to teach managers how to conduct performance appraisals.

If you like this post and want to know when I publish another one that interests you, complete the form below: Then you’ll get weekly post summaries so you’ll never miss one you want to read.

Posted  1-25-09:
7 Elements For Creating An
Employee Communication Plan For A Crisis
Elements 4-7

Bookmark It

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 26th, 2009 at 6:59 am and is filed under Employees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.