7 Elements For Creating An Employee Communication Plan For A Crisis: Elements 1-3
Posted by Linda in Employees, tags: crises plan, employee communication planDuring a crisis, your employee communication plan should insure that your employees understand the crisis, how it affects your business, and how it affects their jobs.
By planning how you’ll communicate with your employees during a crisis, you and they will better withstand the storm when the unspeakable happens.
To develop an employee communication plan for a crises, you need to include seven elements in your crises plan. This post will cover the first three elements. My next post will cover the remaining four.
1. Plan Open
Two-Way Communications
During And After A Crises
Before a crisis occurs, you need to plan ways to keep candid information flowing between you and your employees. This requires, not only providing employees information about the crisis, but setting up a system to listen to employees.
Your first communications with your employees should be as personal as possible. Don’t make them depend on the mass media to understand the crisis.
2. Plan To Meet With
Your Employees Before
They Return To Work
After The Crisis
Face-to-face meetings are the most personal. So plan a meeting with your employees as soon as possible. It’s vital that this meeting take place before your employees return to their day-to-day activities.
In this meeting, plan to provide open communication to all your employees from you and others involved in the crisis.
This meeting should build confidence and trust between you and your employees.
3. Plan Ongoing Employee
Communication Tactics
Next you need to plan to keep your employees informed as they return to work.
You can use various communication tactics to keep them informed and combat rumors.
Of primary importance is a background paper on what, why, and how the crisis happened. You need to share this with your employees as well as the media.
Once your employees return to work, you can use bulletin boards and emails to provide up-to-the-minute information. For a while, you may need to distribute a daily official memo.
When choosing communication tactics, plan several different tactics so that when a crises occurs, you can match communication tactics to your message.
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.
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Posted 11-23-09:
7 Elements For Creating An
Employee Communication Plan
For A Crisis: Elements 1-3
Entries (RSS)
Hi Linda;
Although I’m a company of ME! I wanted to hear what you had to say about handling a crisis since your advice is always good. I think, like you analogy on marketing using your trip to Disney World, your ideas here are also applicable to handling a crisis in your family, neighborhood or other environment. I’m looking forward to your next post.
Thanks,
Deb
Hi Debbie,
Thank you for comparing this post to the series with my Marketing/Disney analogy.
I’m pleased you see the broad reach of strategic planning for all aspects of life. I’ve found the same. For example, campaign planning uses the same principles for advertising, marketing, public relations, and communications. Those principles may be applied a bit differently, but the planning is much alike.
Warmly,
Linda
it is very good, thanks for your sharing