Crisis Communications: Are You Prepared to Survive?

by: Walt Laskos, Principal, The Laskos Group

My wife and I recently stumbled across the TV series “24” on Netflix and for the past couple of weeks we’ve been avidly watching Federal Agent Jack Bauer (played by Kiefer Sutherland) do the impossible. If you’re like me, one of the few people who missed the series during its popular run from 2001 to 2010, each episode is portrayed in real time, covering one hour in the course of a 24-hour time period. The show depicts Bauer at work for the Los Angeles Counter Terrorism Unit where we see him facing life-terminating calamities such as a nuclear bomb blast and a lethal terrorist-manufactured virus.

While watching each episode of “24” it was only natural to think about the real-life scenarios we face that threaten to interrupt the natural flow of our everyday activities. Earthquakes, hurricanes, cyber attacks, pandemics, floods can all bring a credit union’s operation to an immediate and grinding halt. In such cases, when cell towers are down, telephone lines are inoperative and Internet connectivity is non existent, would you be able to communicate with your staff and membership as a first step in restoring the functionality of your credit union?

Needless to say, a well-thought out and frequently rehearsed and tested business continuity plan is worth its weight in gold for any business. It not only provides the map to recovery but also helps to facilitate communications with staff, members, regulators, the press, and the general public.

Of course, it would be very unlikely that members would be knocking on the credit union front door if the devastation took out the entire communications grid. Nevertheless, having some way to communicate even in the direst of situations is akin to performing CPR to keep the brain alive. In such scenarios, a satellite telephone might just be the solution as Jack Bauer so often demonstrated.

However, we’d be foolish to believe that only a major natural disaster like a category-five hurricane or an 8.0 earthquake has the capacity to completely shatter our operations. A simple data compromise, a computer hardware malfunction, a fire, or a robbery can be as lethally destructive. No matter what the severity level might be, the key to recovery should start with your business continuity plan, and that plan heavily relies on your ability to communicate.

During my years at a corporate credit union, I had responsibility for managing communications in our continuity plan. Besides having a well-documented step-by-step outline written in a way that can guide anyone through the communications process during a continuity event, I also created a series of communication templates adapted for our various audiences and designed for every imaginable situation, from a hostage scenario to a processing malfunction. All one had to do is select the appropriate template, fill in a few minor details and it was ready for approval and distribution; fast and efficient.

I also tapped an external service which gave our corporate the ability to alert our members through e-mail, text messaging and even automated phone calls. Using this service, I could notify either all members at once within minutes or select groups based on product or service use, and the notification could be launched from anywhere. In fact, I remember a time when I sent a continuity test notification to all members using my smart phone from a parking garage more than 50 miles away from my office.

Every minute counts when you’re in a state of business continuity and having the ability to communicate efficiently and effectively with the people who matter the most to your business—your staff and members—is one of your most valuable and prized tools. It not only serves as a way to disseminate information to them but it also plays a very critical role in shaping their perception and opinion of your credit union during such challenging times. Fail to communicate in a timely manner or mismanage the communications and you will find yourself severely damaging the level of trust and confidence others have in your organization, potentially doing more harm to your credit union than that which caused the actual continuity event itself.

How quickly can you communicate with your staff and members? Are your crisis communication templates in order? Have they been tested and re-tested? Don’t gamble your credit union’s good reputation in lieu of cost-cutting measures. Tap outside experts if you must but above all, design and test your continuity communications now to ensure that should the situation ever arise, you are well-prepared to survive.

Walt Laskos is a relationship-building executive with more than 30-years of experience in corporate communications, video production and public relations. As principal of The Laskos Group in Temecula, California, Walt provides consultation to cooperatives and credit unions on ways to improve the quality of their member communications and rapport with the news media. For more information, visit www.TheLaskosGroup.com.