Don't Shoot the Messenger
Organizations from Amazon, to Boeing, down to
the local Community Base Care agency, or lead agencies in Child Welfare all experience
some sort of crisis. How fast the leaders of those agencies respond to the
crisis are how the community will see these organizations. This was the case
back in 2018 in Hillsborough County. The county is in the city of Tampa, Florida.
This county went through a crisis when it was reported that unruly teens were
sleeping in their social workers/case managers car if they denied their placement.
When it was reported that the head of that community base care agency knew this
was going on for months there as a meeting that was held with the entire
community, but the media was not allowed. This further made the lead agency
look bad. Although most of the reports were by disgruntled employees and allegedly
violent teens who refused placement. The crisis still looks bad for the agency.
Although, Eckerd is no longer the lead agency in Hillsborough County and this practice
no longer goes on with teens sleeping in cars, offices, or another unauthorized
placement. It still left a stain on the agency. Many organizations run to
social media to assist with the crisis. However, this is not always a good thing.
Sometimes, or most of the times this can further generate the crisis and add flames
to the already hot crisis. In the case of the Wawa kids’ situation, it allowed disgruntled
employees to get on social media and vent. It also allowed foster children,
parents, and community members to fan the flame of this crisis. However, there
was no real public relation team that jumped in front of this. The Department
of Children and Families put certain practices in place to ensure placement was
always documented. However, the stain was already left on the company’s name.
According to
Swetha Amaresan, “Crisis management plans focus on the company's response and
how it will communicate a crisis to its stakeholders. These steps ensure
information reaches employees, partners, customers, media, the public, and any
other valuable stakeholders. Most importantly, a crisis communication plan
helps guarantee a quick release of information, as well as a consistent message
on all company platforms during a time of crisis. That message depends largely
on what the crisis involves and how all parties are affected by it."
Back over to Tampa Florida who’s Chief of
police recently got herself in some hot water when trying to avoid a routine
traffic stop for her and her husband driving on the road with a golf cart without
the proper tag. The chief of Police in Tampa Florida was riding in a Golf cart as
the passenger. The Chief tried to get out of the simple traffic stop by using
her power and badge to persuade the officer to let her and the driver of the golf
cart go with a warning. The damage/crisis came when the entire traffic stop was
caught on the officer who stopped the chief’s body camera. Now the incident did
not become big until it reached social media and the press. Now the Chief went
from getting a simple traffic citation to being placed on leave. Although this
happened three weeks ago. The Mayor of Tampa, Florida where Chief Mary O’Connor
is employed responded right away stating the Chief of Police will go through
due process just like everyone else. This was reported by CNN Layla Santiago.
Although Mary O’Connor states
her intentions were not with malice. However, for the community it looked as if
the Chief of Police was abusing her power in a community where she was hired to
protect and serve. If this was a regular lay person, that person would have
been given a citation. Although, the chief Mary O’Conner did come forward and
agree to pay any fines involved in the traffic stop. Some in the community may think
it is too little too late for the chief, and the incident could possibly have
already left a stain on the Chief’s clean record.
What
about when agency’s do nothing to correct a Crisis. This week has been a busy
week in the world of crisis and scandals. If you are a news junkie like me then
you have heard the latest news of the two Good Morning America anchors having
an extra marital affair. Now neither anchors have confirmed nor denied this,
but both anchors have gone on with their professional lives as if nothing has happened.
The news broke of this story on last week of the affair between Amy Robach and
T. J. Holmes, but to date no the executives at Good Morning America nor the
Anchors have made a statement on the story. Is this a crisis or good publicity.
More viewers than ever have tuned in to watch the chemistry or lack there of between
the two anchors. Although nothing has been said it is in poor taste that
neither the executives at good Morning America have mentioned anything about the
alleged video. When does doing nothing in a public relation crisis help a
company? Well according to Chris Gilmour of Only Crisis, " One of the often-repeated
mantras of crisis management PR is that you should “never say ‘no comment’.”
In the past, that may have been wise
advice – but these days I’d argue that it’s better to say nothing than to have
to walk back a holding statement that could get you into all sorts of trouble.
For one thing, the basis of what passes
for a so-called crisis in these days of social media flame wars and keyboard
warriors with a grudge is so contemptible that you don’t need to comment on it.
It’s often said that empty vessels make
the most noise. So why dignify their clanging with a response?
If someone has no reputation other than
that of being a troublemaker, is it really worthwhile to engage with them
unless they are causing your brand real damage among people who matter, not
just screaming into the echo chamber?
Whether
we say less on social media, to the press, or in person it is always better to
show accountability for one’s action. From Child Welfare to local police officials.
We have a community of people relying on us to show that we care for the
community that we live and work in. If a crisis happens with an organization in
that community, it is best to take ownership right away, and have the public
relation team practice good public relations. This is to assure the community
and stake holders know that we are human but you and your brand pride yourself
on honesty and integrity.
Amaresan, S. (2022, September 14). Hubspot.
Retrieved from Hubspot:
https://blog.hubspot.com/service/crisis-communication-plan
Gilmour, C. (2018, April 25). Only Crisis. Retrieved
from Only Crisis:
https://www.onlycrisis.com/blog/when-your-best-crisis-management-strategy-is-to-say-nothing/
Santiago, L. (2022, December 4). MSN. Retrieved
from MSN:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/bodycam-footage-shows-police-chief-flash-badge-after-being-pulled-over/vi-AA14TyCZ?category=foryou
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