MSIP 205

INDUSTRIAL COUNSELING AND EMPLOYEE

ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM
CRISIS MANAGEMENT

HERC B. SABAS, PhD, RPsy, RGC, RPm

 CRISIS MANAGEMENT
•
 CRISIS MANAGEMENT
• Crisis management is the process by which an
organization deals with a disruptive and
unexpected event that threatens to harm the
organization or its stakeholders.
• Failure to handle crisis properly can result in
serious harm to stakeholders, losses for an
organization, or even end its very existence.
The Importance of Crisis Management During COVID-19
• A crisis is defined as a significant threat to operations that
can have negative consequences if it's not handled
properly. In most cases, crises can create three-related
threats:  
• public safety
• financial loss
• reputation loss

• Coronavirus is most likely creating all these three threats a

business can ever face. If crisis management is not
handled properly or in a timely manner, you can put your
employees’ health at risk.
• This will automatically have a negative influence
on your company’s reputation as both employer
and a service or product provider. Consequently,
it will be inevitable to experience financial losses. 
• Moreover, coronavirus came so fast that most
organizations had no or very little time to set a
strategy on how to handle it. 
• Therefore, the main goal for every crisis management
and internal communications professionals these days
is to make sure that all the employees are
informed of the real COVID-19 situation and that 
they are not missing out on important information.

• They also need to ensure that employees take

responsibility by following advice from medical
professionals and their employer and that the
business continues to operate as smoothly as possible.
Remember, ensuring business continuity in crisis
management mode requires the right mix of
technology, strategy and agility. 
 REALITY CHECK/ EXPERIENCES
HCP’s (Health Care Professionals) are also likely
to perceive greater stigmatization than the
general public for being quarantined and
consistently more affected psychologically.
• Medical professionals from heavily COVID-infected
countries experienced huge performance pressure, as
well as increased unfavorable psychiatric outcomes
owing to sudden surge of overwork, inadequate
protection from contamination, frustration from
failure to give optimal patient-care, and isolation.

• In the developing countries like India, where the

health care system is already overburdened, surges of
COVID-cases are likely to provoke acute anxiety,
irritation and stress among doctors and nurses.
This might be compounded by the inadequate
hospital supply of required hand hygiene tools
and
  significant shortage of personal protective
equipment (PPE) among HCPs, who are at the
highest risk of transmission
• Health workers can find it extremely difficult to deal
with the dismayed, uncooperative, panic-stricken and
stigmatized patients of COVID-19 as already
experienced by medical teams and this may generate
apathy and withdrawal among clinicians.

• Being exposed to the COVID-19 cases in hospitals,

being quarantined, the death or illness of a relative or
friend from COVID-19, and heightened self-perception
of danger by the lethality of the virus can all
negatively impact the mental well-being of health
workers
• Those who are performing hospital duties on a
day-care basis and have to return to home are
at increased risk of developing profound
anxiety regarding the fear of transmitting the
disease to their own family members,
especially if there are elderly members with
preexisting chronic illness having much higher
risk of developing grave and unfavorable
outcomes
 Effects on People with Existing Psychiatric Illness

• Patients with existing psychological disorders are

more prone to develop infectious diseases and suffer
more negative physical and psychological outcomes
during a global outbreak.
• Cognitive decline, poor personal hygiene and
impaired risk perception contribute to the likelihood
of infection and mortality.
• Social discrimination against the mentally ill make
care and management of those with COVID-19 more
challenging.
 Human Resources:

Design and create interventions and programs

that can be applied and implemented back to
their respective companies and organizations.

All these sudden changes are impacting

employees' wellbeing and mental health. They feel
stressed, insecure, and worried. They're worried
about their jobs, the viability of their company, and
their ability to take care of their families. 
The MIT Sloan Management Review, CultureX
and Josh Bersin, HR expert and founder of the
Josh Bersin Academy, have run a pulse survey to
get  a better understanding of the impacts of
COVID-19 on the workplace.
 They found that the top issues employees have on their minds during the COVID-19 crisis include: 

• Job security 
• Personal health
• Childcare and home schooling
• Personal finances
• Remote work
• Visibility of their employer
• Stress and mental health
• Work life balance
• Family health
• Productivity
• Social isolation
• Managing schedule
 Best Practices for Managing the COVID-19 Crisis

To protect your employees' health and safety all

while keeping your business running as smooth
as possible, you'll need to build a solid crisis
management strategy.
 Create a coronavirus crisis management plan

• In order to handle the coronavirus crisis properly, employers

need to have a clear plan and strategy around it. Here are a
few pieces of advice for developing an efficient plan. 
• Ensure that the plan is flexible.
• Involve your employees in developing, managing and
reviewing your plan.
• Frequently evaluate your plan to find out ahead of time
whether the plan has gaps or issues that need to be fixed.
• Share the plan with the entire workplace and explain what
human resources policies, workplace and leave flexibilities
as well as pay and benefits will be available to them.
 Appoint a designated crisis management team

• Appoint the right people who will be

responsible for managing the situation.
Keep employees informed (with accurate and updated information)
Consider implementing remote work (if
you haven’t implemented it already)
Create an environment that fosters online
collaboration
Use proper employee communications tools 
Perform routine environmental cleaning

• Employers should routinely clean all

frequently touched surfaces in the workplace,
such as workstations, countertops, and
doorknobs. 
Update employees’ contact numbers and
emergency contact details
Crisis communications planning has always been
the hallmark of a well-managed situation, and the
importance of clear, action-oriented and
transparent communications to employees

The risks of poor communication have never been

greater, as companies increasingly face scrutiny
(and potential liability) for poor or untimely
communications regarding the impact of the
pandemic on their business or business planning.
• Crisis management is “the process by which
an organization deals with a disruptive and
unexpected event that threatens to harm the
organization, its stakeholders or the general
public.”[1] What differentiates a true crisis
from more standard, even if problematic,
events is the level of unpredictability,
potential to affect multiple aspects of a
business and size of the potential impact.
• Creating a culture that is favorable to crisis
management: A favorable corporate culture is
one in which there is acknowledgement and
commitment by senior management, where
people are encouraged to accept constructive
criticism and where employees’ interests are
aligned with those of the company. 
• Integrating crisis management into the
company’s strategy: Planning for a crisis should
be a formal part of corporate strategic planning.
Successful companies have thought through the
preparation of a crisis management plan,
engaged in employee training in crisis
management and emergency preparedness and
often have engaged in tabletop exercises
around crisis response that help to identify
weaknesses and ensure a smooth response.
Having the right communication tools: The best
messaging is only as good as the ability to get it
out. Companies should consider and re-evaluate
the effectiveness of internal and external
communications mechanisms. In doing so,
companies should focus on making sure that the
communications channels are user-friendly,
relevant (including channels likely to be accessed
by differing stakeholders, e.g., company website,
Twitter, Instagram) and ready for off-hours
communications.
 six-factor framework:

1. Respond Strategically. Consider the issues,

assess priorities and ensure well-defined
roles.
2. Get Counsel Involved Early. Managing legal
risk and privilege protections are critical.
3. Preserve Documents and Protect Data. Avoid
any perception of cover-up or spoliation.
4. Communicate Strategically. Manage a consistent message across
constituencies – including governmental agencies, shareholders, employees
and the media.

5. Be Open to Reassessing Strategy. Constantly look ahead to where the

company would like to be post-crisis and think through the steps necessary
to get there, including how to potentially turn the crisis into a positive, such
as companies that changed product lines to support COVID-19 relief.

6. Learn. Get to the root cause of the crisis and put in remediation to prevent
it from happening again, communicate that learning to stakeholders and,
critically, reassess the crisis management response plan after the crisis abates
to determine what worked and what can be improved.
 
• References:
• https://blog.smarp.com/ultimate-coronavirus-crisis-
management-checklist
• https://www.clearygottlieb.com/news-and-insights/p
ublication-listing/crisis-management-in-unprecedent
ed-times
• Psychosocial Impact of COVID – 19 Psychapps
consultancy webinar series.