Crisis Management For Organisations During A Global Pandemic

By Dr Victor SL Tan

he changes and impact T the coronavirus global pandemic have on organisations are unprecedented with massive lockdowns: airflights grounded, factories and businesses closed. Even with Movement control order releasing some restrictions for some industries and business in stages, social distancing and tight rules and penalites for breaking rules and regulations are still in effect. Most employees are forced to work from home.

Companies are indeed facing an unprecedented crisis. Suddenly crisis management has become the top agenda. What is crisis management? Crisis management is about implementing well- thought out strategies to handle sudden and impactful negative event. While there are many models of crisis management, I would like to share one proven approach for effective crisis management.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT TEAM MEETING

Some companies already have their crisis management team (CMT) in place. They would just have to convene an emergency meeting. For those without the CMT, a meeting should be called comprising the various heads departments or strategic business units which are most affected by the crisis.

In the case of the coronavirus pandemic, most companies would have Crisis Management Team Meeting Reinforce and Fortify the Organisation form a CMT to assess the impact on their business and develop strategies and specific counter measures to address the issues immediately. The CMT could be divided into sub teams with specific roles and responsibilities

KLSCC’s Crisis Management Approach

as shown the table. Response

Crisis Management Approach

To Crisis

Assess Effectiveness of Strategies

Name of Sub CMT Team

Cash Management Team

Revenue Generation Team

Cost Optimisation Team

Communication Team

Human Capital Management Team

Roles and Responsibilities

To ascertain the amount of cash on hand and ensure adequate for payment of expenses To provide solutions to make up for the drop in cash due to Covid-19 lockdown worldwide( and locally, the MCO Movement Control Order) To provide creative ideas to improve cash flow and liquidity

To assess the impact on revenue from Covid -19 lockdown To provide solutions to make up for the loss of revenue To provide creative ideas to improve revenue while maintaining or decreasing costs

To assess the impact on cost from Covid-19 lockdown To provide solutions to optimise cost in every area To provide creative ideas to optimise and reduce cost without affecting productivity and effectiveness

To assess the impact on company communication from Covid- 19 lockdown To provide solutions to improve effectiveness of communication with staff, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders To provide creative ideas to improve effectiveness communication without increasing cost using free software and online communication tools like Zoom, Skype and Whatsapp video

To assess the impact on people and productivity from Covid-19 lockdown To provide solutions to improve staff morale and develop new skills to cater to the changing needs of the business To engage staff to come up with creative ideas to help overcome the firm’s challenges

REPONSE TO CRISIS

From each of the 5 teams above, they should come up with very concise counter measures or strategies to address the specific challenges facing the firm. Each team has a leader with selected relevant members. All the team leaders report to the Head of CMT. Each team must come up with a action plan complete with deadlines, persons responsible, dates of progress report and clear measures of success. In responding to the crisis, particular attention should be paid to the impact on stakeholders and their concerns. For example in undertaking cost reduction, some companies have asked their staff to go for unpaid leave during the MCO period. The message should be communicated in a forceful way but in a spirit of seeking understanding and cooperation to help overcome the company’s challenges together. The company should also assist eligible staff for wage subsidy provided by the government. In such a crisis time, there is fear and uncertainty, thus transparent communication back up with sincerity and honesty is critical to build trust with employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. Companies should provide an open channel of communication for stakeholders to address their needs and concerns.

ASSESS EFFECTIVENESS OF STRATEGIES

Most crises required decisions and actions to be taken speedily to contain and limit the damage from the repercussions. It is crucial that the Head Of CMT assess the risks, the effectiveness of the strategies and monitor the outcome of each specific measure undertaken. Thus defining a clear measure of success of each strategy or counter measure needs to be done and agreed upon earlier.

REINFORCE &FORTIFY THE ORGANISATION

Each crisis provide lessons learnt through insights and hindsights; all of which should enable companies to have forsights to deal better with a crisis in the future.

For example, the coronavirus global pandemic, forced people to work from home, many have improved their ICT skills overnight using Zoom, Webex, Skype or other online communication tools. Once viewed as impractical, but now companies are exploring which part of their workforce can work from home and still maintain their performance and productivity . Each crisis enables companies to re-strengthen their positions and fortify their risk management to mitigate and prevent them from collapsing. Companies can be more discerning about their vulnerabilities, read warning signals better and act quickly and effectively if they have a good crisis management approach to begin with.

Dr Victor SL Tan is the CEO of KL Strategic Change Consulting Group. He is a management consultant and had been involved in turnaround management for companies during the Asian Financial Crisis and the Global Financial meltdown. He is the author of 11 change management books. His latest book is on Leading Positive And Profitable Change. For feedback please email him at victorsltan@klscc.com or contact him at 012 390 3168.

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