Committee Reports

Incidents that result in a significant impact on local communities now demand both a strong PIO response and a carefully crafted corporate communications effort. // Los incidentes que tienen un impacto significativo en las comunidades locales ahora exigen tanto una fuerte respuesta de PIO como un esfuerzo de comunicaciones corporativas cuidadosamente diseñado.

the response effort. Any trained PIO can fill the position and they are engaged in all communications efforts supporting the response itself rather than the organization in which they’re based. While it is essential that the public is consistently updated on any response effort (by the PIO), they should also hear from the Responsible Party, which is the role of the corporate communications counselor who represents and reports to the company’s senior leadership. Corporate Communications is solely responsible for representing the company rather than the incident and is focused on protecting and maintaining the company’s reputation before, during and after an incident.

2. What they communicate: PIOs communicate information about the incident and the response. Their emphasis is on fact-based communications. In the instance of an oil spill, this information would include reports on beach closures, amount of oil spilled, the response objectives, resources involved in clean up activities, clean-up progress and details about public safety. During the same event, a crisis communications counselor will communicate information from the Responsible Party. This may include information intended to set the incident in context, such as details of the company’s safety track record, corporate resources being dedicated to the clean-up effort, commitment to environmental integrity and the affected communities. Importantly, the corporate response will also include communications which extend beyond just the facts such as expressions of regret (possibly apologies), statements of sympathy or commitments to conduct investigations. Both roles are essential.

3. How their voice is perceived by the public: An effective PIO will be widely trusted by the public. They are generally perceived to be impartial and non-partisan. They are seen as a reliable and credible source of information. Crisis communications counselors often have a much more challenging job establishing public trust. As a representative of the Responsible Party and its leadership, they may face blame and be accused of attempting to cover-up or minimize the situation. However, when the role is performed well, they can effectively convey the ethics, the humanity and empathy of the company involved. They can also communicate a broader context for the incident which makes it harder for the public to assume the company is “evil,” careless, or irresponsible.

4. Training and experience: PIOs will have completed ISC training including PIO-specific courses. Most organizations follow classroom training with shadowing during exercises and real events to prepare their PIOs. The PIO role can be very rewarding, and many individuals log decades of experience. PIOs may come from other communications or journalism backgrounds, but most come to the position from other non-communications focused backgrounds having been chosen for their communications abilities. Crisis communications managers generally have less structured course-based training and are instead more likely to have worked as journalists or have degrees in public relations and/or communications. While the PIO works according to a formalized step-by-step process, corporate comms is much less process driven and can use more diverse tools and strategies to convey a company’s position during an incident.

Companies sometimes make the mistake of assuming that because they have arrangements for a PIO when crisis strikes, they do not need to worry about making other crisis communications plans. This has proven time and again to be a costly misunderstanding of today’s media and communications environment.

To ensure you are as prepared as possible for the inevitable crisis, be certain that your chosen crisis communications partner can support your company with both PIO and crisis communications manager positions and have a proven track record in doing so. Fortunately, there are a handful of firms, like Navigate Response, that can not only fill both roles and are expert at ensuring that both functions operate separately yet receive ongoing access to the same information. In doing so, Responsible Parties will be well positioned to support the type of facts-only approach of the PIO, but ensure that the company’s voice, position, and commitment to doing the right thing becomes part of an incident’s media narrative as well.