Authors
Partner, Corporate, Toronto
Partner, Disputes, Toronto
Partner, Corporate, Toronto
EXPECTATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT AND BOARD
MANAGEMENT’S ROLE
- Implement and adapt its preestablished crisis response plan
- Identify risks and assess responsibility for developingmitigation strategies
- Internal communications strategy – consistent and trust-evoking messaging from top to bottom
- External communications strategy – message development, stakeholder identification
- Tend to public reputation
- Determine corrective actions
- Execute the response plan
NEEDS OF THE BOARD
- Frequent, timely and frank reporting
- Quantification of impact/exposure
- One point of contact between board and management
- A clear statement of the questions
- the Board needs to decide or
- issues it needs to address
- Clear understanding of stakeholder engagement strategy, and the role it, or any member, should be playing
- Clear explanation of how short‑term responses address long-term needs
BOARD’S ROLE
- Understand the situation, implications for the organization and management’s focus
- Provide advice and counsel to management as sought
- Be available and willing and able
- to provide requested support to management
- Understand and respect board and management roles
- Make decisions with a view to longterm sustainability of the organization
- Facilitate post-crisis review assessment and provide feedback to management
KEY ELEMENTS TO A CRISIS RESPONSE
- Identified team, with allocated responsibilities and accountabilities
- Approved internal communication framework
- Assigned responsibility for external communications and stakeholder engagement
- Contingency plans in case management is unable to assist
- Systems to monitor developments and adjust the plan as needed
- Engagement with regulators
- Anticipation and management of additional fallout
- Unobstructed up-the-ladder reporting
PREPARE FOR THE NEXT CRISIS
POST-CRISIS ASSESSMENT
- What did we do right?
- What could we have done better?
- Solicit views:
- internal stakeholders (directors, officers, managers, employees)
- external stakeholders (customers, suppliers, regulators, etc.)
DEVELOP AND PROMULGATE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MESSAGING
- How has the crisis affected the organization?
- Where is the organization now?
- Where are we going?
REASSESS AND IMPROVE CRISIS PLAN
- Reassess enterprise risk management system’s ability to identify and mitigate new or evolving risks
- Reassess plan’s ability to respond to the next crisis
- Buttress defenses against the next crisis