The media conference of the municipality of Crans-Montana on the New Year's Eve fire disaster has caused a very negative response both nationally and internationally. Massive criticism from outside can literally paralyze an organization in crisis mode. However, it must not hide in such a situation: right now, its stakeholders need guidance.
For almost five days, the community had played a supporting role in communication and had increasingly become the plaything of criticism. In a separate media conference last Tuesday, she wanted to offer factual information, create a certain degree of transparency and provide information on how to proceed.
The request failed: With his appearance, the mayor did not steer his community into calmer waters, but into a veritable storm of indignation. The starting position for the media conference was difficult: Both the municipality and its media advisors and local media professionals knew that many questions could not be answered so soon after such a serious event. In the conference, those responsible for the community were then unable to find the right tone and failed to answer important questions that could well have been given.
Although they openly admitted that they had not controlled the accident operation for far too long, they also became entangled in contradictions. In particular, they provided too little concrete information on how they intend to assume their responsibility for local security in the future. Instead of creating transparency and trust, the media conference was particularly baffling.
In spite of everything, the media conference was right
However, I do not believe that the media conference was a mistake right from the start. An organization, and this also applies to companies, cannot simply hide in an event or crisis situation. Her stakeholders expect her to provide up-to-date information and background information on those aspects of the situation for which she is responsible. An outlook is also central: The organization must provide information on how it is now proceeding.
In the case of Crans-Montana, the main question is how the municipality intends to control the safety of businesses and events from now on. In addition, the public also expects a stance: The expression of regret and condolences to the bereaved form a thin basis. Admitting joint responsibility can be a further step. It is usually problematic because the organization and its managers do not want to burden themselves.
In the case of “Le Constellation”, the fact that the controls by the municipality were deficient is so clear that they could also be conceded immediately. The extent to which an organization actually has a position on the event only becomes apparent over time: The announcement of measures is of little use if no action follows. The organization affected by the crisis, in this case the municipality, will ultimately be judged not least by how it reacted to the event and how it dealt with those affected.
In the long term, this perception from outside will determine how great the reputation damage will be for the organization. External perception also includes voice dialing. Emotion plays a major role in emergencies and it is important to find the right tone. This can be a major challenge for those responsible. Even if they have been well briefed and have set language rules, they often take an event with them personally and the live situation of a media conference with urgent and sometimes aggressive issues can push them to the limits of their resilience.
Linguistic slip-ups or the wrong tonality of statements can have very negative consequences.
Even those who say nothing are saying something.
There are probably no crisis managers at the moment who are not wondering how they would have acted themselves and what they would do now in the current situation. Ostensibly, the community is losing ground. The temptation is great to duck away, stop communicating and wait until the worst storm has passed. But waiting out problems and keeping silent about them is not a good idea, because especially in emergencies and crisis situations, they catch up with you faster than you sometimes think.
In addition, you can't “not communicate”: Even if you don't say anything, you're saying something. Of course, the community can't just move on to the normal agenda now, because something terrible has happened. But it must also look ahead and ensure that the village and the tourism that it thrives on can function as well as possible again. It may be strange to think about holidays again so soon after this disaster, but Crans-Montana lives exclusively from tourism.
Dozens of companies and their employees and tens of thousands of guests are eagerly awaiting what the municipality is doing now and how it ensures safety in the companies and at the numerous events. An active dialogue with all stakeholders in the municipality must now start immediately. There may be reasons why the New Year's Eve disaster happened in Crans-Montana of all places. Statements such as “That could never happen with us!” But they lack any sense of reality. Every community and every company, regardless of which sector, can be hit by an event that triggers a profound crisis.
It is the responsibility of management, community boards and administrations to prepare for the unthinkable. Infrastructures and equipment must be checked again and again and personnel must be continuously trained and sensitized with exercises.
Provide orientation
Management staffs must not only consist of organizational charts. They should be trained and practiced regularly. If an event or crisis situation then occurs, the organization must not hide. It should and must actively communicate the aspects for which it is responsible for and provide guidance to those affected and the public. Active communication in the form of dialogue is always a central element of event and crisis management.