SERVICE DESCRIPTION

The objective is to quickly get a grip on a crisis situation and resolve it. The nature of crisis situations is that they tend to happen very quickly and are the result of internal or external breakdown of a major operational component - tangible or intangible.

Crisis management is first and foremost a psychological battle. It feels like an attack and triggers an automated defense response that can manifest itself as a sense of defeat or aggression. Some employees will experience fear, a sense of hopelessness, anger, self doubt and a range of other psychological effects. Most of these eventually lead to a self-preservation reflex which causes the employee to shift focus from the crisis to finding a safety net, usually by contacting a competitor. If the situation is allowed to advance too far, Crisis control may become impossible.

PROCESS

Crisis management relies on company personnel functioning as a well-coordinated team that knows it can overcome the situation. To prevent the crisis from escalating, two processes immediately go into effect:

• Crisis containment: Identifies the root, how wide it has spread and means to contain it.
• Damage control: Directed internally for motivation and externally to defend company/brand image.

Only after successful emergency handling can focus and resources be shifted toward crisis control.