2 MINUTE READ
When reputation relies on employees, just one person can bring down an organisation into disrepute. The press picks up quickly on mismanagement and how the situation could have been prevented. A “f**k up” soon makes headlines. It is twofold incompetence of the staff member, and the organisation, and that is a tough situation to navigate.
Not only that, an article I recently read demonstrates how repeating the shocking misdemeanor regularly throughout a news article keeps the reader interested, shows an inferred continual lack of duty of care by those in charge, demonstrates excuse-making for their oversight, and in this case a perceived neglect to protect whistleblowers.
When the organisation’s crisis communications confirms what action will be taken for this grave mistake not to repeated, unfortunately the news story’s inference becomes “Why was this protocol not in place previously,” rather than “The organisation is managing the situation well”. This can lead to reputational disaster.
In the article I read, the simple questions are whether an organisation is protecting its reputation more than it’s “clients” when official meetings seem to imply a focus saving face, is this communication just an exercise of PR spin, and is the focus on how to recover the reputation of the institution or the continuation of an expected safety and quality of services for its clients.
Obviously when a staff member has fooled the organisations that they are an exemplary character, and model worker, it makes throwing them under the bus a challenge. The problem is admitting that the warning signs were recognised, that professional and personal boundaries become fuzzy, and that creates negative implications for those managing the crisis fallout.
So how can an organisation recover?