Chances are incredibly high that your company is going to experience a crisis of some kind in the next year.

It’s how you handle that crisis that will likely determine whether that crisis builds or seriously damages your company.

As 90 percent of crisis response is communication-related, I would suggest that you think about the need to respond in real-time, as Robert Scoble suggested when he was quoted in Fast Company when he said: “Reputations are created and destroyed online in the speed of 140 characters.”

He obviously referred to Twitter at that time (now 280 characters) and the common phrase today that reputation can be created (Susan Boyle) and destroyed overnight (Bernie Madoff). (Remember the plane landing in the Hudson River. Ordinary people were tweeting pictures and video footage to the networks before the Media actually got there).

A crisis can strike a Business at any time, and during this crisis, a Company’s image and reputation can be damaged significantly. Often, this can be a result of not responding adequately to media and other stakeholder inquiries.

Understanding what Communication challenges may arise during a crisis or before one occurs is therefore critical.

In the book Real-Time Marketing & PR, David Meerman Scott teaches how to use time and urgency to gain a huge competitive advantage, and I quote:

‘In a world where speed and agility are now essential to success, most organizations still operate slowly and deliberately, cementing each step months in advance, responding to new developments with careful but time-consuming processes. The Internet has fundamentally changed the pace of business, compressing time and rewarding speed. Your accustomed methods and processes may be already fatally out of sync with the world around you. The narrative of your business now unfolds, minute-by-minute, in real-time. And it’s no longer guided by the mass media your ad budget can buy.’

Speed is thus of the essence. That’s why it is vital that you develop a crisis communications and management plan or kit that prepares you in advance for this eventuality. This communication kit should assist your organization to respond timeously and promptly to crisis situations.

Here’s a starter list of eight items that should be included in any crisis communications kit:

1. A list of the members of the crisis management team, which should include, at minimum, the CEO, a trusted assistant/top manager from the CEO’s office, heads of each department, Investor Relations Officer details, public relations, and marketing team members, legal and security. In case of an actual crisis, this team will be focused down to the group applicable to that specific crisis.

2. Contact information for key officers, spokespeople, and crisis management team members including company and personal phone numbers, email addresses, cell numbers, instant message handles, Twitter addresses, even spouse’s cell numbers, should the person be inaccessible by other means.

With the astute use of technology today, the above contact details could be kept in online contact databases in Google Contacts or in the cloud in services like Dropbox.  You should have the Crisis team’s details on fast dial on your smartphone.

3. Fact sheets on the company, each division, each physical location, and each product offered.
These should be in camera-ready condition, plus available on a USB stick in a generally-accepted word processor format (Microsoft Word) so they can be revised and printed out if necessary on a computer external to your facilities. Photos should also be included.

4. Profiles and biographies for each key manager in your company, again in camera-ready condition, in the cloud, and on USB.

5. Copies of your company, division and product logos, your press release format, and the scanned-in signature of your CEO on USB or in a format that works on your internal word processing program (plus one in Microsoft Word in case you have to work on a computer that isn’t tied to your network.)

6. Holding statements or Pre-written scripts answering key questions that you have generated through your crisis scenario analysis. Included in these scripts should be the words you use to say “we don’t have that information yet, but will let you know as soon as it becomes available.”

7. Contact information for each of your key media contacts both locally, nationally, and if appropriate, key financial press and analysts. Contact information for your appropriate stakeholders like suppliers, political, regulatory, and union leaders should also be included. Don’t be afraid to go overboard here – if you have an oil spill, your CEO will probably want to call not only the Media but also selected Government representatives.

8. Flowcharts of the Protocols & Procedures to be followed. These will differ depending on the type of crisis. For instance, in the event of death, it is vital that the Department of Labour be informed, forthwith according to the Occupational Health & Safety Act. Obviously, you first want to inform management. Then,  the authorities. In the case of a fire, there may be other communication protocols to be followed.

Flowcharts can help to speed up decision-making.

Where & Who should keep the Toolkit

It’s important for your crisis communications kit to not only be duplicated in some offsite location and in the cloud but to also include information, disks, graphics, computer files, photos, etc. that are normally readily at your fingertips in your office. Alternatively, this information should be in a password-controlled format on your website/intranet.

I once knew the Crisis Manager of a Rail organization. She kept the copy of her plan at home, at the office, and in her car. Just in case.

I strongly recommend that you assemble this kit shortly. It will be one of the best insurance policies that you can have on hand once a crisis begins.

Remember time is of the essence in a crisis and the key is to prepare for real-time communication. This toolkit (currently available as a time-limited discounted special) can help to shorten your learning curve in creating your own plan.

For more information on crisis management and communications, I recommend that you check out my various blog posts.

The post Step-by-Step: Creating Your Own Crisis Communications Kit appeared first on Deon Binneman.

68% of clients surveyed have no framework in place for reputational risk

A New survey on Reputation risk by Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, has revealed that 86 percent of clients are concerned about loss of income and a reduced customer base due to reputational risk.

The velocity of message flow in an interconnected 24/7 world has also made organizations concerned about protecting their hard-won reputations.

Key findings from the survey of 200 global organisations include:

• Seven in ten (72%) report that risk management teams have at least some responsibility for the monitoring, measuring or management of reputational risk.
• Nearly the same proportion said that reputational risk is reported at the C-Suite (61%) or Board level (66%) within their organisation. Almost eight in ten (80%)believe that the focus on reputational risk in their business will only increase in the coming five years.The majority of respondents highlighted that reputational risks could result in potentially crippling business outcomes for their organisation such as loss of income (86%) and weakened human capital, because of their reduced ability to retain (62%) or attract (57%) talented employees.
• Framed against this increasing focus, most respondents pointed out that when it comes to measuring and monitoring reputational risk, they face real challenges in accessing reliable data (51%), with a large proportion (42%) indicating they have inadequate tools to do so*

Garret Gaughan, Head of Global Markets P&C Hub, Willis Towers Watson, said “Reputational risk is increasingly of concern to our clients with most Risk Mangers now having some responsibility for risk mitigation in this area.

As a previously difficult to insure risk it is unsurprising that all of the survey participants agreed it would be helpful to them to have access to a reputation platform. WTW in partnership with Polecat, a leader in technology and reputation intelligence, has designed a platform that will allow organizations to monitor reputational threats in real-time and provide them with reputational impact scores against their peers for issues and risks. To complement this platform, Willis Towers Watson will soon be launching a risk transfer solution for this previously uninsurable risk. We believe that this combined approach will deliver reputational risk solutions to address our clients’ needs.”Download a full copy of the report here – www.willistowerswatson.com/en-GB/Insights/2021/01/global-reputational-risk-management-survey

Footnote – I addressed aspects of managing the velocity flow in my blog post An External Communication Policy – A Tool for Reducing Reputation Risk

• Also, where reputation cannot be easily measured I recommend a stakeholder-focused and “issue-based‘‘ approach to issues and incidents will aid in protecting the reputation.
• By examining and extrapolating and viewing issues and incidents through the lenses of a stakeholder, opportunities, shortcomings, and mitigation approaches will be revealed. Even though this is closely aligned to the ethical training provided by the Compliance department, this type of thinking and approach goes much further.
• There is thus a need to educate management to factor stakeholder management and reputation management thinking into decisionmaking
  processes. Read my posts on Reputation-based Decision-making.

The post New Willis Towers Watson survey Reveal Reputation Risk Management Shortcomings appeared first on Deon Binneman.

I recently had a prospective client asking me to quote them on the writing of an external communication policy. I recommended a few days of work working with them, but she was of the opinion that it required only the preparation of a 2-page document (1/2 days’ worth of work).

I had to carefully explain to her that such a document required a lot of background research and work if you wanted to give it justice.

Here’s why.

A well designed external communications policy mitigates reputation risk.

By clearly clarifying the role and extent of corporate communications organisations can ensure that they have some control over the flow of accurate messages.

However many organisations only focus on the development of a policy for dealing with the media, and this has become a problem.

Who is the Media today? Media today has become fragmented, organized, unorganized and superfast. Today every person have the ability to have a voice and has the tools to post true or fake messages.

The concept of a Media Policy is a sound one but needs to be seen and placed in the context of overall corporate communications.

A media policy that tells staff who will speak to the media can be done in a simplified manner.

However dealing with the media is so specialized, that it requires further attention and description. It is of vital importunate that this policy be constantly updated to reflect current best practice thinking and environmental (public opinion) considerations.

If you want to design and write a best practice policy you will need to include policies, strategies and hints to deal with not only traditional media but also communication with other stakeholders covering all other external corporate communications actions.

For that, you will need specialized help. You can either work with your PR Company or enlist the services of a specialist to assist you to prepare a professional policy.

Here’s a brief introduction to such a policy and suggestions for further elaboration.

The Objective of Corporate Communication Policies and Procedures

The objective of Corporate Communications policies and procedures is to ensure that the information contained in all communication with the public is consistent, accurate, fair and timely, and builds the organization’s reputation.

To ensure this, a Company needs to:

• Comply with all laws and regulations regarding public disclosure of material events, financial results and operations.
• Be committed to non-selective, fair disclosure of information about the organisation without advantage or disadvantage to any participant in the financial market place.
• Decide whether it will voluntarily disclose any non-material information, which is not the subject of a confidentiality agreement and determined by senior management to be in the interest of stakeholders, shareholders, the investment community and the public.
• Communicate all disclosures to the media by an authorised Media Relations representative or designate.
• Control all disclosures to the financial community, including investment analysts, brokers and current or potential investors – ideally communicated by the CEO or their designate(s).
• Ensure that all media releases, information prepared for the stakeholder community, and all other company-related information for public disclosure follow the procedures for review and approval outlined herein

Management needs to be responsible for ensuring that this policy and related procedures are communicated and followed consistently in their operations.

Non-compliance with this policy may damage the organization’s reputation and/or cause the organisation and/or its shareholders to be prejudiced and to suffer damages and/or losses.

Adherence to these policies should be checked by the Compliance, Legal and Audit divisions and they should add this to their checklists.

It should be communicated to employees that as with all policies any non-compliance will be treated as serious and will result in disciplinary action and could give rise to civil and/or criminal liability on the part of the employee.

This policy and its procedures should be carefully communicated to all employees.

What should it contain?

Procedures for preparation, review and approval of external communication materials should include:

• Media Relations Tips and rules
• Social Media Usage and Prescribed Tools – especially Twitter, Tik Tok etc.
• Spokesperson Conduct, Rules and Tips*
• Cyber Security rules
• Stakeholder Relations Communications inc. Financial and Industry Analyst Relations
• Live or Virtual Conferences/Seminars/Roundtable/Speaking Opportunities/White Papers/Opinion Pieces
• Corporate Identity
• Email Signatures
• Crisis Communications inc. Holding Statement approvals (See my Crisis Leader Toolkit)
• Acquisitions, Mergers, Partnerships, Subsidiaries and associates communication
• Naming conventions – definitions and terminologies
• Customer/External Newsletters
• Website – Upkeep and Changes
• Podcasts and Vlogs
• Use of Images – internal and external
• Internal newsletters and intranet usage (Part of External Communications because they may be exposed to clients or given to customers)
• Blogs and Vlogs (written and video) and RSS feeds, etc

What about the use of mobile media (mobile phones, camera phones), other emerging tools, technologies and modes of communication that are affecting organizations?

Have you considered how communications professionals from across the spectrum are harnessing these tools to engage in conversations, deepen and strengthen relationships with key audiences, gain new insights into their audiences’ perceptions and behavior and shape public opinion?

All these factors need to be researched, as context for a well designed communication policy. One that encourages engagement but within legal and reputational frameworks.

From a reputation risk perspective, you want clear policies and guidelines for all of these areas. For a *Media Relations in a Crisis tip sheet, e-mail deonbin@icon.co.za

***Your thoughts?

The post An External Communication Policy – A Tool for Reducing Reputation Risk appeared first on Deon Binneman.

Is Reputation Risk important? Just take a look at all the corporate and public sector scandals of the past few years coupled with legislation and numerous corporate governance codes and you will understand that building, sustaining and protecting a company’s biggest and most important asset is crucial in an era of eroding trust.

Take a look at COVID19 and how it has become a Reputational Driver.

In January of 2020, the Reputation Institute’s brand new 2020 Global Trends report, indicated that 70.2% of reputation leaders say that managing the reputation of their company is more important now than it has ever been and that, discovering new ways to navigate volatile and uncertain times was critical to staying ahead of the reputational risks facing a business.

This third-annual report took a look at the top 10 global trends impacting reputation this year, why each was critical to a business, how you could learn from companies getting it right, and the ways you can take action now. You can access the report here.

Covid and the quest for survival just came and accelerated this new reality.

I believe that #Reputation has become even more important. Complying with Covid19 and OHASA standards became the new normal, and in some cases, hotels even differentiated themselves using cleaning processes.

Covid19 Compliance became a Reputation driver. Not complying, not keeping staff safe and not being able to gravitate to remote working became reputational risks.

“Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of – for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear.” (Socrates – 469 BC – 399 BC)

The implications of these words is that reputation is something that needs constant work just like a gardener attending to his flower beds. Like as in gardening it does not take much for weeds to grow, pests to come and flowers to wilt.

Constant attention and vigilance is needed if you want to maintain and safeguard your reputation. Do you know what drives your reputation? Do you know what can add or subtract from that reputation in the new normal?

The post Does Reputation Still Matter in a Corona World? Read this Quote and Decide for Yourself appeared first on Deon Binneman.

Like all, I suffered this year. I expected great things from 2020, but Mike Tyson was right when he said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.

But, just like the word Crisis is depicted in Mandarin as both crisis and opportunity, 2020 offered both.

When the year started I was excited about 2020’s prospects, very busy and bookings were increasing. I facilitated Organizational Ethics training for a client focusing on the use of a Code of Conduct, then completed a Conflict of Interest Training project for an International Mining Group, where I trained more than 700 managers in understanding the basics and nuances of conflict of interest – as part of their Business Integrity and Ethics initiatives. (A clearly misunderstood subject if you study Media Headlines).

I also wrote and developed a Fall Risk Management program for a Health & Safety client and developed and wrote a Remote Worker Safety and Security 18 – page Guide.

The year ahead looked promising.

On the 12th March  I had 12 booked days for facilitating a variety of interventions. Then Covid19 came,  the Disaster Management Act kicked in and I had nothing.

No work. No meetings, no events allowed. No income. Denada.

FRUSTRATION could not even fathom the mixed feelings. As a consultant, stand-up trainer and facilitator, all live face to face sessions came to an abrupt halt.

In the case of my grand kiddies, they took to online learning in next to no time, my son in law gravitated from the office to home and is now more productive than ever using technology like Ms Teams.

Few clients could make the switch to online learning, so it was back to the drawing board for me. I had to gravitate to using online technologies like Ms Teams, discover new ways of facilitation and knowledge sharing.

The reflection and introspection have proved its worth. I realised that starting up my practice coming out of lockdown was like starting a new venture and having only one income stream was dangerous.

I rewrote my marketing plan (learn how) and have now adopted a strategy that no one knows what it is I do. And why not? Clients have retired, many have moved on. New stakeholders have come into power.

I also studied case study upon Covid19 articles and case studies and created my own WFH/Remote working checklist totalling pages and pages of work – tips and hacks in Trello. I learnt a lot about pandemics which have added to my crisis management skillset.

I learnt about how the art and science of communication became even more important during a pandemic. Why clients needed to inform their own stakeholders and not just leave it to the media and government to communicate information.

I discovered many tips and hacks to improve my own remote working productivity, this after working from a home office for 24 years.

One of the best tips I heard was watching the Steve Dotto show where someone shared this – “When you take your work home, you are entering your family’s space. Their rules, not yours”. The more I thought about it – the more it made sense.

A Home is a place where you can scratch anywhere you itch. It’s a place of safety and security. A place for families.

Lesson – Work has to fit in, not home has to fit in.

My use of Social Media has been refined, and I spent a lot of time immersing myself in new technologies. So, it has not been all gloom.

Staying safe and secure – both physical and mental has been a challenge, but even here lessons were learnt.

I started taking Vitamin D long before it became in vogue, had a spat with Dr Chris Masterjohn over its use and were vindicated by research later. My Health & Safety experience together with my interest in alternative medicine helped me to stay healthy and safe, and I could contribute my knowledge of glutathione, the master oxidant with Will Brink, the US Defence military researcher.

I learnt new terminology like hybrid events, learnt to embrace uncertainty even more and felt gratitude that I am not a politician. (Hybrid events are the perfect bridge between live and online gatherings. They are events such as conferences, seminars, trade shows, workshops or meetings that combine live, in-person events with virtual online components. Many event organisers and companies have said that even with the re-opening of the event industry, they still won’t do away with their online spaces, making strictly live gatherings a thing of the past and hybrid events the new way forward).

I came to see differing standards on the use of PPE and protocols, and finally chuckled about handwashing.

After teaching the value of handwashing for 23 years in OHASA workshops, now finally management got the idea and were first in the queue for sanitisation.

Management have totally come to realise the danger of biological risks. In many ways the listeria scandal was a just a warning of worse to come.

Interesting Times after all! Finally, Management now understands the valuable role that Health & Safety plays in the management of organisations.

The post Lessons From COVID19 – The Year of the Virus, The Unseen, The Anguish, Despair, Frustration and New Beginnings. appeared first on Deon Binneman.

Marketing your Consulting business in the New Normal is not easy. It’s no longer business as usual.

Many training and consulting practices are struggling to survive. Many are trying to take their services online.

Indications are that the COVID19 pandemic is going to be with us for a long time to come, and what is clear is that interventions and events will have to change.

What is forecasted by many is a hybrid model of online virtual events and minimal in-person contact. Tie this in with a protracted economy and many people working from home and what is certain – It’s not going to be easy.

But when the going gets tough, the tough start marketing and this bundle can help you.

Questions that marketers therefore need to answer include:

• How will you market and communicate what you have to offer in a world now made up of hybrid events, online platforms and minimal public contact?
• How will you provide your professional knowledge, thought leadership and insight when customer contact is minimized?
• How can you get your messages across and reach your target audiences with limited budgets?
• What can you do to enhance your current marketing practices?
• How are you going to grow your current offerings in an uncertain, very competitive and noisy post COVID-19 market?

There’s more to being a marketing expert than just logging on to a social media site every day or making sure you’re keeping a close eye on leads. True marketing experts need to fully understand their target audiences, where they congregate and how to connect with them effectively.

And with many methods and approaches to choose from, that’s no simple task. Traditional Marketing methods may no longer work, and professionals will have to understand both inbound and outbound marketing tactics to get their messages to companies and individuals.

It’s time to demystify how to market your consulting and training practice, its services and products. This discounted Mega Practice Marketing Training Bundle is here to make your task easier.

The bundle provides provide insight, hacks, and tips to design a marketing blueprint for the future success of your practice.

The Two-Course Bundle Contents

The two-course bundle lays the foundation for your understanding of marketing your business practice. The courses explain how to design and implement an effective marketing campaign to drive sales using inbound and outbound marketing concepts.

The training starts with the How To Market Your Consulting Practice course, provides even newbies with all the steps in building a consulting practice marketing plan.

The How To Market Your Consulting Practice Course walks you through the fundamentals, explaining concepts like lead generation, marketing fundamentals, and deep understanding of how to use low cost – no cost methods to draw attention to your thought leadership and offerings.

Next, the How To Market Your Training Programs and Services training provides specific insight on how to market knowledge, training products and services.

This training offers solid plans for creating an online presence on social media and reaching decision makers and prospective learners. It offers insight and tips on how to get ”bums on seats” virtually or at in-person events.

Dig into the How to Market your Training products and Services to learn how market and differentiate your training services in a world of SETAS, Online Learning and diminishing budgets.

The collection includes two slide decks completely annotated with tips and hacks, questionnaires, checklists and reading materials featuring more than 16 hours of instruction for assembling the best marketing strategies possible for a consulting practice.

You’ll complete 16 hours of training (2 days) in your own time.

The training contains the fundamentals and advanced concepts you need to build your understanding all things marketing professional services, and will give you the tools to design and implement your new Marketing blueprint.

How To Get the Bundle

Access the website for detailed information on each course. Valued at R6000, you can get this two-course collection now for R2150 excl. VAT for a limited time only. This discounted offer ends on 31st August.

Marketing does not have to be complicated. Grab this course bundle on sale today!

These materials will be beneficial to you as a business owner, business developer, independent consultant, or freelancer. Why and How?

What are the benefits of these materials?

• You will be able to develop and write a marketing strategy for your training or consulting practice in a fraction of time without having to solicit the use of external consultants
• You will be able to benchmark and hack your existing plans with a view to growth in an uncertain, very competitive and noisy post COVID-19 market
• This training will equip you to become a rainmaker – someone who can bring in new business; also defined as a person whose influence can initiate progress or ensure success.

In a nutshell, the materials will help you to become a “rainmaker” and help you to market your consulting and training practice, services and expertise successfully and elegantly and with success in difficult times, helping you – saving you time and money.

(And since I cannot give you the complete face-to-face training right now, you NEED all the help to equip yourself for the future)!

If you want to purchase the program right now, JUST CLICK HERE!

The post Limited Time Offer: Master Consultancy Practice Marketing With This Discounted Training Bundle appeared first on Deon Binneman.

The COVID-19 pandemic has again illustrated the need for better preparedness planning in organizations around the world.

In fact a study from the UK found that two-thirds of UK organizations surveyed had no pandemic plans in place before COVID-19.

Did your organization have a plan that made provision for that? The fact is companies need people like you to advise them. Trusted advisors have knowledge of the Art and Science of Crisis Leadership.

So my question to you: Would you like to develop the reputation and become known as a Crisis Trouble-shooter in your organization but cannot attend scheduled training?

Would you like to learn more about how to mitigate and managing eventualities if and when they occur?

My Crisis Leader Toolkit now includes all the training documents from my Real-Time Crisis Management training course.

Purchasing this bundle will give you all the knowledge and tools to become a Crisis Leader, write a crisis plans for clients and train crisis team members.

The bundle is available for private purchase at a hugely discounted rate until the end of September 2020.

Contact me for pricing and more information.

The post Limited Time Offer: Use The Lockdown Period to Learn to Become a Crisis Specialist appeared first on Deon Binneman.

Here a few books about Reputation and Crisis Management in my collection. How many of these are in your collection?

These books are just a small selection of what I have in my personal library.

The book right at the top The Crisis Counselor : A Step-By-Step Guide to Managing a Business Crisis by Jeffrey Caponigro is one of my all-time favorites.

Casti’s “X-Events” is another thought-provoking book that is worth reading.

X-events are rare, unexpected events–Ugly Black Swans to modify the famous phrase popularized by Nicholas Taleb–that cause a system to shift abruptly and perhaps catastrophically from one state to another. The classic examples would be an asteroid strike or a super-volcano. Casti mentions these natural X-events only in passing, preferring to focus on possible collapses caused by human activity.

The author is an expert on the science of complexity, and his central thesis is that “complexity overload is the precipitating cause of X-events” (p. 299), at least those caused by human activity. Weaving concepts from Nicholas Taleb’s “The Black Swan” into his narrative, Casti explores several plausible X-events: the failure of the Internet, breakdown of the global fuel supply system, widespread destruction of electronics by Electro-magnetic pulse, destruction of the planet by the creation of exotic particles, nuclear war, decline of world oil supplies, global pandemic, failure of the electric grid, disruption of water supplies, uncontrolled spread of nanotechnology (the infamous “gray goo”), and collapse of world financial markets.

All these books provide much food for thought.

The post How Many Of These Crisis Books Have You Read? appeared first on Deon Binneman.

Data is shaping almost every area of our lives, and companies have been slow to prepare themselves for the dangers of data breaches and other AI dangers.

How should a company prepare for a Cyber Crisis? a Cyber attack? A data breach? What should the company do and say to and respond to such an event?

If Facebook cannot get it right, do you really believe you are prepared?

Recent years have seen a significant number of cyber related incidents affecting companies such as the recent data breaches at BA (British Airways), Yahoo, Marriott, Adult Friend Finder and locally the data breach at Liberty Life.

These incidents share a common thread — they were all data breaches in large organizations. And, each of these incidents resulted in a crisis for the organization concerned.

Fortunately, not all incidents (unwanted events) result in a crisis, but that is entirely dependent on a company’s business practices, incident management system and willingness to respond and deal with the situation.

Furthermore, what investigations and research shows is that most data breaches don’t occur because cybercriminals are leveraging intricate hacking methods to infiltrate companies’ databases.

They occur because companies are turning a blind eye to patchable rifts in their security, like outdated software vulnerabilities, weak passwords, and malware attacks”. Employee Behavior and company practices are not always addressed, and this often increases the risk involved. And, what compounds the situation is that many people think that cyber criminals only target large companies, but smaller businesses can also be affected.

On top of this cyber threats and incidents can come in many shapes and sizes. For instance, just imagine if your point-of-sale- system should go down at month-end due to a technical malfunction or glitch?

What would that do for customer confidence and trust? And, what should a company do and say when faced by a Cyber Crisis?

In an article: “What is a Data breach?” the Hubspot reports that: “Yahoo, Marriott, and Adult Friend Finder experienced the three largest data breaches of all time, all occurring from 2013 and beyond. And between the three of them, almost 4 billion user accounts were compromised.

(A data breach occurs when there’s an unauthorized entry point into a company’s database that enables cybercriminals to access customers’ personal data, like passwords, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, banking information, passport numbers, driver’s license numbers, and medical records. These cybercriminals use this information for fraud and identity theft purposes).

In 2017, the Identity Theft Resource Center reported a record-high 1,579 data breaches, which is 44.7% more incidents than the previous record high recorded just one year before. Coupled with IBM’s discovery that the average cost of a data breach is a whopping $3.86 million, this prevalent cybercrime could not only plummet consumer trust in your brand but it could also wreak havoc on your bottom line and reputation.

To avoid turning into the next negative headline, it’s crucial you prioritize security at your company by focusing efforts on data protection, and giving your security team the resources needed to shield your customers’ and company’s data from malicious cybercriminals at all times.

It also means that as a company you have to be ready to respond to, mitigate, act and communicate if such an unfortunate event might occur.

Stakeholders such as customers, the media and the general public are increasingly aware of the lack of cyber security best practices and the consequences suffered by those affected by data breaches. Many have had problems with money being stolen, identity theft and company systems being hacked.

When a breach do occur, it is vital that clients are reassured. For customers and the uninitiated, being the victim of identity theft or losing money as a result of a breach can be traumatic. Customers will need reassurance that their interests are safeguarded.

A cyber crisis such as a data breach can thus seriously harm a company’s reputation and competitiveness.

Furthermore, the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires that companies notify authorities of any breaches within 72 hours. In South Africa, the POPI Act brings its own mandatory requirements.

This increased time pressure means companies should have crisis response and communication strategy in place before an incident occurs.

Such a response plan should include awareness exercises, mitigation strategies and even elements of risk communication strategies prior to such an incident. 

In the event of a breach, stakeholders will ask what the company did to safeguard data and whether the “reasonable man’ principle was applied.

Companies will need to be ready to show what they have done to prevent, and mitigate the crisis and will need to communicate in a transparent manner with all stakeholders.

International research and experience shows that when there is an incident, crisis communication is key to reduce reputational damages. In order to mitigate the impact a cyber attack can have on a company’s reputation and operational ability; a cyber incident response and communication plan needs to be in place.

Companies therefore have to think “hard and deep” about what they will do to prevent and and how they will communicate when such an incident occurs.Not only should companies have the resources to put sufficient measures in place to protect stakeholders, but these measures should include training of staff, customer education programs and other relevant strategies.

Thee are the topics that will be covered at this one day workshop on the ^27th March designed to give your company a leading edge when it comes to such an event.

Maybe it will never happen, but right now statistics show that the likelihood of a Cyber Crisis for any organization is extremely high.

Use the advice contained in this excellent article: “How To Enable Data Theft Protection Measures” to check your defense protocols and minimize potential cyber crises.

Will your Reputation be good enough to carry such a crisis?. Make sure you have an action and communication response plan.

The post Cyber Crises? Come on – We Have An Antivirus solution, It’s More than Enough appeared first on Deon Binneman.

There is constant research in the VUCA reputation field with some every interesting results coming forth for Reputation and Crisis Managers alike.

What I advise clients is to determine the golden thread i.e. the patterns and messages these research results reveal.

It is interesting to read what VUCA holds for Crisis Managers as depicted in this article: “What VUCA Really Means for You” by Nathan Bennett and G. James Lemoine  from the January–February 2014 Issue of the Harvard Business Review;  in which they warn against using VUCA as a crutch, a way to throw off the hard work of strategy and planning—after all, you can’t prepare for a VUCA world, right?

The term VUCA is, short for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.

In the guide to identifying, getting ready for, and responding to VUCA events they have this to recommend about Uncertainty. “Invest in Information. Collect, Interpret and share it.

So, this is exactly what I am doing with my latest roundup that adds value to this conversation:

Research Results

Research Study 1: Disruptive technology will Impact Reputation in the Future.

Deloitte’s 2018 CEO and board risk survey explored leaders’ risk posture and their level of readiness across these four strategic risk areas—brand and reputation, culture, cyber, and extended enterprise. They found that 400 CEOs and boards agree that threats are on the horizon, but they are not managing them in a strategic way nor are they prioritizing the right investments needed to identify, respond to, and mitigate these risks.

Key highlights from the survey:

•  Disruptive technologies and cyber threats ranked as the top risks
• Leaders are prioritizing investments in cybersecurity and technology acquisitions while under investing in culture and brand and reputation
• While CEOs and boards are risk-aware, they are not risk-prepared
• And as the risk interconnections deepen, leaders are tackling strategic risks in silos

I wrote about this observation in some of my blog posts. In one leading telecommunications company I found that the person responsible for corporate affairs did not serve on the Risk Committee which resulted in her responding to incidents post-event.

Research Study 2: Purpose Drives Reputation.

In my workshops I always ask at some stage – What is the Vision, Mission and Values of the company – The DNA?

Often participants differ of opinion about this. Many cannot recite nor explain the sense of purpose of the organization.

Now a survey has highlighted the importance of this in building reputation. The 2018 Porter Novelli/Cone Purpose Premium Index survey found that a company’s sense of purpose plays a major role in its overall reputation,as much as 13 percent of the total, and that purpose is one of the three key dimensions of corporate reputation.

While that’s less than the weight given to quality(65 percent) and vision (18 percent), the study’s authors stress its importance, saying that “when it comes to diligently building a reputation, every single point matters.”  The study uncovered a strong link between a company’s purpose score and its overall reputational rank.

Survey respondents also listed the attributes of a company’s sense of purpose that they found important. Corporate responsibility (86 percent) was their first choice, closely followed by caring (85 percent), advocating for issues (81 percent), protecting the environment (79 percent) and giving back to important causes (73 percent).

Research Study 3: Brands with legitimate sustainability claims do better.

The latest Nielsen report “How and Why Sustainability is Gaining Momentum with Customers.“finds that regardless of product category, brands with legitimate sustainability claims do better. For the purposes of this report, Nielsen chose to study purchases of three of the most common fast-moving consumer goods,coffee, chocolate and bath products, because of their differences from each other. What they found was that products with sustainability claims generally outperformed the growth rate of total products in their respective categories.

According to the Nielsen report, “Brands that are able to strategically connect (sustainability) to actual behavior are in a good place to capitalize on increased consumer expectation and demand.” The report adds, that”Sustainability claims on packaging must also reflect how a company operates inside and out.”

In other words, customers want sustainable products from sustainable companies. This includes everything from labor practices to the environmental impact of their production.

Report Release: Reporting ESG Risks – 77 Industry-Specific Reporting Standards.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) has launched its 77 industry-specific reporting standards for companies to disclose material ESG risks. SASB standards focus on financially material issues because its mission is to help businesses around the world report on the sustainability topics that matter most to their investors.

Although there is much environmental, social, governance (ESG) and sustainability information disclosed publicly, often it can be difficult to identify and assess which information is most useful for making financially-related decisions.

The SASB identifies financially material issues, which are the issues that are reasonably likely to impact the financial condition or operating performance of a company and therefore are most important to investors.

Sustainability accounting reflects the management of a corporation’s environmental and social impacts arising from production of goods and services,as well as its management of the environmental and social capitals necessary to create long-term value.

It also includes the impacts that sustainability challenges have on innovation, business models, corporate governance, reputation and vice versa.

Five Broad Sustainability Dimensions

The SASB’s sustainability topics are organized under five broad sustainability dimensions: 

1. Environment. This dimension includes environmental impacts, either through the use of nonrenewable, natural resources as inputs to the factors of production or through harmful releases into the environment that may result in impacts to the company’s financial condition or operating performance.
2. Social Capital. This dimension relates to the expectation that a business will contribute to society in return for a social license to operate. It addresses the management of relationships with key outside parties, such as customers, local communities, the public, and the government. It includes issues related to human rights, protection of vulnerable groups, local economic development, access to and quality of products and services, affordability, responsible business practices in marketing, and customer privacy.
3. Human Capital. This dimension addresses the management of a company’s human resources (employees and individual contractors) as key assets to delivering long-term value. It includes issues that affect the productivity of employees, management of labor relations, and management of the health and safety of employees and the ability to create a safety culture.
4. Business Model and Innovation. This dimension addresses the integration of environmental, human, and social issues in a company’s value-creation process, including resource recovery and other innovations in the production process; as well as in product innovation, including efficiency and responsibility in the design, use phase, and disposal of products.
5. Leadership and Governance. This dimension involves the management of issues that are inherent to the business model or common practice in the industry and that are in potential conflict with the interest of broader stakeholder groups, and therefore create a potential liability or a limitation or removal of a license to operate. This includes regulatory compliance, risk management, safety management, supply-chain and materials sourcing, conflicts of interest, anti-competitive behavior, and corruption and bribery.

These dimensions tie in with the drivers of Corporate Reputation as used in the Reputation Institute’s and other leading research organisation’s survey methodologies.

Sustainability is seen as a driver (dimension) of Reputation and these standards now provide companies and investors around the world with codified, market-based standards for measuring, managing and reporting on sustainability factors that drive value and affect financial performance.

Takeaways

1. Be careful of managing risks in silos. Risk interconnections are certainly deepening.

2. Can organizations really afford to ignore “Reputation Risks”? Reputation is amorphous and what these studies show is that ESG can no longer be ignored. It is now mainstream and definitive for Corporate Reputation.

3. Be prepared. Your DNA, your purpose and your sustainability efforts will be tested by stakeholders.

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