EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
FRED VOCCOLA , CEO , KASEYA
was well thought out , planned , strategised on and rolled out according to a well-defined plan .
Communicate . Communicate . Communicate . The most important aspect in leading an organisation through a crisis is communication . People – customers and employees – are organisations ’ most significant assets . Human beings are uncomfortable with change because it scares them . They like predictability and stability and change presents a threat to that .
However , as the ancient Greek philosopher , Heraclitus , so brilliantly put it a few thousand years ago , the only constant in life is change . I believe he was telling humanity that as much as we don ’ t like change , we best get used to it , as it is not going anywhere .
Organisational change management recognises this universal discomfort with change and teaches us the importance of presenting it in the light of gradual or non-threatening change , ensuring that the individuals , be them employees or customers , experience the disruption in a digestible way that they can relate to . This approach minimises fear , doubt and uncertainty associated with the change at hand .
By its very nature , a crisis is a situation that in its wake forces immediate and tremendous change to a wide range of impacted parties for a business and may include employees , customers , partners , regulators and other stakeholders . The organisation experiencing the crisis did not have weeks or months to properly prepare for the given change and build the communication strategy , messaging and processes to ensure that the impacted parties grow in the change and ‘ feel good ’ about it . Yet , they must still respond and in a timely manner .
To prevent the fear , doubt and uncertainty that results from a lack of information , which often leads parties to take a ‘ worst case ’ scenario , leaders must overcommunicate . And they must do so at every opportunity possible , in every communication channel and vehicle possible . Leaders should assemble their rapid response team to address the crisis at hand and not wait to begin communications . Even if the first communications are not overly detailed and meaningful , and they improve over time as the messaging and actions of the organisation develop relative to the crisis , communication is what allows people to stop and listen , to not react emotionally to the crisis and wait to understand all the facts . x
There have been hundreds of examples of very successful organisations undertaking significant restructuring and / or rebranding initiatives that impacted their employees and / or customers tremendously , yet they were done successfully . That ’ s because the change that was taking place
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