Crisis Communications: Five lessons from Irish Social Partnership in a recession

29 Jan 2009 4 Comments

by katwaters in Comment, Guide Tags: corporate communications, crisis communications, economy, government communications, Ireland, issue management, public relations, recession

Communications in a crisis matters.  Why? Because how you communicate in a crisis has a significant impact on your reputation, your ‘licence to operate’, whether you are a business, non-governmental organisation, or a government.  All organisations are given such a licence, by their customers, suppliers, shareholders, the communities they serve. 

 

For instance: You’re a bank and rumours start that you are about to go under; you don’t act on these rumours (they are not true); your shareholders and customers lose confidence and withdraw their money (their ‘licence’ to you); you fold.

 

It’s all about confidence and the magnitude of the effect that a crisis will have on those around you.  Where there is potential for loss of life, say in an environmental disaster, or food scares, this magnifies the need for swift and effective communication.

 

In a recession, the Government is the guardian of confidence.  It is the figurehead of a country; its ambassador on the world stage.  The success of an economy depends on trust and confidence. 

 

So how can the way the Irish Government has dealt with the recession illustrate some lessons in crisis communication and retaining confidence in an economy?

 

Firstly, a bit of background.  Ireland is in recession after years of relative prosperity.  Ireland is a small economy, and is very open to the winds of global change.  But arguably, no more so that its nearest neighbour, Britain.  What’s different about Ireland is Social Partnership – and an unusual form of it.  This form of Social Partnership, which involves the representative bodies of business/employers, the unions, the farmers and community/voluntary organisations (25 bodies in all), to formulate economic policy, has been credited as the main driver of Ireland’s economic success, the ‘Celtic Tiger’ years.  The process of agreement is complex, and is orchestrated by a department of An Taoiseach’s (the Prime Minister) office.  For more information see the website of the Taoiseach Office. 

 

At the moment, the Government is thrashing out a plan with the Social Partners to deal with Ireland’s recession…what can we learn?

 

1        Have a plan and be seen to have one

The Irish Government (along with most others) don’t appear to have seen this coming: There have been accusations that they have squandered the good years and the Social Partners and the Dail (Parliament) have complained that they have not had enough time to consider the proposed framework.  Consistent Irish Social Partnership was born in the recession of the 1980s; this is not totally new territory.

 

The point here is that when the proverbial hits the fan, there is no time to consider all the possible solutions. 

 

So plan for it beforehand.  ‘Horizon scanning’ and risk management should be part of any communications function’s remit (part of being an organisational activist) in conjunction with all the other parts of an organisation.  And it needs to be an ongoing process, with agreed mitigation measures.

 

Keep the plan updated, and rehearse it regularly.

 

Had the Government had an agreed framework, with an agreed ‘crisis mode’ for the discussions, perhaps we would know, by now, how they mean to deal with the recession.  This is key for maintaining/restoring confidence; people (businesses, organisations, citizens) could make decisions based on a known policy environment.

 

2        Get consensus

Consensus means that everyone is singing from the same proverbial ‘hymn sheet’ and that everyone understands their role in the plan.  No-one goes off on a tangent; no-one doubles up or undermines others’ work.  Again this all takes time, and reinforces the need to think about things before they happen.

 

This is where the Social Partnership model, especially in Ireland, really has one up on the Britain’s pluralist policy-making.  Three of the Social Partner ‘Pillars’ have been consistently working together since 1987 – that’s 22 years of institutional working together.  The C&V Pillar joined relatively recently, but the fact that relationships (institutional and personal) have been forged in calmer times means that people can get down to business, and a consensual basis, more quickly – no ‘getting to know you’ time is needed. 

 

3        Tell it all and tell it quickly

I’ve referred to timing already.  Don’t skimp on fact checking, but make sure you get information out to who needs to know as quickly as possible – even if it’s bad news.  The truth will always out – so better you get it out than someone else.

 

There has been comment in the media in Ireland that the Government kept information back and ‘drip fed’ so that things didn’t seem as bad they were.  Whether or not this is the case it reinforces the fact that ‘perception is reality’ and that the Government is in a Catch 22 – can it admit that it didn’t know how bad it was going to get?  I think it could – in the end we are where we are and at least if they acknowledge that was the case it shows that they are getting a grasp on the situation.  If, of course, it did know, Ministers should have started dealing with it then…you see my point.

 

4        Be consistent – it’s a global economy and media

Things do change as a situation plays out – but there will always be a driver to which you can attribute such a change.  In your plan you will have agreed processes for communicating such changes and the results of decisions.  Keeping in mind the time issue stick to these processes to maintain consensus and keep everyone on board.  Consistency of approach in changing circumstances.

 

And bear in mind that you cannot say one thing to one person and something completely different to another unless there is a good reason for it.  Watchers of BBC news have seen Ireland go from a ‘thriving economy’ to having an economy that is going to contract by up to 10% over two years…in less than a week.  The assertion of Ireland’s ‘thriving economy’ came from An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, on BBC Newsnight in the midst of crisis talks with the Social Partners and the news of more job losses.  Perhaps he meant to say that Ireland had a resilient economy, or something along those lines.  Again this reinforces two points – the need for planning for what you will say and the need to tell it like it is.  No spin…ever.

 

5        Really learn the lessons for next time…there will be a next time

What happens when it’s all over?  Well, don’t wait until then if it is an ongoing ‘crisis’ as this recession promises to be, continually review what you’ve done, the operational environment, what’s working and what’s not.  Look for the next crunch points and prepare.

 

Really learn the lessons and implement them for all your crisis plans as appropriate.  Experience is the best teacher.

 

We’ve seen recessions before, perhaps not quite like this one, but the Irish Government, it could have been argued, was in a relatively positive position: it (and the country) had previous experience of deep recession followed by the exceptional ‘Celtic Tiger’ years that could have been used to plan for the future, regular meetings with representatives of all those that could influence and have a stake in the situation, a ‘horizon scanning’ mechanism (the Economic and Social Research Institute) which feeds directly into Social Partnership Process, and an understanding of the role of globalisation, of which it has benefited significantly.  It now needs to act quickly and decisively, with the backing of the Social Partners, to gain the confidence of Ireland and the rest of the world.  If the Government doesn’t it could find that it’s ‘licence to operate’ is withdrawn.

 

For some reading on the importance of issue management and crisis communications, ‘Strategic Reputational Risk Management’ by Judy Larkin is an accessible read.  For more of a ‘how to’ guide, ‘Risk Issues and Crisis Management’ by Judy Larkin and Michael Regester, published by the CIPR is a great handbook.

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