Simply hearing the words — CORPORATE CRISIS – is enough to spike anxiety levels and get hearts beating faster.  Crises present severe and immediate threats to organizations, often endangering people’s safety, the company’s financial position, and/or the organization’s reputation.  What’s worse, they typically occur suddenly, sending communicators scrambling to find their firefighting suits before leaping into the flames.

A new survey conducted by CEB’s Corporate Integrity Practice  indicates that 76% of corporate leaders reported a recent increase in media attention on corporate crises.   I suspect that this increased scrutiny may not come as a total shock to you.  Whether it’s a media scandal, product recall, or environmental disaster, there seems to be no shortage of crises in the news these days.  Nevertheless, one statistic from the survey really stood out.

51% of respondents reported an increase in corporate crises that can be attributed to organizational lapses (only 6% said they thought this number had deceased).  This number, coupled with the increase in media attention ought to really concern senior leaders. –Why? –  Because the only thing worse than a major crisis situation is a major crisis situation that could have been avoided.

The CEC is currently working on a study focused on creating a preventative corporate culture.  We have spoken to dozens of communications executives to better understand the barriers that they face when trying to build a preventative culture.  The basic questions are these: Why don’t employees flag and report potential issues that they see?  And, why do employees engage in risky behavior themselves?  Here are some of the many reasons that we have heard from members:

Environmental/Cultural Barriers:

• I am afraid to raise the issue – Some employees fear ostracism by their peers.  Others think that they might be penalized for voicing concern.  Regardless, both situations hold employees back from reporting potential risky behavior.
• I know who to tell, but they won’t listen –Whether it’s a manager who simply doesn’t seem have the time or a leader who sends signals that they “don’t want to know,” employees might want to tell but feel that they can’t.
• I’m incentivized to engage in risky behavior– Some risk taking is healthy, but not when it could lead to a crisis.  Consider the employee who is incentivized to maximize productivity and, as a result, compromises his safety or that of others, leading to a major accident.

Knowledge Gap/Skill Barriers:

• I don’t know how to spot issues – Though an employee might know what to look for, that doesn’t mean that he understands how the issue manifests itself.  In order to prevent the issue, employees must know what to look for AND how to spot it.
• I can’t see the interdependencies – A theme that we’ve heard often from members is the idea of silos.  Many employees work in a “functional bubble.”  They are so focused on their day-to-day roles that they don’t appreciate how something that seems benign to them, could do major damage to another part of the business
• I simply don’t know it’s an issue – It could be as simple as a lack of understanding or training.

These are just a handful of potential reasons, but we want to hear from you!  In your experience, what are some of the challenges that you have experienced in trying to create a preventative culture?  Are you currently working on creating an open culture of communication at your organization?  Post a comment below or send me an e-mail (jschott@executiveboard.com).

CEC Related Resources

• Accelerating Communications’ Response to Crises
• Crisis Communications “Cheat Sheet”

CEC Related Blog Posts

• 4 Tips on Handling Crisis Communications in a Social Media Era
• Two Hidden Lessons from BP’s Crisis
• Discussion Spotlight: Crisis Alert System