Heads of mid-sized and small organizations read Gregg Perry's advice on Swine Flu and crisis management. "We need more specifics," they told me. So, I returned to that public relations expert for, well, more. Perry heads the boutique The Perry Group LLC, specializing in crisis communications.
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GREGG PERRY - The Three Quick Steps:
For those in midsized and small organizations, there are three quick steps they should be taking to prepare themselves for a Swine Flu problem.
1. Update crisis plan. This includes making sure that everyone on the crisis team is aware of their responsibilities. Double check contact information for key team members as well as the 2nd and 3rd level team. Knowing how to find people can save valuable time when decisions and approvals need to be made.
2. Gather as much information about Swine Flu as possible in the event your organization is affected. Sources include the CDC - http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/ - and your state health department. Find out what the communications plans are for your industry trade association such as the National Association of Manufacturers or the Public Relations Society of America.
3. Begin internal discussions among key crisis team members. How are you going to monitor the situation? What are the action "triggers" if employees are diagnosed with suspected Swine Flu? This is especially critical for those whose operations interact directly with the public - for example, the food service, retail and health-care industries.
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The Swine Flu outbreak is now classified by the World Health Organization [WHO] as "a public health emergency of international concern."
Public relations expert Gregg Perry agrees with the seriousness of that assessment. Perry has been my steady source of information in covering litigation, particularly in the North East. And when I have an assignment involving complex media relations, I refer it to him. Those I refer thank me for introducing them to The Perry Group.
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GREGG PERRY, Head of The Perry Group LLC, on the record:
"Now is the time for organizations to be dusting off their crisis communications plans. If a major Swine-Flu outbreak were to affect your organization, you must know how you are going to communicate with customers, employees, investors, regulators and other constituencies.
"Of critical importance are continuity plans that identify not only the first level communicators, but second and third level ones as well. That's a must-do in event the flu outbreak becomes a pandemic and critical personnel become sick.
"Those organizations that were smart and put business continuity and crisis communications plans in place a few years back before Avian-Flu was threatened were far ahead of those which didn't.
"Remember: The cardinal rule in crisis preparation is that a crisis plan is only effective if it's been built before the crisis happens. Otherwise, it's too late."
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Hopefully, I'm not reading too much in Perry's recommendations. But to me it seems that organizations which handle this possible crisis well could be creating a new form of competitive advantage. It's during upheaval, just like during wars, that reputations can be made quickly, enhanced - or destroyed.
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Playing it cautious, the World Health Organization [WHO] took time before it applied a label to the outbreak of swine flu. Today (6-25-09) it was only after an emergency meeting that WHO took the step to declare the situation "a public health emergency of international concern." As THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports, the WHO panel "held off on raising a global pandemic alert, saying it needed more information before making a decision."
In the same article, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL notes that there have been cases of swine flu in two more states in the U.S. Therefore, presence of the disease has been confirmed in California, Texas, New York and Kansas.
Gregg Perry's special areas of expertise include not only crisis communications but also strategic planning, reputation management and media relations, including training spokespeople.