BALI, PRINDONESIA.CO – What kind of preparation for war? “Preparation to face crises,” said Firsan Nova, Managing Director of Nexus Risk Mitigation and Strategic Communication, while speaking at the Corporate PR class at the PR INDONESIA Jamboree (JAMPIRO) #5 in Bali on Wednesday (30/10/2019).

The first step, identify the elements of the crisis. From shock, denial, anger, bargain/hope, depression, to acceptance. For example, about accepting defeat. “How can I lose?” (shock), “It’s impossible to lose.” (denial), “How can I really lose?” (anger), “Maybe this is just a strategy of pretending to lose.” (bargain/hope), “But, I really lose.” (depression), “It is our fate to lose. We must keep thinking positive.” (acceptance).

Identify the situations that have the potential to become a crisis. Such as issues of health, safety and security, finance, environment, disaster, business practices and ethics, law, employee error, customer complaints, availability of goods, to advertisements produced by the company that are found to contain misleading or incorrect content. After that, identify stakeholders that have the potential to become a source of crisis both from the internal and external circle.

According to Firsan, there are two efforts that must be done by PR in relation to the crisis. First, curative efforts. Second, preventive effort. Preventive efforts such as fostering public trust in companies, maintaining good relations with government officials, building strongholds from the bottom line of the marketing chain, and preparing crisis management programs. While curative efforts include identifying, isolating and dealing with crises.

Crisis affects three things, such as image, reputation and financial stability. The task of PR is to isolate the crisis both from the side of the impact to the issue so as not to worsen. "During a crisis, we are not looking at the scale, but the impact," said the man who is often speaking about PR crisis and management issues, firmly. How big the impact of the crisis could harm the company. "The more serious the potential, the greater the crisis that we will face," he added.

Create a Guide

What should PR do? First, study the data and facts. "Make an opinion leader map analysis, do a media analysis, handle issues in accordance with the character of the business," he said. Then, prepare an information package, issues limit and their impact, position the company's image, crisis center team, and appoint an unofficial spokesperson.

The tips, said Firsan, honesty, repeat the message as often as possible, know and choose the right communication medium according to the targeted audience, think long term, be open to receive feedback in the form of suggestions and criticisms.

For this reason, emotional intelligence is one of the competencies that PR must-have today. In addition to the ability to communicate clearly, confidently, has a sense of empathy, willingness to listen, open-minded, and more. "The ability to respond calmly to everything is important. No need to be angry when insulted and praise should not make us hover," he said.

Firsan also shared an effective crisis communication guide. It consists of identifying the speed of a crisis, responding quickly, supporting with data, forming a crisis team, and ensuring that PR gets direct access and trust from the CEO. "The latter is important because it will greatly influence the decision making process during a crisis," concluded the man who often shares his opinions in the Column rubric of PR INDONESIA Magazine. (rtn)