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September 21, 2005
Lessons for communicators from hurricane Katrina
As the next major hurricane approaches U.S. shores this week, I wanted to share some perspectives for communicators in what can be learned from the experience of hurricane Katrina, which hit areas of the US three weeks ago.
1. Create a central phone number for employees. This kind of hotline can serve for important information updates in times of crisis, as well as a place for employees in an impacted area to call and register the fact that they are OK or know of fellow coworkers who have been injured or killed. Make the phone number toll-free, include how to use it in new employee orientation and put the number on a sticker on the back of employee ID badges.
2. Plan in advance how long you will pay affected employees. Companies that were devasted by Katrina found themselves struggling to determine how long they should pay employees who no longer had a store or facility to work in. Some companies like UPS reversed initial decisions to pay just for a few days, extending it to weeks. We recommend most companies pay their employees full or at least reduced wages until they can be relocated to work in another location of the same company (if existant) or complete filing for unemployment. Not only will this save a company from bad PR, it's the right thing to do in a time of crisis.
3. Engage your employees in the recovery effort. After the disaster strikes and clean-up and recovery begins, keep the story alive internally. Things to consider include pooling and reporting on donations your employees are making (and the company is hopefully matching) to the striken area, encouraging employees on the ground in affected areas to blog about their experience in recovery, conduct drives among employees to support employees who have lost their homes or possessions and in general use the time as a way to reinforce what's important to your companies and leaders.
Posted by Christopher at September 21, 2005 7:32 PM
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