According to a crisis management expert Jonathan Bernstein, crisis precaution lies in anticipation and team building. Crisis anticipation means to gather every probable negative scenarios that can happen. In whistleblowing case, anticipation is beyond listing probable scenarios but towards building a trustworthy environment for the employees. The logical reason for a whistleblower to resort in external whistleblowing is because the internal environment is not seen as a friendly environment in which will be able to process the issue. Therefore, a whistleblower seek help outside with a wish someone out there have the power and will to take matter into their hands and finish them. An FDA investigator Cheryl Eckard did resort to internal whistleblowing to GlaxoSmithKline about their improper production process. Her continuous complaints were rejected which made her resorted to legal actions. The eight years of fight was then won by her with a large sum of settlement money. Next, Bernstein emphasizes on the importance of crisis management team building. Public relation officer must assemble a team in which will be in close contact during a crisis. The team aside from the PR officers must have the decision-makers which can be directors or executive and a spokeperson that will be trained to speak under a crisis by the officer.
During a crisis, there are four important PR strategies that must be carried on properly. The first one is the monitoring task which is an information gathering and assessing process. This will be an ongoing process as information must be continually gathered as the crisis develops. The second strategy is to manage the information and stakeholders. It is important to keep a great line of communication but it is more important to make sure the line is efficient by relaying key messages to the stakeholders in each group. Another very important task is to brief and train spokesperson as they will be the one showed to the media and answer questions. The third strategy is to respond quickly in order to not leave any space for speculations. The line of communication must be kept efficient and controlled. Quick response can control the direction of the crisis. After all the strategies are carried on, reassessment is important to be done in order to see if there is any unsatisfied stakeholders. Appropriate response is still very important.
All in all, whistleblowing case is a harmful crisis to the organization and PR officers can do a precaution and solution to it. It is important to create a trustworthy relation and environment to stakeholders in order to prevent external whistleblowing that can be damaging. it is also important to assemble a crisis management team in order to be able to respond directly in a fast, organised and efficient way as quick response and great line of communication are very important during a crisis. Whistleblowing may be unavoidable or unexpected at times but it can be anticipated and hopefully limited in terms of the damage.
Reference:
Bernstein, J. (2013, January 1). The 10 Steps Of Crisis Communications. Retrieved November 6, 2014, from http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/articles/10-steps-of-crisis-communications.html
(n.n). (n.d.). Unit 16: Understanding the use of public relations in issues and crisis management. Retrieved November 6, 2014, from www.contentextra.com/publicrelations/files/.../PR_TopicGuide_16_2.pdf
