Lessons Learned From Responses To Reputational Crises
Hurricane Katrina became legendary not just because of the catastrophic damage this storm caused to New Orleans and the surrounding area
. The federal, state, local and nonprofit response in the aftermath of destruction exposed shocking gaps in this countries emergency preparedness and, some might argue, in the integrity of some of the responding organizations.
One of the most telling examples of ongoing reputational damage is the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA.
Their Director at the time of Hurricane Katrina was Michael Brown. In light of FEMAs inept response, Mr. Browns background was revealed as a political appointee with virtually no experience in emergency management. He was removed as principal disaster response coordinator under great pressure from the media and affected residents in New Orleans.
Coordination of disaster response was reassigned to Coast Guard ADM Thad Allen. Although replacing a civilian agency with the military in response to a disaster raised eyebrows, the Coast Guard had gained valuable public confidence by their rescuing over 30,000 people from rooftops and flooded buildings in New Orleans. The key word here is confidence.
The Coast Guards motto is Semper Paratus, meaning is always ready. Indeed they were in the wake of Katrina. Coast Guard helicopters had been staged on air bases just outside of the path of the hurricane in preparation for the rescue missions. ADM Allen, who was subsequently appointed Commandant of the Coast Guard in 2006, was assigned to step into the public relations fray to coordinate response efforts and move the process forward. He was successful although New Orleans has still not fully recovered from this catastrophic event.
Despite the enormous expenditures on disaster relief, FEMA continues to experience reputational damage in the seemingly endless lawsuits over the toxic quality of trailers ostensibly supplied as temporary homes to residents of New Orleans. Since much of the housing in New Orleans is still not habitable, people continue to live in these trailers.
The lesson in this example centers on the way in which the Coast Guards reputation as American heroes was reinforced based on their response. Consider the difference between the initial Coast Guard response which saved thousands of lives
and the initial FEMA response which provided only minimal disaster response. The overall public perception may have contained some political considerations, but the results tell the story.
The public saw a U.S. President who was shocked by what he saw, a Mayor and Governor locked in political turmoil and a relatively new federal agency, the Department of Homeland Security, which was developing a still emerging mission within the
federal government, but was the parent organization for FEMA and the Coast Guard. The public also saw a political appointee who was overwhelmed by the task of heading FEMA, and finally, the calm, steady know-how of a Coast Guard
Admiral whose genius for logistics and strategy was first illustrated in the rescue of thousands trapped in lower Manhattan on
September 11.
These were the faces and the actions that defined this countries response at that moment in time.
Hopefully, your organization will never have to endure anything as horrendous as Hurricane Katrina. When your employees, clients and stakeholders look back at your organizations response to a crisis, what do you want them to remember?
Copyright (c) 2010 Peg Jackson
by: Peg Jackson
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