Crisis Management Training and Awareness

Identity Crisis Management Training

The training of the crisis management (CM) and response organization is one of the critical success factors that must be addressed if an adequate response is to be achieved.

The development of the crisis management program, involvement of all levels of management and establishing preparedness is only part of the overall process.

To ensure adequate response, a trained organization is required.

Training Program Preparedness

A "system" approach to preparing effective training programs should consist of task analysis and lesson development.

The clarity on additional training that may be necessary to ensure an organization's CM team has the skilled members to respond effectively to a crisis. Typically the need for training in the areas of crisis management, peer support, first aid training, evacuation planning and many other areas are to be identified.

Key Competency of CM Leader

In a typical scenario, a person would establish and manage the implementation of crisis management and intervention strategies which can be used to reduce the risk to the organization's personnel, other responders, commercial, reputation and contractual assets during incidents.

Key aspects of the competence include:

• Minimising escalation of the crisis;
• Establishing contingency plans for dealing with the crisis;
• Sourcing and managing of resources required;
• Managing communication within and outside the organization; and
• Optimizing the organizational response to minimize the impact of the crisis the individual may:
• Ensuring that organizational response is appropriate
• Using communication skills to deal with stakeholders' concerns

The person or CM team leader would be in control of personnel during an incident. At all times, they would be liaising and cooperating with other members of the management, other teams and possibly external organizations.

Provide Mandatory Training of CM Team

There are very few training centres that provide formal crisis management training. There are facilities to train crisis communication but not purely for crisis management.

It is important to provide simulations to help a CM team recognize a crisis and to take the appropriate actions. These actions include the development of crisis options and strategies, the assessment of the management of time under duress and the considerations of the variations in the decision-making process.

Task Analysis

When designing an integrated training program, the skills, knowledge and procedures required for satisfactory performance of each task should be determined first.

Lesson Development

Learning objectives are defined from the skills, knowledge and procedures developed during task analysis. Instructional plans are then prepared to support the learning objectives.

Instruction

Lessons are systematically presented using appropriate instructional methods. Instruction may include lecture, self-paced or group-paced mediated instruction, simulation, and team training.

Periodic Training Evaluation

Performance standards and evaluation criteria are developed from the learning objectives. Each trainee's performance is evaluated during the course and field performance testing.

The best way to ensure that everyone understands his or her roles in the plan is to have training on managing a crisis. The training will help address legal issues before they occur, develop investigation procedures; identify systems and equipment needed during a crisis and develop good media relations.

In addition to the formal training program, a program of proficiency demonstration is also needed. This can be accomplished by establishing a program that supplements the training with drills and exercises. The drill program can vary in degree of complexity.

Information Management

The need to establish and maintain an ongoing dynamic CM Programme is essential. The crisis management process does not end just because you finished the CM plan, are in compliance, have involved management and trained the staff.

To facilitate planning requirements, a record of all initiatives should be retained. These records serve to document the accomplishments, requirements, commitments and reports relating to various program requirements. The identification of commitments in the areas of compliance, emergency preparedness, and training, is vital. The establishment of a defined information management system structure will ensure that documentation will be available when needed.

Executive management must be kept well informed. Information is a corporate asset. Information is expensive. It must be shared and managed effectively. Information management is also critical during a crisis.

The need for active systems to provide information on materials, personnel, capabilities and processes is essential. It is paramount to have a system (and adequate backup systems) in place that serves to identify, catalogue, set priorities and track issues and commitments relating to CM and response activities.

Staffing Planning

• Function
• Qualification/ Skillsets
• Number of Staff Needed
• Potential Staff Member (Contact Information)
• Training Needed?
• Training Completed?
  

Afternote

One of the key success factors is to determine the type, frequency, and quality of ongoing continuing education and training received by the crisis response team. This includes reinforcement exercises, crisis simulation exercises, education forums and pre-event response planning workshops.

Goh, M. H. (2016). A Manager’s Guide to Implement Your Crisis Management Plan. Business Continuity Management Specialist Series (1st ed., p. 192). Singapore: GMH Pte Ltd.

Extracted from CM Training and Awareness

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