2019 PR Prediction: An Increased Need for Corporate Crisis Plans
By Gina Rubel
Isabelle Roughol, the senior editor-at-large for LinkedIn, authored an article with Laura Lorenzetti Soper, LinkedIn’s senior editor, special projects, on the 50 Big Ideas for 2019: What to watch in the year ahead. Among many topics, the article covers:
- Gen Z joining the workforce as we accommodate five generations
- The expected economic slowdown, global recession and pre-emptive layoffs
- Internet and media trends
- The political scene including Europe and Brexit, the U.S.-China cold war, relations between China and Africa, and free speech
- Artificial intelligence, automation, big data, medical data and big tech
- Corporate issues, M&As, virtual businesses and IPOs
- Diversity, inclusion and leadership
- Conscientious objectors
- Higher education, the gig economy, and corporate ecosystem mindsets
- Immigration
- Corporate social responsibility
- Brand neutrality
I agree with the majority of the predictions in #BigIdeas2019, but there’s one major topic missing: the need for companies to prepare incident/crisis response plans.
While not every incident will become a corporate crisis, the PR industry is seeing an enormous spike in need for crisis management. There’s a reason they predict the growth in Chief Ethics Officers in the C-suite. Moreover, with the economic slowdown, preemptive layoffs, disgraced executives, the often lack of diversity and inclusion in U.S. businesses, #bigdata, #fallenangels, #metoo, #cybyerattacks, citizen journalism, the rise of corporate criminality, and so much more, it is foolish for any company to think they don’t need an incident response plan.
The time is now to prepare for not “what if,” but “when.” Your business needs a crisis management plan.
While no business is immune, executives can sleep better at night knowing they are better prepared to handle an incident when it arises.
For related articles on crisis planning, read:
The 6 R’s of small business crisis management
Reputation Crisis and What a Law Firm Can Do About It, Part I
Reputation Crisis Management and What a Law Firm Can Do About It, Part II
