Every organisation will encounter issues periodically that are sensitive or could challenge its reputation. When these situations arise, it is important to be to be prepared to communicate difficult news or respond to media and public questioning. 

The Hughes team has decades of experience managing issues within government, business and the non-profit sector. We work closely with C-suite executives, boards and in-house media teams to ensure seamless delivery of strategic communications to mitigate issues and prevent situations escalating into a crisis.

Examples of the issue we deal with regularly for clients include:

• Organisational restructures
• Systems failures
• Physical and sexual abuse
• Cyber attacks
• Workplace incidents

At Hughes, our crisis management philosophy is “work for the best and prepare for the rest”, which means we leave no stone unturned when supporting you to be prepared for a crisis.

We develop thorough crisis management plans, which help our clients to be in the best possible position to navigate a crisis if the worst case eventuates. 

Planning
Hughes works with clients to develop plans that include roles and responsibilities internal communication, stakeholder communication, frequently asked questions, media protocols, media statements, escalation and mitigation strategies and 24/7 advice and response. 

With experience across business, government, and non-profit sectors – and the inside media knowledge of former journalists – our team will prepare your organisation for the pressure of a significant reputational issue or organisational crisis.

Response
Should you need support in the event of a crisis, our team acts quickly to evaluate your situation to provide you with a strategic roadmap for your communications. This process can also include assisting you with identifying your spokesperson and supporting them with communications and broader advice. 

Recovery
The final stage of our crisis management response turns to recovery. We will assist you in ensuring your organisation and people can get back on track. We can also assist with post-crisis evaluation reports.

If you need support with crisis planning or a pending crisis or issue, you can contact us directly in our office on 8412 4100. 

Your existing crisis communications plan can benefit from a review by an external third party. As well as producing crisis management plans for organisations or individual specific events, Hughes conducts crisis plan audits to identify any gaps and help strengthen your organisation’s preparedness for a crisis. This can include:

• Meeting with your executive team to build a broader understanding of your issue and crisis landscape, including your internal and external environments
• Reviewing your existing crisis management materials and key messaging
• Evaluating your crisis response team and responsibilities 
• Providing you with documented gaps and recommendations

Alongside our media training sessions, Hughes offers crisis management testing. From desktop crisis scenario exercises to lengthier practical sessions with mock simulated media conferences, Hughes can tailor crisis management testing that suits your organisation’s requirements. Our approach includes:

• Developing a bespoke scenario for your organisation
• Leading a crisis scenario exercise
• Facilitating reflections and feedback from your team

Our realistic scenarios allow participants to role play and rehearse the implementation of the organisation’s crisis management plan and road test your decision making.

In addition to assisting participants to build internal relationships and a detailed understanding of how each role interacts during a crisis, individual participants leave feeling better prepared for what they would need to do in their own role in the event of a crisis.

To learn more about setting up crisis management testing scenario for your executive team, talk to Hughes today.

Hughes regularly manages complex, highly sensitive matters in the strictest confidence and, in addition, we are happy to complete a non-disclosure agreement if requested.