A

SEMINAR REPORT

ON

HR ROLE IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED BY:

GAJANAND SHARMA

MBA – II Semester

POORNIMA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

ISI – RIICO Institutional Area, Goner Road, Sitapura, Jaipur

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Acknowledgement

Indebted to them for providing us such a wonderful opportunity to search for such a prestigious project.

We have no words to express our appreciation for all the search work that they did and for providing us all necessary information required and we with deep sense of gratitude, wish to express our appreciation to our seminar guide Miss Divya Makkar Ma’am and Miss Pratima Goyal Ma’am Although words hardly suffice, we are deeply without whose support this report would not been possible.

We wish to express our gratitude and indebtedness to Mr. R.K Agarwal our Advisor for his encouragement .Valuable suggestion, helpful comments and constructive criticism.

We also thank to our faculty members for providing needed support and encouragement at various stages and also classmates for cooperating with us.

In the end, on behalf of our college we are thankful to R.T.U and the faculty Members of R.T.U as a whole for rendering all the possible services and resources, which ultimate enabled us to complete this seminar report successfully.

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PREFACE

This report has been prepared and submitted , which is an important part of the M.B.A curriculum.

The topic of the project is hr role in crisis management. This topic is taken to find out the reasons of crisis incidents and its impact on conman people. All the data i collected from secondary sources which is also a limitation of the project due to lack of accuracy.

Main focus is given to the points like what is crisis management, what’s role played by hr manager, what’s problem arises by crisis. its impact on common people.

I would like to express my thanks to our faculty and my friend for helping me in the project and the completion of the report. Utmost care of data was taken while making this report.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The title of the study is HR role in crisis management . crisis management has become important for every organization. The people, communities as well as the business communities are expose to risk every now and then resulting in heavy losses.

Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a major event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders, or the general public. Three elements are common to most definitions of crisis: (a) a threat to the organization, (b) the element of surprise, and (c) a short decision time. argues that "crisis is a process of transformation where the old system can no longer be maintained." Therefore the fourth defining quality is the need for change. If change is not needed, the event could more accurately be described as a failure or incident

For a business organization, whenever a crisis occurs the first and the foremost thing that should be the priority should be the people. HR has the responsibility to look into every issue and suggest alternative solution. The HR should ensure that the crisis management plan is in place and will be implemented immediately when required.

For this, the HR first looks out for the professional fit in this regard and then trains them. The training can include the very basics of First Aid, Fire Fighting Basics, search and rescue operation training.

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The HRM department should be the forerunner in conducting out such activities from time to time. Keep on intimidating the employees of such activities so that they are well aware and also take an active part. After their lives are at stake at the point of crisis. Some Mock and Drill test should also be conducted. These can include guiding the employees . to act at the time of crisis, what to and what not to communicate to the outer world, how to handle the media, how to handle the rescue operations. Last but not the least the HRM is also entrusted to conduct regular internal audit and evaluation of such programs.

Modern technology has made great strides in tracking hurricanes, but, as the damage inflicted by Katrina, Rita and Wilma demonstrates, knowing where and when these storms are likely to strike can't prevent catastrophes. And as for the predictability of tsunamis, earthquakes, acts of terrorism.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Sr.No. Topic Page no.

1 Introduction 7-12

2 Models and theories associated with crisis management 13-14

3 HR role and crisis management 15-17

4 Organization crisis management 18-21

5 Human capital for crisis 22-32

6 The banking crisis and HR role 33-40

7 Recommendation 41

8 Limitations 42

9 Conclusion 43

10 Bibliography 44

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INTRODUCTION

CRISIS MANAGEMENT-

Crisis management consists of:

Methods used to respond to both the reality and perception of crises. Establishing metrics to define what scenarios constitute a crisis and should

consequently trigger the necessary response mechanisms.

Communication that occurs within the response phase of emergency management scenarios.

Crisis management methods of a business or an organization are called Crisis Management Plan.

Crisis management is occasionally referred to as incident management, although several industry specialists such as Peter Power argue that the term crisis management is more accurate. The credibility and reputation of organizations is heavily influenced by the perception of their responses during crisis situations. The organization and communication involved in responding to a crisis in a timely fashion makes for a challenge in businesses. There must be open and consistent communication throughout the hierarchy to contribute to a successful crisis communication process.

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TYPES OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT-

During the crisis management process, it is important to identify types of crises in that different crises necessitate the use of different crisis management strategies.[4] Potential crises are enormous, but crises can be clustered.[4]

categorized seven types of crises

1. Natural disaster2. Technological crises

3. Confrontation

4. Malevolence

5. Crisis of skewed management value

6. Crisis of deception

7. Crisis of management misconduct

Natural crises

Natural crises, typically natural disasters considered as 'acts of God,' are such environmental phenomena as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes and hurricanes, floods, landslides, tsunamis, storms, and droughths that threaten life, property, and the environment itself.[4][5]

Example: 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (Tsunami)

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Technological crises

Technological crises are caused by human application of science and technology. Technological accidents inevitably occur when technology becomes complex and coupled and something goes wrong in the system as a whole (Technological breakdowns). Some technological crises occur when human error causes disruptions (Human breakdowns[4]). People tend to assign blame for a technological disaster because technology is subject to human manipulation whereas they do not hold anyone responsible for natural disaster. When an accident creates significant environmental damage, the crisis is categorized as megadamage.[4] Samples include software failures, industrial accidents, and oil spills.[4][5]

Examples: Chernobyl disaster, Exxon Valdez oil spill

Confrontation crises

Confrontation crises occur when discontented individuals and/or groups fight businesses, government, and various interest groups to win acceptance of their demands and expectations. The common type of confrontation crises is boycotts, and other types are picketing, sit-ins, ultimatums to those in authority, blockade or occupation of buildings, and resisting or disobeying police.

Example: Rainbow/PUSH’s (People United to Serve Humanity) boycott of Nike.

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Crises of malevolence

An organization faces a crisis of malevolence when opponents or miscreant individuals use criminal means or other extreme tactics for the purpose of expressing hostility or anger toward, or seeking gain from, a company, country, or economic system, perhaps with the aim of destabilizing or destroying it.Sample crises include12product tampering, kidnapping, malicious rumors, terrorism, and espionage.[4][5]

Example: 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders

Crises of organizational misdeeds

Crises occur when management takes actions it knows will harm or place stakeholders at risk for harm without adequate precautions. [4] Lerbinger[5]

specified three different types of crises of organizational misdeeds: crises of skewed management values, crises of deception, and crises of management misconduct.

Crises of skewed management values

Crises of skewed management values are caused when managers favor short-term economic gain and neglect broader social values and stakeholders other than investors. This state of lopsided values is rooted in the classical business creed that focuses on the interests of stockholders and tends to view the interests of its other stakeholders such as customers, employees, and the community.

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Crises of deception

Crises of deception occur when management conceals or misrepresents information about itself and its products in its dealing with consumers and others.

Example: Dow Corning’s silicone-gel breast implant

Crises of management misconduct

Some crises are caused not only by skewed values and deception but deliberate amorality and illegality.

Workplace violence

Crises occur when an employee or former employee commits violence against other employees on organizational grounds.

Example: DuPont’s Lycra

Rumors

False information about an organization or its products creates crises hurting the organization’s reputation. Sample is linking the organization to radical groups or stories that their products are contaminated.[4]

Example: Procter & Gamble's Logo controversy

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Organizational Crisis Management

Many researchers have examined crises in organizational settings (Pearson & Clair, 1998; Sayegh, Anthony, & Perrewe, 2004). The literature suggests some level of agreement on the nature of organizational crisis and the scope of organizational crisis management.

From the post-9/11 effect on financial and transportation industries to the corporate fraud scandals involving Enron and Tyco, organizational crises are a pervasive threat to organizational performance and sustainability.The authors' review of the literature suggests that although the impact of crises on organization effectiveness has been increasingly recognized, it has not attracted much attention from human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners. As a result, HRD has not considered how learning, change, and performance interventions might be used to support crisis management processes. The purpose of this article is to explore the role of HRD in organizational crisis management..

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Models and theories associated with crisis management

Crisis Management Model

Successfully defusing a crisis requires an understanding of how to handle a crisis – before they occur. Gonzalez-Herrero and Pratt found the different phases of Crisis Management.

There are 3 phases in any Crisis Management are as below

1. The diagnosis of the impending trouble or the danger signals.2. Choosing appropriate Turnaround Strategy.

3. Implementation of the change process and its monitoring.

Management Crisis Planning

No corporation looks forward to facing a situation that causes a significant disruption to their business, especially one that stimulates extensive media coverage. Public scrutiny can result in a negative financial, political, legal and government impact. Crisis management planning deals with providing the best response to a crisis.

Contingency planning

Preparing contingency plans in advance, as part of a crisis management plan, is the first step to ensuring an organization is appropriately prepared for a crisis. Crisis management teams can rehearse a crisis plan by developing a simulated scenario to use as a drill. The plan should clearly stipulate that the only people to speak publicly about the crisis are the designated persons, such as the company spokesperson or crisis team members. The first hours after a crisis breaks are the most crucial, so working with speed and efficiency is important, and the plan should indicate how

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Business continuity planning

When a crisis will undoubtedly cause a significant disruption to an organization, a business continuity plan can help minimize the disruption. First, one must identify the critical functions and processes that are necessary to keep the organization running. Then each critical function and or/process must have its own contingency plan in the event that one of the functions/processes ceases or fails. Testing these contingency plans by rehearsing the required actions in a simulation will allow for all involved to become more sensitive and aware of the possibility of a crisisis.

Structural-functional systems theory

Providing information to an organization in a time of crisis is critical to effective crisis management. Structural-functional systems theory addresses the intricacies of information networks and levels of command making up organizational communication. The structural-functional theory identifies information flow in organizations as "networks" made up of members and "links".

Diffusion of innovation theory

Another theory that can be applied to the sharing of information is Diffusion of Innovation Theory. Developed by Everett Rogers, the theory describes how innovation is disseminated and 16communicated through certain channels over a period of time. Diffusion of innovation in communication occurs when an individual communicates a new idea to one or several others. At its most elementary form, the process involves: (1) an innovation, (2) an individual or other unit of adoption that has knowledge of or experience with using the innovation, (3) another individual or other unit that does not yet have knowledge of the innovation, and (4) a communication channel connecting the two units. A communication channel is the means by which messages get from one individual to another.

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HR ROLE AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT;

We are living in 21st Century. Modern technology has made our lives easier and enables us to expand our horizons and our business. But the crisis since ages has continued to inflict our business and hamper their growth. Today’s business environment requires a robust plan to deal with unexpected business. This is where the HR leader play a strategic role in ensuring organizational stability through advance crisis preparation, leadership development and solid communication plans to ensure that crisis is successfully dealt with.

Today the crisis management has become important for every organization. The people, communities as well as the business communities are expose to risk every now and then resulting in heavy losses. The recent crisis that rocked us was Katrina, Rita, the London bombings, the Tsunami and most disastrous was the 9/11 terrorists attacks on the world trade centre. It is not all. There are some other crises which can also make your business crippled. They can be financial failure due to following bad management practices, fire at the workplace, cybercrime, product tampering, power blackouts etc. the list will be endless.

backbone of any organization shoulders the responsibility of crafting an effective crisis management plan which incorporates emergency response, disaster recovery, communications with the internal and So what to do and what role can HR play? The HR called the the external publics.

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For a business organization, whenever a crisis occurs the first and the foremost thing that should be the priority should be the people. HR has the responsibility to look into every issue and suggest alternative solution. The HR should ensure that the crisis management plan is in place and will be implemented immediately when required. For this, the HR first looks out for the professional fit in this regard and then trains them. The training can include the very basics of First Aid, Fire Fighting Basics, search and rescue operation training. The HRM department should be the forerunner in conducting out such activities from time to time. Keep on intimidating the employees of such activities so that they are well aware and also take an active part. After all, their lives are at stake at the point of crisis. how to handle the rescue operations. Last but not the least the HRM is also entrusted to conduct regular internal audit and evaluation of such programmes.

No one can predict the future. But with careful and timely planning, the HR professionals can help the organization face the crisis in a better way.

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Exploring the Strategic Role of Human Resource Development in Organizational Crisis Management ;

Crisis management has been a largely overlooked territory in human resource development (HRD) despite the increasingly recognized impact of organizational crises on the individual and organizational performance. This article explores the strategic role of HRD in the context of organizational crisis management using Garavan’s strategic HRD model as a guiding framework to understand the various ways in which HRD can build crisis management capability in organizations. The authors apply various components of the model to the crisis management context and integrate ideas from both sets of literatures. The authors offer specific guidelines for HRD practitioners regarding how to align strategic human resource development focus, orientation, and strategies with the organization’s overall crisis management efforts and identify areas for further research.

Keywords: Strategic human resource development, crisis management, change managementCrisis events continue to pose a costly threat to organizations. Yet despite a decade that has witnessed terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and ethics violations, fewer than 60% of employees reported that their organization was not well prepared to effectively respond to a crisis (Fegley & Victor, 2005). Likewise, many senior executives have a similar view (Moynihan, 2008) and often do not think strategically about crisis management; as a result, their organizations are not sufficiently prepared to deal with crises when they arise (Sheaffer & Mano-Negrin,

Human Resource Development Review Vol. 8, No. 1 March 2009 22-53DOI: 10.1177/1534484308330018© 2009 Sage Publications

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Organizational Crisis Management;

Many researchers have examined crises in organizational settings (Pearson & Clair, 1998; Sayegh, Aanthony, & Perrewe, 2004). The literature suggests some level of agreement on the nature of organizational crisis and the scope of organizational crisis management.

Organizational Crisis Management

With the increase in frequency and complexity of organizational crises, the need for planned efforts to mitigate crisis events has become a serious concern for organizations. It is important to learn quickly from crisis events that actually occur. Organizational crisis management is understood as a series of procedures used to sustain or resume normal business operations, minimize stakeholder loss, and use learning to improve crisis management processes (Pearson & Clair, 1998). Crisis management typically includes steps that help to identify potential crisis signals or indicators, planning strategies, response coordination, and recovery plans. Heath (1998) observed that Western organizations typically adopted a four-stage model: prevention, preparation, response, and recovery—PPRR. He viewed this model as interactive with opportunities for ongoing learning.. a full review of the crisis management model and related research can be found in Hutchins and Wang (2008).

In spite of an increased effort in crisis planning in the last decades, and especially in the United States since 9/11, organizations continue to fall short in developing comprehensive crisis management programs. Specifically, in a disaster-preparedness survey of U.S.-based organizations, McConnell and Drennan (2006) explained that organizations fail to engage in crisis management because they lack an understanding of how to engage in systematic planning across often fragmented units. Consequently, organizations would rather place resources toward more immediate profit-generating needs, and are overwhelmed by the sheer number of potential crisis events that could occur.

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Organization Crisis Management;

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What is Corporate Crisis?

As Webster's indicates, a crisis is a period of trauma, distress and inevitable change. While events triggering a corporate crisis cannot be predicted with absolute certainty, they always bring about change-often for the worse, and always involving the company's reputation, management, brand or market share. The goal of crisis management is to contain and/or prevent the impact on the various audiences that corporations must recognize; these audiences are customers, employees, communities, government, and of course, the shareholder/investment community.

Characteristics of Corporate Crisis

The eight characteristics are:

1. Surprise that is always driven by media exposure. 2. Insufficient Information about the relevant facts and the emerging public perception of the issue.

3. Escalating Flow of Events that hampers the ability of management to understand quickly that, like it or not, they "own" the problem and must quickly articulate a persuasive response.

4. Loss of Control over the way the growing crisis is perceived and the impact it is beginning to have on the company.

5. Intense Scrutiny from Outsiders/Insiders including media, government, regulatory agencies, activist groups, key stakeholders, and most importantly, the management team itself.

6. The Beginning of the Siege Mentality that causes company leadership to attempt to "hide" behind the legal aspects of the crisis, rather than confront the central issues, and thereby allows the crisis to inflict more damage on the organization.

7. Panic that perverts and/or paralyzes the decision-making process.

8. Issue Solved by Public Arena in manner designed to satisfy the interests of outsiders-

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HR’s Role in Crisis Management

Crises can occur at any time and HR has to take the lead in protecting the welfare and safety of affected employees. HR professionals cannot ignore the issue of employee safety and security even in a company that already has a viable security function in place. HR professionals in any corporation are best trained to facilitate discussion among business units and crisis management plans must incorporate input from various departments. HR professionals also have the best understanding of the people side of business, and already serve as "keepers of the culture." Also,

HR professionals are in positions to provide the first line of defense when crisis strikes, and preparation reduces anxiety

Looking at the Human Side of Crisis Management

Crisis management is a major issue that HR leaders should take charge proactively of because they are the primary caretaker of employee welfare and motivation. HR is in the best position to ensure that an organization‘s human capital can be preserved and can continue to create value under any circumstance.

HR’s Strategic Role

HR can play this strategic role in organizational sustainability through advance preparation which includes safety and security initiatives to help prepare and reassure employees, leadership development, talent management and solid communication plans to support effective crisis management. HR leaders have a strategic role and responsibility to ensure their organizations are aware of internal vulnerabilities on the human side to different types of crises and to ensure their crisis management plan covers all potential risks and concerns.

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Preparing Human Capital For Crisis

Effective crisis response requires an understanding of what people need from management, and how to provide it. Following a disaster, beyond the obvious basic survival, employees and their family members need:

Immediate emergency guidance, aid and assurance of safety Clear information, leadership and reassurance

Understanding and ongoing psychological support during and after the crisis

Post-crisis support for rapid return to normalcy

In developing a crisis management plan to provide for these needs, HR directly creates value for the bottom line by minimizing potential damages and downtime.

Action Purpose

Set up in advance a Humanitarian Response Team

To ensure adequate attention to human needs in the wake of a disaster

Establish a diagnostic of the human side vulnerability of your organization to crisis

To identify and prepare specifically for crisis scenarios affecting employees

Develop HR policies and procedures specifically related to crisis management

To avoid panic ad hoc actions and to ensure effective delivery of crisis-related human services

Provide training to address specifically, and only, the human side of what happens during a crisis

To provide employees with an opportunity to understand and learn to cope with the effect of stress and traumatic events

Conduct crisis simulation exercises To train and program employees to know what to do during a crisis

Establish an online resource with information about crisis management,

To provide employees with 24-hour easily accessible information and

employee benefits and other employee-related policies and programs linked to crisis

communication means

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Preparation and Training

HR should play a strategic role in CM preparation and training to facilitate organizational continuity (Lockwood, 2005). This role begins long before a crisis strikes and continues throughout the crisis response and recovery stages.

Developing and Documenting the CM Plan

HR managers are in a position to be a driving force behind the development of CM plans (Jones Walker, 2005). One critical role of HR in developing CM plans is to minimize these organizational losses, as well as the negative effect on employees themselves, by developing strategies that address the safety, health, and well being of employees before, during, and after an emergency .

Training and Education

HR can be a driving force in convincing top managers to test their plan to determine if it is actually going to work when needed. The plan should be implemented frequently and routinely to allow employees to practice the plan and to work out the kinks in the plan before disaster strikes .

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Communication

One of the most important parts of CM is a continuous line of communication (Carides, 2005; Gurchiek, 2005, Oct. 19 . however, communication is one part of disaster planning that is often taken for granted (Gurchiek, 2005, Oct. 19). Most CM planning is done with the expectation of a disastrous event happening to the company itself, not to the world around it (Woodward, 2005). HR must be ready to communicate with both internal and external stakeholders of the organization and should have a convenient and easily located source of communication available no matter where disaster strikes.

Contact Information: Once a crisis strikes, a top priority of HR managers should be accounting for employees and maintaining contact with them (Jones Walker, 2005).

Email: If a company's email system is located on a server outside the disaster zone, email can be a powerful communication tool

Text Messaging: Another possibility for maintaining communication is text messaging.

Pay and Benefits

Pay: After the storms, many employers announced, often through the media, that they would continue to pay workers for a set period of time.

Benefits: In addition to pay issues, CM plans should include policies and guidelines on the continuation and administration of employee benefits.

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Employee Assistance Programs

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) can be an effective means of helping employees deal with the emotional grief and sense of loss that workers may experience after a crisis; however, before healing can begin, workers may need assistance with more basic needs such as food and shelter (Gurchiek, 2005, Sept. 11). EAPs can help with these needs as well as finding dislocated workers and educating workers about what benefits are available to them.

Employment

Once the initial crisis has passed, and the company moves from the response to recovery stage, HR can help the company return to some sense of normalcy as it attempts to get back on its feet.

Alternative Work Locations and Arrangements

Managers should consider the possibility the company will be unable to resume operations in its pre-crisis location and should have a contingency plan in place for varying levels of business disruption.

Layoffs and Reduced Work Hours

After a crisis, some businesses unfortunately will have no choice but to lay off employees or reduce their work hours for the business to survive. HR professionals need to be aware of this possibility, should be involved in the decision, and should have a plan in place for how to handle such an eventuality.

Flexible Leave Options/Leave Donations

HR personnel should examine company policies concerning illness, bereavement, or other types of leave and determine whether special leave policies should be developed specifically for catastrophes.

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Recruiting and Housing

Another issue to consider in CM planning is that of recruiting new employees to replace those lost once the business attempts to reopen. Many businesses in the storm-damaged areas are having difficulty resuming operations because of a shortage of manpower.

Corporate Crisis Management Team

It is important that an appropriate administrative structure be in place to effectively manage a crisis. Clear definitions must exist for a management structure, authority for decisions, and responsibility for implementation. Most senior managers are not trained and typically do not have the resources to simultaneously manage a crisis and carry out normal business duties. Senior managers who are not members of the crisis management team should carry on with their normal business unless requested by the team leader.

The core Corporate Crisis Management Team (CMT) should include: Team Leader: The team leader, or its designate, is responsible for managing the CMT, and is the primary contact with the site or incident scene team leader. 8.15.2 Team Coordinator: This person or persons (could rotate this position but it is always filled) stays in the crisis center and assures the members are working with the most current information. Appointed by and assists the Team Leader in managing the crisis team activities 8.15.3 Team Resource (Admin Position) If not a specific individual, these duties need to be assumed by one or more team members

• Provides computer support to access data and procedures • Operates and relays fax(s)

• Provides copies of documents, such as of MSDS

• Provides weather conditions from the internet

• Gathers information that may be needed – e.g. trucking company, disaster contractor, access crisis calendar, etc. Helps to set up the room.

• Makes sure phones are ready to use.

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Where Do You Start?

To be most effective, HR leaders should work collaboratively with other key organizational functions involved in crisis management such as risk management and business continuity management, build the case and obtain top management commitment to support the development of enterprise-wide crisis readiness plans that fully integrate the human side of crisis.

Preparing for Crisis

Is it possible to prepare for crisis? We think it is. In our work with clients, we find that sawy executives learn to expect the unexpected and take certain steps to prepare for the worst and to respond when the worst occurs.

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Establish The Tone At The Top

While some companies invest heavily in producing and maintaining complex crisis management manuals, we have found that there is no substitute for embedding a meaningful set of values that govern behavior in times of crisis. An example involving two consumer goods companies illustrates the point. When Company A discovered that tampering had occurred to one its products, it immediately pulled the product from the shelves. Consumer safety was a core value at Company A, and that value shaped the organization‘s immediate and effective response. While some loss of market share occurred in the wake of the crisis, it eventually was restored and exceeded once the product had been repackaged and reintroduced. A long-term crisis was averted. Company B faced a similar problem but without strong corporate values in place, was unsure as to how to proceed. Management ignored the impending crisis and suffered the consequences. The cost in terms of money and damage to the brand were high, and the CEO lost his job.

Anticipate Likely Problems

While not every crisis can be foreseen, many can. CEOs and boards can and should be prepared to deal with basic problems. To manage crisis effectively, companies must be aware of what is being said about them and must be attuned to any warning signals that surface. Today‘s environment demands that monitoring activities go beyond the mainstream media. In response, new resources are becoming available, such as blog monitoring services added to the traditional services of media research firms. Companies that anticipate problems avoid the Demise Curve by periodically confirming that their strategies are in line with market needs and that their operational efficiencies are maximized. To accomplish this, we advise clients to develop a dashboard of key performance indicators and to monitor them regularly. For example, when a major telecommunications company noted a decline in its key performance indicators, its management looked to its strategy as a possible source of the problem. The company had decided to target a foreign market, even though the technology in that market was fundamentally different from its own. When the company adjusted its strategy to focus on domestic markets, performance improved and crisis was avertedHave An Alternate Plan In a changing world, even carefully conceived plans may not work as anticipated. Develop And Maintain Fitness And Resilience Companies that are fit and resilient are better able to withstand crisis than those that are not. An important aspect of crisis preparation is to work toward higher levels of fitness and resilience throughout the organization

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Use External Advisers

In addition to public relations professionals, other external advisers frequently are key members of the crisis intervention team.

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Managing MNC Expatriates through Crises:

A Challenge for International Human Resource Management

Managing Expatriate Crises

International crises experienced by MNCs include premature return of their expatriates due to failed assignments and poor retention of their returned expatriates due to failed repatriation. Researchers have analysed the causes of failure in overseas assignments and have introduced Human Resource (HR) practices that would help organisations to select, develop, and retain competent expatriates (Consequently, multinational corporations are striving to improve their capability in managing human resources internationally. Important features of these initiatives include (1) the nature and length of the planning for the selection and training of expatriates for overseas assignments, (2) the return of expatriate, and (3) the subsequent assigned work for these repatriates in the home country .

Nature of Planning: Expatriate Selection

Within the abundant research on expatriate managers, certain selection characteristics or traits have been identified as predictors of expatriate success. These include technical ability, managerial skills, cultural empathy, adaptability, diplomacy, language ability, positive attitude, emotional stability, maturity and adaptability of family. MNCs, and subsequently, identified four general categories which may contribute to expatriate success. These are broadly described as (1) technical competence on the job, (2) personality traits or relational abilities, (3) environmental variables, and (4) family situation. describes five categories of attributes of success: (1) job factors, (2) relational dimensions, (3) motivational state (4) family situation, and (5) language skills. The five categories and their specific aspects are outlined.

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The banking crisis and HR's role (or non-role)?

As the banking crisis continues, more information is seeping out from various sources regarding reward, operating culture, ethics and corporate reputation.

And there's one question in all of this what was HR's role? There has been an acute silence....

Let's take reward (exclude executive board remuneration for the moment).

Is it or is it not under HR's remit?

Somewhere, reward-risk design got badly out of kilter with organisation performance or more appropriately risk and timelines - i.e. short term reward for longer term pay-off which was unquantified.

From a reward perspective, banking and in particular case loan granting is a complex area (never mind derivatives) of reward design and associated risk. (I should know from personal experience as a line manager way back - as an aside I was amazed to find I was more banking qualified than the various CEOs sitting at the MP committee's table last week!)

Sadly it seems as though either HR was told what to do or not involved at all. This is particularly at odds with Banks having been at the forefront of employee engagement.

But as we have previously pointed out on more than one occasion, this type of engagement (like many) was/is rather 'individual input' focused as opposed to being both individual and organisation 'output/outcome' focused. 

It is no good scoring high benchmarks to various 'engagement' questions (and publishing them) if there is no connection to individual/organisational performance or operating culture or indeed any potential risks attached. It all smacks of too much PR. By the way banking isn't the only one.

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That's why we believe employee engagement should be related to individual/organisation performance and in that respect we are the odd ones out professionally.

When it comes to operating culture and ethics, the HR function again seems to have gone AWOL.

However, it did spend a lot of time on diversity initiatives, general CSR PR and a plethora of other well-meaning things but ultimately these were 'missing the obvious' - the basics of organisational performance linked from its organisation design. Think Lehmans as an obvious example. Think everybody else since.

Nobody seems to have held their hands up professionally and said there's something missing here - this is exactly the kind of thing those who care about the HR/HCM profession's standing have been on about for some time.

Where is the CIPD in all of this?

Nowhere. Given all of the reward/benefits conferences that take place giving CPD points like confetti one would have thought that a few questions may have been asked previously on this organisational issue and other related issues. I did notice that Jackie Orme, to her credit, at least commented on 'bonuses helping the business' - see PT's recent 'Bonus blame game' article.

However, the CIPD currently really prefers to continue to broadcast daily in the media the same old thing about the economy about '3 million unemployed' like a broken record - I expect to find John Philpott walking the streets with a billboard with 'the end is nigh' written on it (or maybe the next CIPD conference).

[I wouldn't mind so much if they had spotted the economic downturn first but they didn't they were late to the party and have been trying to make up for it ever since - they were at least three months behind our announcement of 100,000 HR jobs at risk back in July 2008 which also outlined the potential unemployment statistics.]

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HR ACTIVITIES:

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GRAPHICAL PRESENTATION OF BANK CRISIS:

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The Crisis Management Team;

1) Team Leader—a senior executive who can make decisions on behalf of the organization.

2) Security Director—responsible for facilitating plan development, training employees, establishing a crisis center;

serves as the primary information officer.

3) Finance Director—assesses the financial implications of each type of disaster covered by the plan, arranges for

required funds to be available in an emergency, oversees disbursement of funds and maintains records of cost of

crisis for the company.

4) Legal Counsel—advises the team on possible legal implications of recommended actions.

5) Media Spokesperson—conveys important details without disclosing proprietary information, compromising employee

privacy or confounding investigative efforts.

6) HR Director—has access to personnel records, helps the information officers reach affected individuals and their families and works to resolve the human issues created by the crisis.

7) Security Specialist—an expert on various contingency planning issues, usually from outside of the organization, who helps educate the team about options for handling various types of crises, advises the team during the crisis

event and helps conduct the debriefing afterward. Source: Robinson, C. (2005). Preparing for the unexpected: Teamwork for troubled times. The Journal for Quality and Participation

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What Is The Role Of HR Manager?

Organizations are facing gloomy times. The financial crises, recessions, and economic depressions are not new phenomena, but their occurrence is definitely a cause for great concern among many. This is because no matter how well we study the history of downturns such as these, dealing with them when they do happen again is still just as difficult. Most organizations will wonder, for instance, how to control recession effects on human resource performance, and employee performance in general

For the most part, this would fall to the efforts of the human resource department. In fact, the human resource department would probably need to handle the most important part of the recession coping strategies, but have the human resource department informed the employees that we are in recession or are they in denial. Only when the organization faces reality and informs the employees on what is going on systematically, the employees will know how to adapt to such crisis.

This is because, essentially, what crises force organizations to do is to go back to the basics and try to maintain an intact, dynamic core. This core consists mainly of the organization’s leaders and employees – all united towards accomplishing their mission and achieving their vision. The panic and worrying induced by uncertain, or worse, poor economic conditions will tend to obscure this simple fact, but human resource departments should strive to realize this, better sooner than later.

Human resource should concur with management and come out with a plan on how they are going to survive this crisis with the help of all the employees. As such human resource could take stock of the crisis and work out a plan. HR departments truly do have their jobs cut out for them in times of crisis, but with a smart and sensible plan, Managers can effectively control recession effects on HR performance by changing their roles to Change Agents.

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HR Manager As “Change Agents”

Many continuing education programs are designed to help individuals to change. Change is likely to continue to dominate our future lives, institutions and society. It is the responsibility of continuing educators and educational agencies, as change-agents, to help people understand change as it affects their lives especially during these period of uncertainties.

Change means to alter or modify something and can evolve naturally or deliberately planned. A natural change is automatic and follows the path of history and evolu-tion. That change is not managed, does not have (proper) direction and goal, and does not use valid knowledge and available resources. Change that evolves naturally can have either a positive or negative impact on development.

The idea of planned change refers to the deliberate efforts made to alter behavior of an individual, a group or a system. Professional consultant view planned change as a deliberate and collaborative process involving a change-agent and a client system. It is a method that employs social technology and available resources to help solve problems of man and societies.

Houle (1972) describes planned change as a purposeful decision and deliberate effort to improve a system. In making the improvement, he suggests that the help of an outside agent be solicited. Some key elements related to planned change are: conscious effort to alter performance, desirable goal, collaborative effort between the change-agent ( the party who provides professional guidance) and the client system (the party whose behavior is to be changed) and, employ ment of all available resources.

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Planned change may be conceptualized as a conscious and purposive effort (collaborative between the client system and the change-agent) to alter performance or behavior of a client system towards desirable goals by using avail-able resources.

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RECOMMENDATION

Balance Interdependence and Autonomy. The HR manager and department must project an image of operational objectivity and privacy defender while performing their overall management function. The HR professional must also develop a capacity for “detached involvement,” that is, being sensitive to personnel issues and individual employee concerns while resisting the rescuer role.

Reach Out to Specialists and Consultants. Resist the urge to be Rambo or Rambette. This involves taking things too personally, processing a significant downsizing or upgrading a computer system by yourself. Reach out for expert support such as an Employee Assistance Program counselor, especially with seriously disgruntled or dysfunctional employees.

Balance Administrative Work and Human Relating : Periodically, walk around your shop and swap stories with folks on the work floor. Bridge the gap between management and employees. Rotating different hats will also help you follow my maxim, “

Encourage Independence by Setting Boundaries. These three boundary-setting strategies will enable the HR manager to successfully juggle various roles and responsibilities:

Education. Help others not to be so dependent on your indispensable knowledge. Training for employees and supervisors on HR-related procedures, Web site information negotiating and self-initiated employee data gathering, etc., is vital in today time- and task-driven environment.

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LIMITATIONS

     Very little data on dealing with public affairs crisis in a multi-service overseas environment exists.  However, crises in such atmospheres routinely make headlines. Each crisis is different, circumstances are influenced by time, location and intensity, and the task of developing comprehensive plans is daunting. 

Many crisis plans provide check lists or lessons learned from actual situations but fail to take into account scientific methods for discovering trends and using empirical data to control and predict future actions.  Reacting to specific incidents, rather than having formulated plans, leaves PA’s at a disadvantage.         Future research should take into account methods of acculturating PA’s with the host countries and sister or foreign militaries.  Organizational theory should be looked at closer to ensure communications chains are working for the benefit of the units in the field.

Finally, mass communication theories can be examined at length to develop data on effective information dissemination in varying channels and networks.  It is hoped that this model contributes greatly to future study of crisis communication in the military public affairs arena.  To that end this project is being forwarded to DINFOS, and each service’s public affairs headquarters.

CONCLUSION:

We began our research with a goal of advancing HRD theory and practice by identifying and linking leadership competencies to effective crisis management.

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This article builds on earlier conceptual work by James and Wooten (2005) in which the authors articulated several crisis leadership competencies.

Although there is some overlap in the competencies identified in the two articles (e.g., ability to learn from crisis), the current research differs in that it uses a qualitative methodological design to identify crisis leadership competencies that have been adopted by decision makers in the midst of a crisis.

As a result, it offers a more comprehensive set of competencies than the earlier work. In addition, the current research focuses primarily on competencies that can be associated specifically with the HRD function, rather than crisis leadership competencies at large.

Crisis leadership and that these competencies are associated with key phases of the crisis management process. For example, the data show that within the initial signal detection stage of a crisis, leaders display competence by engaging in sense-making and perspective-taking activities that help them better understand the crisis situation at hand and appropriate actions for meeting the needs of multiple stakeholders. During the damage control and containment stage of a crisis, leaders find themselves needing to move beyond the emotional response to threat in such a way that enables them to engage in effective decision making, risk taking, and communication.

Bibliography

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Westport, CT: Quorum Books.

Carrel, L. (2000). Training civil servants for crisis management. Journal of

Contingencies for Crisis Management, 8(4), 192-196.

www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/06February.

COPYRIGHT 2006 Society for Human Resource Management

COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

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http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0447.htm

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Crisis Management and Communication Entry Institute for Public Relations article

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