It’s not unusual for HR leaders to spend hours building organization-wide “disruption” plans. But when a true crisis hits, many of those strategies often break down immediately.
According to Katherine Loranger, Chief People Officer at Safeguard Global, major potential problems can quickly become reality because most crisis plans are built around systems, rather than people.
“The first test in any disruption isn’t the overall plan; most of all, it’s whether you can locate, support and stabilize your employees very quickly,” she explains.
Loranger also notes that while most organizations have some form of an HR crisis management plan, when a real disruption hits—whether it’s political instability, a natural disaster, a conflict or other need to relocate employees—success is determined by putting “people before process.”
“In my 25 years in HR, I’ve seen my fair share of crises, and the biggest thing that separates organizations that survive and thrive from those that struggle is the ability to remain flexible when circumstances don’t unfold as expected,” she says.
See also: Why HR leaders need to play a critical role in crisis management
She adds that employers who struggle often jump straight into productivity metrics and business continuity areas, rather than employee safety, support and stability.
“That means quickly knowing where your people are, understanding what they need, and being willing to make decisions that don’t fit neatly into a policy manual,” she says. “In my experience, that can mean approving a salary advance for an employee trying to leave a high-risk area or helping employees in a conflict zone to relocate across borders. Sometimes it’s as simple as providing emotional support during a difficult period.”
Decentralization has proven to be a key crisis-leadership lesson
Resilient employers also get ahead of the game by avoiding single points of failure, she says. One of the most critical lessons many organizations have learned over the last several years is the value of decentralization. She explains that employers who concentrate critical talent, operations or knowledge in a single location create unnecessary risk.
“Resilient organizations build distributed teams, cross-train employees and create coverage across locations, so work can continue when disruption impacts one region or market,” Loranger says. “That also gives employees the flexibility and support they need when a crisis affects them personally.”
“Visibility is just as important,” she adds, “but unfortunately in a crisis, it’s often the case that you don’t know what you don’t know.”
And this, she explains, is where strong local expertise and clear visibility into the company’s workforce make all the difference. It can help manage country-specific regulations from becoming major challenges during a disruption.
“Success is forged through strong leadership,” she says. “In difficult times, leaders rarely have complete information; in most cases, they don’t have the luxury of waiting for more data to come in before making a decision.
Also, she says, organizations should empower leaders to be able to make thoughtful decisions amid uncertainty, mainly by communicating clearly and helping employees navigate ambiguity early on.
Loranger says that it starts with hiring and developing people who are comfortable solving problems when things are fluid and there isn’t a clear plan. And that’s because when there is fear or disruption, teams look to those leaders for reassurance and direction.
“Those employees need to be visible and strong communicators because they set the tone for what’s next. It’s their job to keep everyone moving in the same direction,” she says.
“There’s no perfect playbook for a crisis, and that’s okay because the most resilient organizations are defined more by their ability to pivot and adapt during a disruption,” Loranger concludes.
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