Earlier this year, I attended PDPW’s annual Managers Academy. Last issue, I wrote about one of the topics the three-day program addressed – leadership. In light of recent events, I think the seminar’s other main topic needs special attention – crisis management. Remember these two recent events: A half-hour blackout at the Super Bowl. A disabled, partially flooded Carnival cruise ship towed for several days into port.
Neither of these events made those who had paid good money to be part of them happy, and neither were predictable. And both of them gave those in management headaches.
Click here to view an article about the FARM program that indicates that one of the early findings from animal welfare audits is that only three-fourths of producers enrolled in the program have a management plan for natural disasters and emergencies.
In a recent conversation with a 5,000-plus-cow dairy operator, I learned that the absence of a sufficient emergency management plan was one of the key findings he discovered from going through a welfare and quality audit of his own.
Ironically, in New Orleans, just several weeks before the Super Bowl blackout, Dr. Alan Gray suggested several lessons producers should consider when preparing for a crisis. The commentary that follows them is mine. These were his recommendations:
• Face reality. In unexpected, tough situations, Gray said, “Hope is a terrible strategy.” This is where a good emergency plan comes in handy. There’s a reason why auditors ask if you have one.
• No matter how bad things are, realize they will get worse. During a crisis management role-play at Managers Academy, my peer group kept downplaying the need to reveal our crisis to the media.
As the scenario unfolded, they started to realize that going public earlier helps get the scrutiny from media over more quickly before the situation worsens and the public begins to ask: “Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?” Sometimes that means giving the best answer available at the time.
Did anyone really understand when the power company reported that a piece of equipment had “sensed an abnormality in the system” and that is what caused the blackout at the Super Bowl?
• Build a mountain of cash and get to the highest hill. Since cash is still in short supply for many in the dairy industry, Gray suggested at least freeing up some of your working capital that could be employed for crisis management if it were needed.
• Get the world off your shoulders. Gray said this means having a plan that will begin to involve others in managing your crisis. Friends, family, your veterinarian, trusted local officials and technical specialists can help you begin to work through the tough problems of your emergency. Make sure they know you want them in your emergency plan.
• Before asking others to sacrifice, first volunteer yourself. This point about crisis management was best referenced in our program tour of agriculture in New Orleans.
Members of the aquaculture community who rely on the sea near the Big Easy for their livelihood had positive things to say about BP’s boots on the ground during the Deep Water Horizon oil spill, despite much of the negative attention that was portrayed in the media.
To this day, they say they were making good on their promise to rectify the impact to the aquaculture resources in the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite these efforts, businesses in the aquaculture industry have rapidly consolidated as a result of the spill. This leads to the next point of crisis management and one that those who are prepared can best capitalize on.
• Never waste a good crisis. Oreo was a major advertising sponsor of the Super Bowl this year. Marketing executives said it had the best response to the unexpected delay in football action with a social media campaign under the tag line: “You can still dunk in the dark.”
I hope you never have to use an emergency action plan for any situation, but such a plan could prevent you from being “in the dark” or “up a creek without a paddle” in a tough situation. PD
Walt Cooley
Editor
Progressive Dairyman
