How to follow true north in your crisis response 

Organizations often need to manage complex and unpredictable crises, and missteps in how they respond can have significant and unintended consequences.

To help companies be more prepared and effective when responding to unforeseen issues and events, the members of Mercer’s Future of Work Thinkers Board came together to share their collective wisdom and develop a crisis decision-making framework. This tool guides executives, HR and other business stakeholders through a two-step process: first, what to consider when deciding whether and how to respond; and second, how to operationalize these decisions in a way that’s consistent with the values and goals of the organization.

Ours is a time of complex and unpredictable crises and events, from natural disasters to geopolitical strife. Navigating them is a routine challenge — but the high stakes often demand urgent responses and decision-making. Organizations can respond to these emergencies more effectively with a nuanced and values-based approach in their planning, communications and actions.

To be clear, urgent decisions might not mean taking immediate action. Each crisis is unique; it might affect colleagues, customers, operations or a mix of the three. It could be a war that breaks out overnight, or a controversial new law that requires a more thoughtful approach. Yet with the right systems and plans in place, business leaders can follow their true north to assess and manage any crisis with confidence.

Crisis planning is smoother when organizations can see what’s coming. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024 flags the most severe risks in the world through 2034, such as misinformation, extreme weather and societal polarization. Addressing the risks proactively could even keep them from escalating; but if all else fails, leveraging what’s known about them could help blunt the impact.

Staying ahead of emerging issues takes continuous listening. News outlets and social media are key channels to monitor — enterprise technologies, anonymous reporting channels, and business or employee resource groups (BRGs/ERGs) are becoming just as essential. Communication tools and human capital management (HCM) systems can track stakeholder sentiment, demographics, and other insights to help prevent and detect critical threats.

AI could help sort and analyze all these signals — a big ask for humans alone. AI can align disjointed datasets and scour them for meaningful patterns and trends. Increased cross-platform chatter with certain keywords, for instance, could signal a rising concern that needs attention. Predictive AI can extrapolate historical data to forecast the potential impact of these issues, while generative AI might suggest a response or even notify key stakeholders via chatbots. These tools, of course, still need governance and human oversight to mitigate the risks of bias, hallucinations and misinformation.

HR can help mitigate and address people risks. Upholding employee rights and Good Work standards is an expectation that takes a firmwide effort. Mercer’s 2024 Emergency Workforce Practices study identifies several ways in which the people function can help defend against threats:

• Training the workforce on company values, best practices, safety and risk mitigation
• Organizing routine planning sessions and drills for different crisis scenarios
• Conducting screenings and background checks for candidates and new hires
• Providing benefits such as insurance and emergency savings accounts
• Treating employees with empathy during personal crises and other potential trigger events

Building response teams up front can streamline decision-making. When disaster strikes, debates around who’s in charge or who should be looped in can distract from the chief concern of protecting stakeholders and the business. Organizations can prepare to respond more effectively through defined crisis response teams — small groups of key individuals with sign-off authority and a shared understanding of who does what, when. Through routine scenario planning, crisis response teams can ready themselves for (almost) anything.

Countless threats will rise in severity and demand attention. These crises require that firms decide how (or whether) to support colleagues, customers, and business operations through their actions and communications. Certain issues have become so politicized that choosing the “right” approach seems all but impossible — and the blowback from getting it “wrong” can become its own crisis.

As society changes, so does its sense of what’s acceptable and how different populations respond. Various public figures, brands and media have been boycotted or “cancelled” for past actions and words that no longer meet societal standards (if they ever did). Today’s climate demands decisions that meet the moment and stand the test of time.

A company’s size, scope and values, plus the insights and systems they build in the planning stage, can all help guide these decisions. Small-to-midsize firms might boldly step into polarizing issues when their actions and views align with the communities they depend on. Large multinationals, however, engage a more diverse range of stakeholders with different opinions. Even if they champion ethics and human rights internally, they may not engage publicly with more divisive issues.

There are several good reasons to avoid addressing a crisis. Organizations are frequently called out online for saying the “wrong” things, not doing the “right” things or seeming to take advantage of sensitive issues. Keeping quiet might be the more prudent approach in some circumstances, albeit with some exceptions. Many firms considered George Floyd’s murder a US concern and avoided it only to rethink their stances when it sparked protests around the world.

In a digital landscape where fame garners money and power, countless creators post sensational content designed to steal attention, spark outrage and spread organically. Much of this content targets brands and celebrities in an attempt to reach their followers via search results and social media feeds. That’s why, when two executives were falsely portrayed making offensive remarks in a deepfake video, their company decided not to engage with the video and risk amplifying its reach.

Some crises demand speed and simplicity, and others require caution and nuance. Speed makes a big difference when managing sudden business interruptions and life-or-death situations. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, some organizations acted quickly to book commercial flights and evacuate their people. These efforts saved lives. But some firms took so long to respond that by the time they were ready to evacuate, there weren’t any flights left to book.

A more thoughtful, deliberate response is often better for systemic and ongoing crises such as climate change, socioeconomic inequality and even the rise of AI. Disruptive new labor laws and regulations might also be part of this group as these often take time to appeal and come into effect. These developments pose major threats that require decisions today but may take years of attention and troubleshooting to fully address.

Many firms continue to say one thing and do another, which compromises their credibility and any goodwill their messaging might have earned. Nearly half of HR leaders in 2024 say their organizations are more prone to lip service (45%) than genuine caring (55%). Organizations that don’t overpromise in their communications could miss out on a short-term win, but they might be better off in the long run.

That’s not to say that certain causes and values aren’t worth fighting for. Amid the social, economic and health crises of 2020, organizations’ bold commitments to human rights and sustainability were rooted in the realization that people risk is business risk — and responding effectively takes a people-centric approach. Employers can provide a range of resources and support to protect their people in a crisis, including:

• Financial assistance
• Relocation support
• Flexible work arrangements
• Mental health counseling
• Paid time off to handle personal matters
• Emergency evacuations
• Medical services
• Suspending operations

Every situation is nuanced and has a unique set of variables, options and risks to consider. The above decision-making tool can serve as a starting point when evaluating these factors — but nothing beats the diversity of thought that comes from having the right people in the room nor the speed of response that comes when you’re fully prepared to execute. Knowing your culture and what you wish to stand for makes all the difference. To galvanize your decision-making and move quickly through crises, focus on your true north.