The unprecedented global health crisis has thrown up the need for businesses to have a crisis management plan as revealed in research by leading public relations firm, CMC Connect BCW, a member of the CMC Connect Group and an affiliate of Burson Cohn & Wolfe global communications agency.
The research reported that between Q2 & Q3 2020, 27% of businesses in Nigeria suffered a major impact from the coronavirus pandemic, with only 9.9% of the respondents having a crisis management plan in place while 59% never had a crisis management plan before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The research was conducted to measure the Relevance of Crisis Communication on Businesses in Nigeria during the COVID-19 Health Crisis by the communications company and to announce its new service offering: Crisis & Issues Management Specialized Service.
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According to CMC Connect BCW, the research was carried out on over 200 business owners and employees and further revealed that 78% of respondents agreed that the existence of a crisis management plan was important in inspiring confidence in organizational leadership.
The insights gathered from this research confirmed the gap in strategic crisis management for businesses which the company hopes to fill with its specialized service. The Crisis and Issues Management service is a specialized portfolio that provides a strategic roadmap for the crisis, employing a 3-step approach – Prepare, Manage, Recover to guarantees business sustainability and continuity despite a crisis.
The Group Managing Director, CMC Connect (Perception Managers), Yomi-badejo Okusanya said “When a crisis occurs, there is a breakdown of trust between the organization and its stakeholders. Trust is a currency on which stakeholders trade, and it defines their loyalty and goodwill. Once this is disrupted, the organization is on its way down.”
