CorpComms Magazine

Communications after an earthquake are about as tumultuous as public relations gets. Whilst literally counting their casualties, organisations have to determine the safety on the ground for surviving workers and brave the aftershocks that usually follow a major quake.

Amidst the chaos, there's also an unusual challenge spanning both external and internal communications. This was illustrated by last month's Japanese earthquake but arises whenever there's a major crisis in a country where overseas companies have expatriate workers.

Quite simply, the issue is: who should stay and who should go.

It is a question normally answered first by governments. In Japan, for example, a 20 kilometre exclusion zone was erected around the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant and there was a plethora of advice for the country's estimated 650,000 foreign workers.

The Foreign Office advised UK nationals in Tokyo and north of the city to consider leaving the area due to potential disruptions to the supply of goods, transport, communications and power.

France's reaction was even stronger, with the nation urging citizens to leave Japan or head to its southern regions and asking Air France to increase capacity on flights between Tokyo and Paris.

Industry Minister Eric Besson stated: 'Let's not beat about the bush. They have visibly lost the essential of control.'

Responsible employers

The head of communications at a major European financial institution with operations in Japan comments: 'It's a tricky issue because the sovereign state of employees overrules. A lot of expatriates in that situation will normally feel they have to do what their government advises and a responsible employer has to accept that. But you also have to look after the welfare of staff who cannot leave.'

It may be over the top to call this a Sophie's Choice-type communications crisis, after the film in which Meryl Streep's character is asked to choose which of her two children will die at Auschwitz, but, nevertheless, it does throw up ethical challenges.

German car-maker BMW, which employs 750 people in Japan, brought home about 50 of its German workers, while about 30 Germans working for Volkswagen, which employs 600 staff in the country, also left.

Indian information technology firms also responded with Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Technologies relocating employees and HCI giving staff who felt unsafe the option of moving to a safe harbour.

However, a spokesman for fellow Indian IT group Wipro was reported in The Earth Times as saying the company treated all its employees alike and to call back just the 115 Indian employees among its 400-strong Japanese workface would not be fair. The same day, Wipro issued a statement, saying it had 'reassessed the situation' after receiving updates.

Saurabh Govil, senior vice president for human resources, said Wipro was providing on-site employees in Japan with an option to return to India along with their family members and had blocked seats on a chartered Air India flight to India.

However, he added that the group would also make it possible for its local employees in Japan to work from home or temporarily relocate to safer parts of the country.

Japanese bank Nomura also took special actions to enable home working for local employees - something still comparatively rare in the nation.

So how should responsible employers deal with this delicate question? Communications experts say it must be viewed in the context of a proper crisis management plan. Paul Abrahams, managing director of corporate communications for Nomura in Europe, explains: 'You have to start with safety first and foremost and make sure you know where all your people are. Fortunately, we had no fatalities but we focused on those employees that were injured. We also used emails and the Internet to reassure staff and keep them in touch with what was happening.'

Safety overrules

Lesley Allman, managing director of Derbyshire-based employee engagement and communication agency Allman Communication, adds that dealing with staff on the ground in crisis situations comes down to recognising employees' 'hierarchy of needs'.

She advises: 'Whether they're in-country nationals or expats, personal and family safety will come first and employers should do all they can to allow their people the time, space and, where possible, the facilities to put those things first.'

The next stage is to stabilise operations. 'Once they know they are safe, your people will want to see their leaders taking positive action, looking like they have a plan and are delivering it,' adds Allman. 'Now is not the time to go into headless chicken mode.'

For an investment bank, this might mean re-enabling physical trading from a dealing floor and checking on its risk transfer systems. Nomura also allowed account-holders to withdraw up to 100,000 yen (£720) without their pass books and bank cards - something Abrahams says would only work in Japan because of the nation's culture of trust.

Once the safety and operational positions are known, decisions about repatriation can be taken. One communications director notes: 'There are some employees who are less able than others to look after themselves in a given occasion, and any

employer that has expatriate workers has a particular

duty of care towards them.

'If you're in a crisis in your own country, you're more likely to know what to do and where to go. If you're outside your usual comfort zone, you're less well equipped.'

Repatriating foreign workers may also be the right thing to do ethically for another reason. 'I agree with this,' wrote a blogger called Mitlov on a website reporting BMW and Volkswagen's decisions, 'not because of the media hysteria about the nuclear leak... but simply because of conserving limited supplies in Japan.

'When food and water and electricity are being rationed even among people who have nowhere else to go, it only makes sense that people who do have somewhere else to go leave until there's enough food, clean water and electricity to go around.'

Morale boosting

Then, it's a case of getting the internal and external messages out and giving senior management a high profile to lift spirits.

Computer group Apple, for example, delayed the Japanese launch of iPad 2, offered its stores in the country as meeting places and communication hubs for people affected by the disaster and took donations via iTunes for the Red Cross relief effort.

However, it also sent Japanese staff an email from its iconic chief executive Steve Jobs. 'Our hearts go out to you and your families, as well as all of your countrymen who have been touched by this tragedy,' it read. 'If you need time or resources to visit or care for your families, please see HR and we will help you.' Some overseas companies sent a senior leader to the 'front line' to build confidence and engagement.

Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JP Morgan Chase, who had earlier sent 100 pizzas to his bank's Japanese staff, went on a well-publicised visit to Tokyo, wrapping up a previouslyscheduled Asian tour by offering a silent prayer for earthquake victims in front of employees.

Deutsche Bank, which has a global workforce of 100,000 staff, sent Jurgen Flitschen, its global head of regional management and a member of its management board, to Tokyo.

And at Nomura, Indian-born Jesse Bhattal, president and chief operating officer of its wholesale division and the first foreigner on its executive management board, flew in from Hong King, while non-executive directors Lord Marshall and Dame Clara Furse travelled to Japan for a meeting of the international board. 'We were in a unique position and this was aimed at reassuring our people,' says Abrahams.

Negative feedback

In sensitive times, such symbolic gestures can also backfire, as demonstrated by a critical post on technology website derangedshaman.com last month.

'I don't know about you guys,' it railed, 'but the last thing I would want to see in times of crisis is the damn company CEO unless he's bringing gas masks and cash or radioactive-proof suits for everyone.'

It is vital, therefore, for senior executive visits to be part of a properly thought-out strategy and business continuity plan. Generally, however, Allman believes it's impossible to overcommunicate in such situations. 'Don't allow a vacuum to be filled with panic, misinformation and confusion,' she warns.

'Tell people what you know as soon as you know it. Acknowledge what you don't know. Use the fastest and most reliable channels available to receive and send information and don't forget to back this up with the personal touch where possible.

'If your motivations are driven by the heart as well as the head and you're seen to be doing the best you can in difficult circumstances, then you'll take your people with you and have a better chance of returning to business as usual in the best shape possible.'

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