CorpComms Magazine

It is often said that good crisis management is down to the preparation, and this was certainly the case for National Grid which had long-standing procedures in place in the event that a gas leak impacted household supplies. Once a year, these emergency exercises are tested to ensure that employees are aware of their clearly defined roles. 'All incidents are different, but the principles remain the same,' explains head of UK media relations Ross Hayman. 'We have procedures developed over many years regarding the logistics in coping with the loss of supply for hundreds of properties.'

So, when engineers repairing a leak in Lancashire ignited the gas supply, everybody knew what to do. The fact that the flames leapt 100 feet high, partially melting a nearby electricity pylon, and cutting off power supplies, was merely an added complication. 'Different criteria came into play,' explains Hayman. Both industry regulator Ofgem and the government are notified when more than 250 homes are affected; this incident affected 18,000 in five villages just three days before Christmas 2008.

The timing did have an impact, concedes Hayman. Non-emergency work is rarely scheduled over the Christmas period, allowing staff to take leave. 'But our engineers were committed to getting people back on the grid. Some cancelled leave, and engineers from across the North West, Midlands and East Anglia arrived to help.' Their personal sacrifices were used to good effect in the media coverage, helping to turn the crisis into a positive news story.

A speedy response

Staff at National Grid's call centre are briefed on procedures to follow in a crisis, and have a dedicated 0800 number to notify the media team, which is manned 24/7. The incident occurred just before 11am, and within minutes a local journalist had called. North West regional adviser Jeanette Unsworth immediately made her way to the site, to appraise herself of the situation and meet the first journalists, who arrived at 1pm. An incident room was set up in the local school, where television crews were invited, while National Grid put out its first press statement at 11.45am. 'You need to react much faster in a crisis, and also to produce accurate up-to-date information,' says Hayman. His 12 man team also tried to put themselves in the shoes of those affected, particularly because of the timing, and release information they felt would be of particular value. They drew on existing templates offering safety advice, updating them to make them more relevant. The key message was that people should not tamper with their gas supplies.

The complexity of the situation was heightened by the need to switch off the gas supply, at the request of the local electricity supplier, in order to contain the fire and repair the pylon. This necessitates a visit to every single affected property to restore supply. 'It was also winter when the national media constantly rings to check that National Grid has enough gas,' adds Hayman. 'We had to deal with our day-to-day jobs as well as the crisis.'

The six members of the media team based in Warwick co-ordinated interview requests, drafted statements, issued press releases, updated web content and liaised with the press offices of government departments, local authorities and Ofgem.

All told, they dealt with 186 media enquiries, gave 94 interviews and secured 189 pieces of news coverage regarding the incident, from local newspapers to live national television and radio.

They were in regular contact with the engineers on site, getting hourly updates on the situation, and organised briefings for Janet Anderson, the local MP, and Ed Miliband, Secretary of State at the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

A proactive approach

Early on, the decision was taken to inform the people whose homes had been affected that it might be best if they made alternative arrangements for Christmas. 'We persuaded our directors that we should be proactive. People don't like uncertainty. They find it difficult to deal with. They would rather be told that there was a chance we might not be able to resolve the situation,' says Hayman. 'There is no benefit in promising something we may not be able to deliver.'

More than 300 engineers worked in shifts around the clock to restore supplies to the affected homes, prioritising those who chose to stay put for Christmas. 'It only takes between five and ten minutes to restore supply, but there is always a percentage of people who are not at home when engineers call,' says Hayman. Cards with details on how to reschedule appointments were put through every door and, by Christmas Eve, all occupied properties were reconnected. In some cases, television crews accompanied engineers to witness the 'human touch'. 

Evaluating Crisis Communications

Liam Kelly, head of evaluation, Cision UK

Let's face facts, at a time of crisis usually the last thing on anyone's mind is How are we going to measure this? Measuring the impact of crisis communications is actually quite useful, and chances are you will be doing it anyway.  While it pains me to write it, National Grid proves that you do not need to have ongoing media analysis to measure crisis communications.  

Even if your organisation is lucky enough to have a set of procedures developed over the years, like National Grid, you would still want to know if your voice is being heard during the crisis itself.  In the case of National Grid, a cohesive communications strategy that included customer services, media relations, on-site engineers and staff meant that messaging was consistently being delivered.  More importantly, they listened to all the affected stakeholders to gauge their understanding.  For media, keep track of your coverage.  Using an integrated tool enables you to see how a story is developing, from online and local to offline and mainstream, and help you connect rapidly with the media reporting your story.   

Once the crisis is over, reflect on what worked and learn from what did not.  Define what steps you took during the crisis, who you contacted, and how you changed your strategy.  Compile your coverage and systematically (and honestly) answer the following questions: 

• Did the media itself reach the stakeholders you needed to reach? 
• How did the article report the story? (Was the coverage supportive?)
• Were your messages present?

If you would like a neutral perspective, pass the evaluation on to a media analysis expert.  Use the review process to amend any crisis communication procedures you have.  The key to success, as we can learn from National Grid, is to be prepared.

Five reasons for winning

• Cohesive strategy
• Speed of response
• Kept stakeholders up-to-date
• Worked with the media
• Strong teamwork

Cision UK

0870 736 0010

www.cision.com

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