It is rare when companies are warned about an impending crisis. When disasters, scandals and other emergencies strike a business, employees can be the first line of defense — and the weakest link. The list of possible crises is endless, and includes cyberattacks, disinformation, earthquakes, tornadoes, hostage situations, active shooters, floods and mudslides, and different kinds of accidents. There can be a lot at stake for how businesses respond to a crisis, including their image, reputation, credibility, bottom line, and the careers of their executives.

Why Employees Are an Early Warning System

The good news is that employees at every level can act as the eyes and ears of the organization, spotting early signs of trouble long before they escalate. With the right training, employees can recognize concerning patterns, such as an irate email, unusual chatter on social media or a threatening voicemail, and alert leaders before the issue becomes a full-blown crisis.

This is where learning and development (L&D) plays an important role. L&D teams are responsible for equipping employees with the knowledge, skills and confidence to identify, report and respond to potential risks. They can also designate and train employees who will serve on official crisis response teams. No matter what role they play, each employee needs to be aware of their organization’s crisis management plan, including what they should do if the plan is activated.

New hires should be fully trained on the plan during onboarding, while seasoned employees should receive annual refreshers and updates on any changes. Regular training keeps crisis procedures top of mind and reinforces each person’s role in the organization’s overall readiness.

Crisis Management Training Options

L&D teams can use a range of methods to deliver crisis training, including table-top exercises, role-playing, computer simulations and field exercises. The format matters less than the consistency and quality of the practice itself. The more varied the scenarios, the better. The possibilities could include accidents, strikes, the death of corporate executives or economic downturns.

Consider using your imagination or artificial intelligence (AI) platforms to devise hypothetical situations that can test the readiness of employees to respond to a crisis. The exercises can help ensure that companies are as prepared as possible when, not if, a crisis strikes. The simulations can give executives a helpful reality check about corporate readiness. Indeed, too many business leaders have found out the hard way that today’s “it would never happen here” crisis can become a real-life corporate emergency tomorrow.

Given the nature of all the crises that could befall organizations, there is an element of urgency for practicing responses to “what-if” situations and ensuring there are plans in place to deal with different disasters, scandals or other emergencies. To maximize effectiveness, drills should be a surprise to employees, never announced in advance, and based on possible and worst-case scenarios.

Sample Crisis Training Scenarios

The following scenarios can help L&D teams assess how prepared employees are to respond when something goes wrong. Ask employees what they would do or say in response to each scenario, followed by a group discussion on the effectiveness of the responses and what could be done to strengthen or improve them. If your company has a crisis management plan in place, evaluate responses against the plan. If there is no plan, then take steps to prepare one now.

• Hostage Situation: The company’s annual appreciation dinner for clients is being held in the ballroom of a major hotel. While the guests are being served dinner, your colleagues say that there is a big commotion outside in the hallway. You go to see for yourself and discover there are a lot of police in the lobby and a shooter has taken hostages in another part of the hotel.
• ICE Raid: A construction company hires undocumented immigrants. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has just raided all of the worksites and arrested dozens of employees who cannot prove they are in the country legally. Company officials could be fined or imprisoned for hiring undocumented immigrants.
• Wildfire Threat: You work at a theme park located near a major freeway and not far from an area of heavy vegetation. Fire crews have been battling an aggressive blaze about a mile away from the park, with no signs that the fire will be controlled anytime soon.
• Swatting Incident: Someone calls 911 to report that they heard shots being fired at your office. Police show up with guns drawn and order everyone to put their hands behind their heads and drop to the floor. No shots were fired, everyone is safe and you think your company is the victim of a malicious hoax.
• Employee Protest: An employee you fired last week for poor work performance has organized a group of his friends who are now picketing your building. They claim falsely that your company discriminates against the LGBTQ community.

The Bottom Line: Crisis Readiness Starts With People

No organization can afford to leave crisis management to chance. Plans alone are not enough. People can make all the difference when it matters the most. By investing the time and resources now to strengthen the crisis readiness of their workforces, business leaders can help ensure that their companies are as ready as possible.

The time to prepare all of your employees for the next disaster, scandal or other emergency is now. What are you waiting for?