Culture and Crisis Management

Submitted by Gerry Lewis, MSBC Faculty Member

In the last decade or so, as a consequence of a variety of unfortunate events, an amalgam of knowledge has been gathered about crisis management. Yet, the majority of organizations remain in the early stages of developing a comprehensive and interoperational preparedness and response plan. Currently, many organizations focus on security and resiliency with respect to infrastructure, operations and IT functionality. Certainly, this level of preparedness is essential to any plan, yet it is insufficient if it remains the primary focal point. All organizations should be as vigilant about the viability and availability of their workers as they are on IT, infrastructure security and other aspects of continuation of operations.


Each professional orientation and every workplace has a unique culture. Hospitals differ from retail establishments. Financial institutions are unlike manufacturing settings. And, while both are educational institutions, colleges are dissimilar from public schools. While this may seem a simplistic concept, it appears to go unnoticed when it comes to crisis planning. Cultures evolve over time and set the operational guidelines, interpersonal dynamics, beliefs systems and written and unwritten rules of conduct.


Nothing can disrupt a culture more than a crisis. Further, the response of an organization to a crisis may be dramatically influenced by its culture. To operationalize this, let’s look at a few critical questions: What are the services or products that are provided and to whom? What are the “customer expectations” of the organization? If a crisis occurs, do you shut the doors and all go home… as in the case of a restaurant or school? Or, is the expectation that “all hands remain on deck” as would be expected of a healthcare facility? Is the organization public or private? Is it for profit or non-profit? Does it have employees who have been there for decades or is it a revolving door of transitory workers searching for better employment? Has it had a previous history of critical events that have impacted its viability? Is it union or non-union? Demographically, is it made up of predominantly “babyboomers,” “gen xers,” “yers” or “zers?” How about the “genderization” of the workforce? There are a variety of other determinants that help to ascertain a cultural assessment and thus facilitate a determination as to how the culture is structured and thus how it may react to a crisis.


Crises, contracts and covenants
In addition to customer expectations, employee/employer expectations (written and unwritten rules) are critical components that may be severely tested during times of crisis. In, Why Do Employees Resist Change, Paul Strebel talks about 3 levels of “personal compact” between employees and employers:

Formal-

• basic tasks-
• job description
• Conditions of employment
• Salary, benefits, etc

Psychological- unwritten/unspoken

• Commitment
• Loyalty
• Effort
• Trust

Social- unwritten/unspoken

• Values matching
• Career development
• Promotions
• Conflict resolution
• Layoffs
• Risk sharing

People do not work just for monetary reward. After the formal level (contractual) has been established and satisfied people then look beyond to a deeper level of unwritten/unspoken expectations (covenants) between employee and employer that satisfy their sense of esteem and appreciation. This is the level where organizational resiliency lives and flourishes or withers and dies.


Last week’s Quiz Question:
Vermont has four seasons; summer, foliage, winter, and _________.


The answer is “Mud Season.” Vermont has many dirt roads, and they turn to muffler-sucking mud during the spring. A true Vermonter becomes an expert at navigating mud without getting stuck, assessing which lines to pick upon approaching different situations.


The winner is: Andrey N. Chernyaev. Congratulations Andrey.


This week’s Question:
Undergraduate students who live a military lifestyle at Norwich are called “Cadets.” What are Cadets called when they first enter the university as freshman?

Send answers to: jorlando@norwich.edu

The winner receives one free entry into the Dog River Run, and will get a chance to crawl and run through the dog river with Cadets carrying a stone before the first day of classes.