Crisis Management during COVID-19 Pandemic
Situation
A major multinational corporation was directly affected by the COVID-19 crisis at its production sites in the People's Republic of China as early as January 2020.
In anticipation of this, all crisis management units worldwide were put on standby to prepare for a possible expansion of the crisis. This then reached other continents, including Europe, by March 2020.
Approach by SmartRiskSolutions
After the crisis management teams (CMT) had been activated, the company called in the crisis management consultants from SmartRiskSolutions as early as January 2020 to support the crisis management team's work.
- Our response consultants immediately began to assist in the creation and evaluation of the current situation. Different scenarios were drafted and discussed. The pandemic plan, which had already been worked out in detail a few years earlier together with SmartRiskSolutions, was intensively reviewed by the CMT together with the consultants. Appropriate preparations were carried out for the different scenarios.
- For the various scenarios, our consultants set up and conducted crisis and incident management team exercises, both on a global level and at the site level. The exercises provided staff members with a sense of security and prepared them for scenarios that might actually occur at a later stage.
- Virtual CMT meetings were held regularly, facilitated by the crisis management consultants. New topics could be addressed, new situations anticipated and preparations could be made accordingly.
- In a strategically focused situation cell, long-term issues such as travel restrictions, testing strategy, vaccination strategy and psychosocial stress aspects for the workforce were addressed and solutions prepared.
- The drafting of regular reports summarised the lessons learned and were also helpful for the Executive Board's decision-making process.
Outcome
The complex pandemic situation severely affected the client's business continuity and financial strength. In addition, the managers and staff at all levels experienced a great deal of stress.
Ongoing guidance by SmartRiskSolutions prepared the enterprise and managers for upcoming developments in a systematic approach and regularly contributed to the resolution of problems. Questions of business continuity could be identified proactively and economic damage could be limited. The company was also able to benefit from the experience of the response consultants from other assignments that took place at the same time.