The Client:
A vertically integrated energy company with more than 100,000 employees and operations in more than 60 countries.
The Challenge:
The Crisis and Communication team had developed plans for nearly every contingency. They understood that when a crisis unfolds, local communities, regulators, business partners, will all turn first to social media – both for information about the crisis and to weigh in on the company’s response. Outside an actual crisis, only a dynamic, highly realistic simulation could effectively stress-test their people and their plans.
Why WPNT?
WPNT Communications has provided training for many of the world’s largest and most regulated companies. Our programs ensure that key personnel – from field-based managers to C-suite leadership – can approach a crisis with confidence, empathy, and message discipline. In recognition that real learning takes place under pressure, WPNT worked with leading crisis and communications managers to develop STORM, a proprietary, closed-loop social media simulator that replicates digital volatility and volume in a secure training environment.
The Impact:
WPNT provided Advanced Crisis Tabletop Training to communications and issues advisors and managers from Egypt, Hungary, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In four-hour virtual programs, first-responders, operators, and community relations liaisons practiced the skills that will determine the success or failure of the company’s response in the waking hours of a crisis. Working in STORM, participants tested and refined their ability to manage a live, escalating emergency, with branching developments and real-time complications. This exercise mirrored the real-world pressure and time constraints that accompany an unfolding emergency, when the team would be forced to make consequential decisions with incomplete data, competing stakeholder demands, and the awareness that every word or delay could escalate public concern. Participants rated the program 5/5, and more importantly, left with real experience developing a stakeholder engagement plan, coordinating internal comms, and deploying a coordinated, impactful communications plan
Selected participant feedback:
Issues Manager: “I really liked that this training went beyond the writing in crisis skills [to include] stakeholder mapping and the engagement plan.”
Communications Advisor: “Realistic scenarios and getting out of comfort zones - very good for everyday work, practical and applicable in everyday operations.”
Communications and External Affairs Manager, Europe: “The pace and social injects were incredibly realistic.”
Digital Creative Advisor: “5/5 - it was good to push myself!”
Is your team ready to perform under pressure? Reach out today to see how a dynamic tabletop exercise from WPNT Communications can empower your crisis response readiness.