Spring 2023 Resiliency Forecast

Welcome to The Resiliency Initiative’s (TRI) Spring Resiliency Forecast report.?Each quarter, our Resiliency Forecast will focus on a specific risk or issue that leading security and crisis industry experts believe may impact your employees and operations in the coming months. Each Resiliency Forecast will provide you with actions steps and recommendations to help you mitigate impacts to your employees and disruptions to your operations.?

The Importance of a Crisis Communication Strategy

Protecting your organization’s brand is a critical element of crisis planning.?To help safeguard your brand in a crisis, it is important to think through your crisis communication strategy before a disaster strikes.?Not having a plan in place to engage your employees and stakeholders during and after a crisis can create a significant and negative image of your brand.

Following the basic principles and guidelines from the Crisis Emergency Risk Communication, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can help establish a sense of order and consistency during a crisis situation.

To mitigate your risk, we recommend you take the following action steps.

Action Step #1: Follow Core Crisis Communication Principles

• Be Timely: Crises are time sensitive. Communicating information quickly is crucial.
• Be Right: Accuracy establishes credibility and trust. Even if all facts are not known at a given time, we can let people know a) what is known, b) what is not known, and c) what is being done.
• Be Credible: Honesty and truthfulness should not be compromised during crises.
• Express Empathy: Crises create harm, and the suffering should be acknowledged in words. Addressing what people are feeling, and the challenges they face, builds trust and rapport.
• Promote Action: Giving people meaningful things to do calms anxiety, helps restore order, and promotes some sense of control.
• Show Respect: Respectful communication is particularly important when people feel vulnerable. Respectful communication promotes cooperation and community.

Action Step #2: Establish Proactive – Not Reactive – Communications

A proactive approach to crisis communications will help set a tempo for the release of information to the media. Proactive methods include:

• As soon as possible, release a statement about the incident to the media and social media channels. Observe the principles and guidelines above in crafting and delivering these messages.
• Create a content calendar and use social media to post regular updates and address community concerns in a way that is proactive and not reactive. For example, post broad statements to address emerging trends and do not respond to individual posts unless they contain potentially harmful misinformation.

Action Step #3: Develop a Communication Game Plan

• Assess the Current Situation: What are the highest communication priorities? What are the communication needs and available resources? What stakeholder relationships can be utilized?
• Set Communication Goals: What do those impacted by the crisis need to know? What are the objectives you would like to accomplish?
• Identify Intended Audiences: Who does the incident impact the most? Who needs the messaging?
• Develop Clear Messages: Is the message informative – e.g., providing information without trying to change attitudes, beliefs, or values? Is this message persuasive? Is the message direct, succinct, free from jargon, and credible? Will the audiences understand the message?
• Promote Action: Giving people meaningful things to do calms anxiety, helps restore order, and promotes some sense of control.
• Select Medium, Channels, and Activities: What mediums are most appropriate for the message(s) being delivered??What channels and activities are most effective to deliver the messages?

Implement, Evaluate, and Modify Your Plan as Needed

TRI is here to help.?From the US federal government to Fortune 500 companies, TRI has created crisis communication plans and helped repair brands.?Email [email protected] to find out more.??

Industry News

TRI’s Executive Director, Lorraine Schneider, was recently published in the London School of Economics Business Review. In her article, Lorraine demonstrates the importance of elevating the role of crisis planning in organizations. She depicts the types of impacts a corporation can suffer in the face of disaster and provides tangible steps corporate leaders, board members, and crisis managers can take to make resilience their strategic advantage. Read the article here.

Philanthropy Update?

TRI believes philanthropy bolsters a community’s resiliency on a micro and macro level. TRI commits to giving a portion of its profits back to all communities it works in. In 2022, TRI sponsored the nonprofit Project:Camp. Project:Camp knows that the days immediately following an evacuation or a disaster are highly uncertain, stressful, and anxious days. They help parents find normalcy for their family by providing day camps for their kids that are fun, immersive, and safe. While kids have a blast at camp, parents have the time and space to get back on their feet.

OUR INITIATIVE: TRI supported Project:Camp by providing pro-bono emergency planning services (Emergency Operations Plan and Annex development). TRI also hosted a social hour highlighting Project:Camp’s work at the 2022 International Association of Emergency Managers’ Conference in Savannah, GA.

Training Opportunity - Free Business Resiliency Webinar?

TRI was created from our founder’s passion to support communities impacted by disasters. Our core mission is to help communities become more resilient. Providing free resources and trainings to the small business and non profit community is one way TRI hopes to make an impact.

Lorraine Schneider, TRI’s Executive Director, is launching a free webinar series specifically tailored to small businesses. To learn more and to register, visit here.

About The Resiliency Initiative?

The Resiliency Initiative (TRI) is an SBA certified Woman-owned Small Business (WOSB) with Fortune 500, government, military, and non-profit leadership experience focusing on crisis and risk mitigation planning.

The TRI team has over 200 cumulative years working in the fields of crisis management, business continuity, and security. The team has responded to and supported the recovery efforts of some of the US’ largest disasters from the Northridge Earthquake, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and Super Storm Sandy to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TRI specializes in the development of crisis and business continuity plans, employee and executive trainings, and engaging discussion-based, functional, and full-scale exercises.?

To request a free consultation, email: [email protected] or call

+1 (424) 499-0218.