When Tragedy Strikes a Crisis Communications Plan Is a Must

Unfortunately, violent incidents occur in public places all too frequently and seemingly anywhere. This year gun violence inside and outside restaurants—in Brooklyn, N.Y., Chicago and San Antonio—took lives and wounded others. 

How restaurant owners and managers respond from a communications standpoint is especially critical to survivors, to family members and loved ones touched by the tragedy, to employees, and to the community. Having a crisis communications plan in place is essential for all businesses to deal with any kind of dire situation. I experienced this first-hand over a long communications career, helping companies deal with cyberattacks, scandals, disasters, and other crises. 

But I’d never experienced anything like the anguish caused by a senseless and deliberate act of gun violence, which occurred when I led communications at FedEx. At a FedEx facility in April 2021, a former employee shot and killed eight people and injured several others before killing himself. 

Having a crisis communications plan in advance allowed us to respond more thoughtfully, thoroughly, and quickly than if we had not been proactive in planning. 

But if your restaurant is not properly prepared to facilitate communications during an incident affecting your operations or reputation, how and when will you inform your clients, customers, investors, employees, and the community about the situation? Who will manage your messaging and media relations and combat the inevitable rumor mill and social media fallout? How will you ensure your reputation is protected during and after the event? 

Here are the main steps in developing a crisis communications plan:

1. Build your crisis management team and infrastructure
2. Identify how to deal with different crisis scenarios
3. Practice reacting under various circumstances
4. Think through ways to handle the inevitable aftermath of a crisis

Making crisis communications preparation a priority—and committing the necessary resources to get a plan up and running before you need it—could be the best business decision you’ll ever make. 

For victims and their close circle of people, an empathetic, transparent response from leadership helps them feel seen and heard. Regarding employees, alienation and retention issues can result if leadership doesn’t respond appropriately. And for the community, your restaurant’s response will indicate whether it is a trustworthy and responsible partner. 

Restaurant owners and managers should consider the following crisis communication steps to respond to an act of violence occurring on their property.

Provide a Holding Statement

This is a brief message an organization issues during a crisis to acknowledge the situation, express empathy, and assure stakeholders that the matter is being addressed. A holding statement buys time to gather accurate information for a more detailed response. 

By contrast, remaining silent for a lengthy period or making rushed statements with unconfirmed claims are costly mistakes, fueling speculation and hurting the company’s credibility.

Quickly after the shooting at the FedEx facility, our crisis communications team monitored social media posts and what on-the-ground authorities had to say. We created a holding statement to let everyone know that FedEx was aware of the event and was working with the authorities to find out more information.

Galvanize Goodwill Gestures to the Victims and Families

A restaurant's response to a crisis is not just a business and public relations tactic—it is a moral and social responsibility. 

In the wake of the shooting at FedEx, team members wanted to know how they could help, so we developed a fund for the victims’ families and a solidarity campaign. Having a preestablished mechanism for internal communications made the tasks of rolling out these programs to a worldwide workforce much easier.

Be Proactive about Presenting Solutions

Crisis communication cannot stop at acknowledging harm and expressing empathy. The critical next step is moving beyond apology and outlining corrective actions. Solutions restore public trust.

First, guide your team to get rid of a blame or defensive mindset. Frame a solution-based message with the concept being, “Here’s how we’re making sure this doesn’t happen again.” This approach reassures stakeholders that lessons are being learned and acted upon.

Share concrete, actionable measures in public statements. Restaurant leaders must explain what new measures are being put in place. These include steps like increasing and revising safety protocols, improved training, stronger management oversight, community involvement initiatives, etc. Credible crisis responses are built when leaders communicate specific actions.

Document Everything—Always

One of the cornerstones of effective crisis communications is documentation. The records you keep regarding how the crisis was handled and the issues encountered will be of immense value if and when a similar incident happens in the future. Documentation includes internal and external statements, meeting notes, emails, situation reports, and anything that pertains to the incident.

Information that needs to be protected could include the identities of victims or suspects in connection with a crime—particularly if there is an ongoing investigation or family members have yet to be notified— as well as any information that could fall under the category of confidential business intelligence.

Conclusion: A Plan to Protect Your Brand

One of the challenges of crisis communications management is keeping a crisis from hurting your restaurant’s good reputation and charm. Don’t let everything associated with your brand become tainted by an unfortunate occurrence.

I like to think of crisis communications as a carefully thought-out proactive practice rather than an isolated reaction to address a particular occurrence. Think of a crisis communications plan as a key part of improving and protecting your brand. Using knowledge, experience, and foresight, you can proactively plan for how you will respond when an issue or a crisis of any size comes your way. The difference between brands that survive and those that don’t is preparation. Plan the work and work the plan.