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Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters can wreak havoc on business. They can keep employees out of work, customers and clients in the dark and offices closed for days on end. That’s why it’s so important to have a solid crisis response plan. And the time to start one is now.

With Hurricane Michael and another superstorm season upon us, we wanted to share some lessons learned from a past one – Hurricane Sandy. Because beyond its epic size and cost, Sandy was also an object lesson in crisis communications.

In this episode of EE Voice, we recount our experiences handling crisis communications for PepsiCo during Superstorm Sandy. We we living the hurricane (see photo of the tree that fell in Sharon’s yard) and managing the communications as well. Tune in to hear what to do before, during and after a crisis, and how to put together a crisis communications plan that puts you in as much control as possible.

You’ll learn how to:

• Form a cross-functional rapid response team
• Keep internal communications channels up and running
• Get leadership involved in the communication
• Get employees involved in the recovery process
• Establish clear messaging guidelines

Superstorm Sandy not only taught us how to work together across multiple locations, it reinforced our bond as a team. Listen in to get all the details.

About Sharon McIntosh

Sharon is president of And Then Communications. With more than two decades of communications experience, she has a passion for creating and executing new ideas to drive employee engagement at companies both large and small. Most recently Sharon served as PepsiCo’s vice president of Global Internal Communications, overseeing the company’s efforts to connect with its more than 274,000 employees worldwide.

About Sharon Phillips

Sharon Phillips is principal of Sharon Phillips Communications, which focuses on employee engagement and corporate communications strategy and support. Prior to relaunching her consultancy in 2014, she served as director of Global Internal Communications at PepsiCo.