What Standard Bank should have done - expert

Cape Town – Act swiftly and keep your stake holders informed at all times when something goes wrong with your business, a crisis management expert said.

Reputation Matters MD Regine le Roux told Fin24 that this was vital to maintain your reputation.

“It would have been a lot easier on everyone if Standard Bank had communicated with their customers and bankers immediately to let them know that the crisis was happening,” she said.

- Standard Bank explains their communication strategy and where they could improve

Twitter not the only answer

“While there was a huge focus to communicate on social media, which is a good thing, not all bankers or stake holders are on social media all the time,” said Le Roux.

“Most people have cellphones and the first thing they do is call for help or go to a website for help, but there was nothing on the website informing people of the problem.

“When it comes to people’s money, it becomes a very sensitive situation,” Le Roux said. “It must be taken into consideration. We as customers need all the facts as fast as possible.”

What they should have done

Standard Bank should have had a contingency and crisis communication strategy in place, she said. “This would guide the bank on what needs to take place as soon as possible, what needs to go on the website and what needs to go on Twitter,” she said.

“They needed to know the key messages to ensure everyone was speaking with the same voice.

“We need to know how we are being protected as a consumer if our payment goes through twice for example,” she said. “We need to know that it is safe.”

Other banks can learn

“Other banks should learn from this and take it into consideration,” she said. “It happened with another bank [FNB blunder] recently, where they had a similar issue.”

“They should use this as an opportunity [these two crises] to alert their stakeholders how they will handle this situation too,” she said.

Le Roux gave these tips when communicating during a crisis:

Plan ahead and be prepared for the unexpected. It is very important to have a crisis communication plan in place, i.e. what are the key messages to be remembered; who is going to speak to which stakeholder groups; what information needs to go on the website, as well as having a social media strategy.

Be responsive and timely: Timing is everything and immediate action is key to successfully manage a crisis. As far as possible be proactive. Sometimes something as simple as a text message can go a long way to build and maintain the relationship with stakeholders.

Keep your stakeholders updated: Be honest, open and transparent. Admit when there is a problem and how it is being resolved.

Stick to your guns: Stay true to the company’s values, vision and mission.

Be empathetic: Show genuine concern for those impacted by the crisis situation.  

Keep it simple: Simple messages get the main points across and provide the best opportunity for being understood.

Take action and make sure that the stakeholders know about it. Give stakeholders progress updates so that everyone knows what is being done to resolve the issue(s); also communicate what is being done to prevent the situation from happening again in the future.

- Fin24.