Which management mistakes trigger communication crises?
Covering up mistakes, disregarding compliance rules and making immense wrong decisions: These three management mistakes most often lead to communication crises.
Well over half of PR professionals believe that concealed errors are the most common reason for a corporate crisis (61 percent). In turn, 37 percent of respondents attribute crises to breaches of compliance rules. Just as often, they attribute a communications crisis to serious missteps on the part of management (37 percent). For just over one in three respondents, a lack of media skills on the part of the bosses is one of the most likely triggers for a crisis (34 percent). Personal misconduct in the business context, on the other hand, worries just under a third (32 percent).
Trench warfare rather rare
Less significant, on the other hand, is when management behaves incorrectly in a private context (20 percent). Crises in Swiss companies are also rarely caused by trench warfare in the executive suite. Only one in seven respondents believes that PR crises are most likely to be triggered by dirty competition (15 percent). Respondents fear least when management is not as well-positioned professionally. Only 14 percent of communications professionals fear negative repercussions from a lack of expertise.
What does the "hit list" look like?
Which management behaviors are most likely to trigger PR crises?
- Cover up errors 61%
- Disregard of compliance requirements 37%
- Making immense wrong decisions 37%
- Misconduct in interviews 34%
- Personal misconduct in a business context 32%
- False statements in public 29%
- Proclaiming or blabbing about topics that are not ripe for discussion 22%
- Personal Misconduct on Social Media 22%
- Personal misconduct in a private context 20%
- Dirty competition in management 15%
- Lack of professional competence 14%
Source: ots / news aktuell (Schweiz) AG
As part of the trend report, the dpa subsidiary news aktuell, together with Faktenkontor, asked what behavior of a company's management triggers PR crises. Fifty-nine specialists and managers from media outlets in Switzerland took part in the survey (online survey in February 2020, multiple answers possible).
