Today’s guest post is written by Alicia Kan.  She is presenting next week’s Spin Sucks Pro webinar on crisis communications. You’ll find more information below.

From BP to Kenneth Cole to Mattel, there is no lack of disasters that we, as communications professionals, can analyze and learn from. These examples add to the growing body of guides on how to survive a corporate crisis played out in social media.

Each case prescribes the best practices we know are elemental in handling a tough situation: Take ownership, use all channels to share and reiterate key messages, actively engage with customers, reply to critics quickly and factually, explain what you are doing to resolve the situation, and be transparent.

In all these cases however, one thing is curiously missing. No one ever talks about the forgotten stakeholders: Employees.

Across the company spectrum, from rank-and-file staff to even senior executives, very few crisis communications plans are designed to keep employees top-of-mind. (more…)