By Adam Wakefield

You’ve been at Murray & Roberts, as group communications and investor executive, for over seven years. Since you began in your role, how has the digital environment changed what you do, if it has had any effect at all?

Digital in South Africa was hardly ‘a thing’ when I first started and now it’s almost ‘everything’. News breaks online and instantly. I cannot remember the last time I saw or heard a major news story break on traditional media – its Twitter, Facebook etc. Globally, people are having conversations about us on social media, whether you are present there or not. Murray & Roberts isn’t present on Facebook or Twitter yet, only on LinkedIn, mainly as a result of being a B2B brand. We’re also a two-person team with a small budget, so resources are limited.

If you’re going to commit to social channels, it’s got to be 100%. You have to be engaging and responsive – and we are not currently in a position to manage those channels fulltime and effectively. We also don’t have the budget to employ an individual or an agency.

We ‘listen’ on these channels to see what the Murray & Roberts’ conversations are and we use that to often tweak our communications programmes – internally and externally. Ignore social conversations at your peril – especially if you are a B2C brand.  

How much is crisis communication a part of your responsibilities and, in your experience, what do you believe to be the critical foundations of forming a comprehensive crisis communications strategy?

Crisis communication is a big part of my role. We are a public company and operational across five continents, all with different time zones and a multitude of media. If you experience a crisis situation in any company or country, you better be geared up to respond – especially considering the speed of digital platforms.

I’ve worked across three major news events in my career at Murray & Roberts: The Bahrain Ferry Tragedy in 2006 as a consultant to the group; the Chilean Miners Rescue in 2010, not a ‘bad’ crisis, as we helped with the rescue operations, and finally the Grayston temporary works collapse in 2015  – probably the most emotionally challenging event of my life. You can prepare as best possible for a crisis, but nothing will prepare you for the actual crisis and you have to adapt and learn to think on your feet really quickly.

My tips for managing a crisis:

  • Own your bad news – someone is going to tell the story, it’s better if it’s you.
  • The message should come from the ‘top’.
  • Tell your stakeholders, spread the message far and wide, use every ‘megaphone’ you have.
  • Don’t assume comprehension, be responsive and never try to ‘spin’ bad news.
  • The ‘non-apology’ apology. A real apology accepts responsibility.
  • Explain what you’re going to do to remedy the situation as soon as you can – then prove it.
  • Instantly mobilise the best crisis support in town – speed changes everything.
  • Only communicate based on fact and keep record of everything. This is very important.
  • Online presence with all statements etc. Not all media/interested parties are up to date.
  • Keep a ‘Go-Bag’ – stationary, batteries, power banks, flash lights.
  • Genuinely care.

You’ve worked at different levels within an organisation, from middle management to logistics among other roles. How important do you believe it is for a communications professional to have a rounded experience of working in different environments, and do you apply some of the lessons you’ve learned in other positions to your current duties?

I’ve worked in different organisations, starting from the very bottom. You learn that everyone across all levels play a part in an organisation and you appreciate the effort of all people, especially when you’re at the top, as you know what it takes to do the work they do. Starting from the bottom is an essential part of one’s personal growth.

I once had the privilege of working on a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation media trip in Mozambique. Apart from meeting them, their requirement for logistics was on another planet and we had to develop a MBM (minute-by-minute) document detailing their entire trip. The time and planning sunk into that document was immense, but we stuck to every single commitment and never deviated from the schedule. It’s an ethic that will stay with me and which I continue to apply in my career.  

You are/have been a member of Toastmasters International. Would you encourage other communications professionals to engage in similar extra-curricular activities?

No doubt. Strangely, considering my career choice, I am an introvert. Toastmasters really helped me crawl out from my ‘shell’. As a spokesperson for a company, especially a public company, you have to not only know your trade, but also present yourself with confidence at public events, interviews and presentations. Investing in and growing this ability can only add value.

For more information, connect with Murray & Roberts on LinkedIn.