Perlos’ crisis communication training simulates real situations
The management of Perlos around the world trained for possible crisis situations with the help of Communicating in a Crisis e-learning course.
Prewise and Perlos have in collaboration carried out a Communicating in a Crisis e-learning course, which will help the learner to understand what is a crisis situation, how the communication should be handled then and what happens if we don’t act correctly. The course simulates real-life crisis situations and thus the learner can safely practice the right actions and quick decision-making.
The e-learning course was made with the Prewise Gimlet LMS system. Prewise took care of the e-learning’s production, the training process’ administration and the results’ reporting as Perlos had wished for.
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- The feedback on e-learning was entirely positive: the learners felt that the tool was great and the content was important, says Perlos’ Communications Manager Hanna Johde. |
- The collaboration with Prewise went well, and my original idea of the crisis simulation in an online mode was received really well and it was carried out with the tool’s capabilities. Our new brand look was adapted nicely to this format and this also helped us to make the new look more familiar in our organization, says Perlos’ Communications Manager Hanna Johde.
The crisis simulation opened the management’s eyes
- Our crisis communication project started by compiling a crisis communication manual – before this Perlos didn’t have a communal, global plan for communication in a crisis. The need for it was however clearly acknowledged: the electronic media makes local crisis easily global, says Johde.
In addition to the twenty page manual, a one page quick guide was also written for the entire Perlos personnel and one for the members of the crisis communication unit.
- In addition to this a crisis simulation was organized for the management. The management gathered in one room and a vivid crisis situation was created: phones started ringing, inboxes were filling with upcoming emails, and news started to appear on internet and reported on the radio. That really opened everybody’s eyes. They all understood the importance of a controlled crisis communication and agreed modes of operation, says Johde.
The most important elements – interactivity and participation
- In addition to going through the directions with the local managements, we wanted to offer them a chance to simulate a crisis situation. The target group for the crisis communication’s e-learning course was about 70 persons in eight different locations around the world.
- The feedback was entirely positive: the learners felt that the tool was great and the content was important. I believe myself that the results were better than they would have been when using only one-way trainings. Interactivity, individual decision-making and participation were the most important elements of this online training. With the course’s follow-up and measurement abilities it was easy to see how the participation rates grew with time, Johde explains the online training’s results.
The costs of online training smaller than travel expenses
E-learning is a cost-effective and flexible training solution especially for large and geographically dispersed organizations. It’s available 24/7 everywhere with an internet connection.
- Because of our global operational environment, face-to-face trainings would have demanded a lot of traveling. I also believe that with the simulation-like e-learning, a vivid story in the training, a limited timeframe and the demand for quick decision-making we were able to create a similar feeling than in the real simulations. The importance and significance of the crisis communication got surely through, Johde explains.
Proactive crisis communication training is responsible business
Why the crisis communication, its teaching and administration is important to Perlos?
- We have invested in standardizing the guidelines and modes of operations when it comes to safety, environmental issues and ethics, but all risks cannot be eliminated or even predicted. On the other hand we are also a part of our customers’ distribution and brand chain, and the media’s attention and its professional management in case of a crisis would not only be for our sake but also for our customers’ sake, Johde explains.
For more information on LITEONMOBILE / Perlos www.liteonmobile.com
Text: Jaana Raaska