Nusura

Communications Support for a Large Utility Provider

cs_powerlinesutility

Following several high-profile crises, a government-owned agency that serves over nine million people in the areas of energy provision, environmental stewardship, and economic development turned to Nusura for help in updating and enhancing the organization’s crisis communications planning, training, and exercises.

  • The Challenge

    This client organization is a government-owned agency with three regional focus areas: provision of energy, environmental stewardship, and economic development. Its service area encompasses more than 80,000 square miles spanning seven states. With such a large geographic footprint and broad range of services, the client has complex communications needs, including frequent crisis and emergency communications challenges.

    In 2013, following several high-profile crises, the client prioritized updates and enhancement of the organization’s crisis communications planning, training, and exercises. The client needed a more robust and realistic means of training its communications team to effectively manage various crises.

The client has complex communications needs, including frequent crisis and emergency communications challenges.

The client recognized Nusura’s unique blend of emergency management and communications expertise, coupled with the realism SimulationDeck brings to exercises. The client contracted Nusura to develop effective emergency and crisis communications response plans, and to create a training program to improve the crisis response team’s efforts in an emergency.

  • The Approach

    Through stakeholder-driven interviews and planning workshops, the client worked with Nusura’s subject matter experts to identify gaps in crisis communications planning and to develop a Crisis Communications Plan that included Joint Information Center processes and protocols. On plan completion, subject matter experts also developed and delivered workshops, trainings, and exercises for the corporate communications team and emergency management personnel, as well as executive leadership. SimulationDeck was used in many of these exercises to provide the most realistic experience possible.

    As part of its contract, Nusura provided crisis response support in the event of real-world incidents. For example, the Nusura team designed and facilitated an active shooter tabletop exercise to test and validate the client’s Crisis Communications Plan. Members of the corporate communications team were joined by representatives from the client’s Emergency Management Office to discuss how the organization would respond to an active shooter in the client’s headquarters complex. Two hours into the exercise, the discussion was interrupted by an actual real-world crisis. The exercise was put on hold, while Nusura subject matter experts helped the communications team respond to the incident, using the Crisis Communications Plan to guide the organization’s actions.

    After the crisis was resolved, the Nusura team facilitated after-action discussions to validate the Crisis Communications Plan, identify lessons learned, and help the communications team consider corrective actions. The talking points and strategic guidance developed during this event led the client to consult Nusura during subsequent situations with critical public sentiment issues.

  • The Results

    As a result of Nusura’s work, the client has a comprehensive, National Incident Management System-consistent Crisis Communications Plan in accord with agency emergency response plans and protocols. This Communications Plan has been used as the backbone of communications response in multiple real-world crises, and has prompted enterprise-wide discussions and collaborative work to improve crisis mitigation and response. Nusura helps to regularly update this document based on lessons learned in real events and exercises.

The client’s emergency management personnel were so impressed with the realism SimulationDeck brings to exercises that they now use it for various types of exercises planned for the entire organization.

They’ve also strengthened working relationships within the client organization, as training and exercises have been inclusive of all business units and have prompted further discussion of how offices can collaborate in crises of all kinds. This includes a comprehensive, regularly updated training and exercise program to ensure communications staff are ready to respond in the event of a crisis or emergency.

All of this results in enhanced, realistic exercises for the entire enterprise. The client’s emergency management personnel were so impressed with the realism SimulationDeck brings to exercises that they now use it for various types of exercises planned for the entire organization. Nusura continues to provide ongoing training and exercises, as well as real-world crisis response support.

THE CLIENT'S PERSPECTIVE

Members of the corporate communications and emergency management teams who participated in Nusura-led training and exercises praised the realism and effectiveness of the training. One 25+ year team member noted that for the first time in her career, she had found training not only enjoyable, but realistic and useful in helping her address her job responsibilities

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