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Helping hotel employees after a tragedy (Q&A)

As Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino grapples with the aftermath of Sunday night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas by a gunman stationed on the hotel’s 32nd floor, the effects of the tragedy will linger long after the event fades from the news.

Screenshot from Mandalay Bay's Twitter account, posted Wednesday
Screenshot from Mandalay Bay’s Twitter account, posted Wednesday

Fifty-nine people were killed and more than 500 wounded while attending a concert on the Las Vegas Strip when Nevada resident Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire, killing himself as law enforcement was closing in on him. Shortly after the event, the MGM Resorts-owned hotel said it will provide trauma counseling and other services to employees and guests.

Mandalay Bay employees weren’t the immediate targets, but their trauma can be similar to those who were, says James Houran, managing director of Aethos Consulting Group, which provides HR advisory services for the hospitality industry. HOTELS asked him how to prepare for such crises and best support employees.

HOTELS: How should a hotel respond in a crisis like the one Mandalay Bay experienced?

James Houran: The initial guidelines should focus on three points: (1) Be quick, (2)  accurate and (3) consistent.

The rationale behind being quick is the need for the organization to tell its side of the story. In reality, that includes the key points management wants to convey about the crisis to its stakeholders. Experts often talk of an information vacuum created by a crisis. The news media will be a key source of initial information. If the organization having the crisis does not speak to the media, other people will. These people may have inaccurate information or may try to use the crisis as an opportunity to attack the organization. An early response may not have much “new” information, but the organization positions itself as a source and begins to present its side of the story.

Obviously accuracy is important any time an organization communicates with the  public. Because of the time pressure in a crisis, there is a risk of inaccurate information. If mistakes are made, they must be corrected. However, inaccuracies make an organization look inconsistent and incompetent. The philosophy of speaking with one voice is a way to maintain consistency and accuracy.

More recently, crisis experts have recommended that managers express concern and sympathy for victims. Expressions of concern help to lessen reputational damage and to reduce financial losses. Failure to provide that could hurt an organization.

Here is the list of SOPs for crisis response:

1.  Be quick and try to have an initial response within the first hour.

2.  Be accurate by carefully checking all facts.

3.  Be consistent by keeping spokespeople informed of crisis events and key message points.

4.  Make public safety the number one priority.

5.  Use all available communication channels including the Internet, Intranet and mass notification systems.

6.  Provide some expression of concern and sympathy for victims.

7.  Remember to include employees in the initial response.

8.  Be ready to provide stress and trauma counseling to victims of the crisis and their families, including employees.

H: What can hotels do in the immediate aftermath of a crisis to ensure that employees get the support they need?

Houran: I’d recommend that department managers immediately take the steps outlined above and explain how the crisis might affect employees professionally and personally, what the company is doing to bolster safety of employees and guests and what the plan is to rebuild and carry on for the company. As always, managers at all levels should be prepared to listen empathetically to employees.

H: What should a hotel property NOT do?

Houran: The challenge would be to pay more attention to the press and PR concerns than to the employees. The employees must feel and see that the company is responding first to secure their and guests’ well-being, as opposed to doing external “damage control” in the media.

H: The hotel wasn’t a target, but employees were directly affected. What’s the best approach to addressing their needs?  

Houran: All victims – direct or indirect – will face issues that stem from a loss of psychological and physical control in the situations like this. Employees were not the immediate targets, but they understand that they could have been targets just as easily, so the symptoms or effects can be similar.

Personal crisis can often lead to emotional overload. The sheer magnitude of sudden or accumulated stresses can make it difficult for people to deal with the problems, and therefore experience depression, anxiety, self-doubt or loss of motivation. Crisis-related stress can also result in physical troubles. Headaches and loss of appetite are common. Stomach and digestive upset, joint pains, fatigue and other somatic symptoms are often related to depression. Pain and depression are linked because a person’s mood is influenced by the same neurotransmitters that send pain signals. Physical symptoms reinforce emotional disorders, so it’s essential to find resources that will help break the unhappy cycle.

In the short term, crisis-related anxiety can be crippling. People may feel too overwhelmed to make decisions or to take the normal actions required to keep life moving smoothly. Fears and irrational paranoia can keep you from seeking out support and assistance from others. Changes in sleeping and eating patterns can make you physically vulnerable and susceptible to illness. The depression that often accompanies crisis anxiety can lead to withdrawal, indecisiveness and suicidal thoughts.

Because of the severity of these emotional symptoms, someone who does not receive support to deal with crisis-related stress may suffer from many long-term consequences (insomnia, avoidance of relationships, chronic pain, etc.).

H: What kind of training, if any, does hotel management require?

Houran: Large, open-access facilities are difficult security concerns for any company or institution, so companies might consult risk management experts and security professionals to invest in SOPs or technology to help monitor and detect suspicious activity and what people are carrying in luggage, etc.

H: What can hoteliers learn from all this? 

Houran: No one likes to think about tragedy and crisis situations like this, but the fact is that crisis management is one of the most important things a company can plan for. Too often, people wait and react instead of proactively planning. A crisis of some kind will probably affect every organization at some point, so think ahead. The more organized and efficient leaders can respond when crisis hits, the better the outcomes for employees and guests.

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