RIGHT IN TO A CRISIS

So I had to come up with crisis plan on my first week of working with Gevents. The company had been hit by a serious crisis as they were stripped off their accreditation by Botswana Training Authority (BOTA) which is an organization that coordinates the development of quality vocational skills in Botswana. The organization (BOTA) was established because the quality of some of the skills produced in many institutions do not meet the needs of respective industries, thus the imperative need for a regulatory body to coordinate and monitor the training provided by vocational training institutions. At first glance of the issue, it looked like the crisis did not have that much impact on the company because it had very loyal clients who kept coming back for more services, plus it was not a media frenzied crisis. On the other hand, this crisis could have impact in the future for prospective clients; so there was dire need for an immediate crisis plan.

We (the team) brainstormed and exhausted a lot of ideas and finally decided on one way we thought effective to use to deal with the crisis. We decided to bring in the company’s hardcore loyal clients, explained everything to them and let them know the company needed their help as it was going to appeal the suspension of their BOTA accreditation of the company. The clients signed a petition to support the company’s appeal. There was a long wait as the BOTA were re-examining the suspension but at long last the company managed to get back their accreditation.

In celebration to the success, we organized a come together for our hardcore clients and the other clients. This was to help make it easier for the company to bring the other clients abroad with crisis and update them. It was also a good opportunity for the old and hardcore loyal client to give testimonials and assure the others that all is well with Gevents (the company).

Lessons learnt:

· Always take care of any crisis that comes up, NO MATTER HOW INSIGNIFICANT IT SEEMS. It may haunt you in the future.

· Always identify categories of your clients so that you know how to handle each specifically.

· Always try to establish more than a business relationship but also a personal relationship with stakeholders.

· Never forget or leave behind any stakeholder on any issue of the company.

· And so on.....