Crisis Communications Workshop

Nobody can predict when a crisis might happen, but it’s your response that dictates its impact.

Reputation is everything. When a crisis hits—whether it's a data breach, serious complaint, or public controversy—your actions in those critical first hours can determine whether your business survives.

Our bespoke training equips recruitment businesses with the tools and confidence to handle any challenge that could come their way.

We will teach you the skills to develop internal and external crisis communication plans that help you to prepare and prevent long term reputational damage.

This session will provide tips on stakeholder management, and how to identify and manage different scenarios that are tailored to your individual business. It also offers practical advice on navigating different traditional and digital media channels and insights on when to engage, and when to remain silent.

Workshop Content:

Crisis Recognition & Planning

Identifying potential crisis scenarios specific to recruitment agencies
Understanding the difference between everyday issues and genuine crises
Risk assessment techniques for recruitment operations
Early warning signs that could affect your candidate and client relationships

Stakeholder Management for Recruiters

Mapping your critical stakeholders (clients, candidates, staff, shareholders)
Crafting tailored messages for different recruitment stakeholders
Managing client expectations during disruption
Protecting candidate relationships during reputational challenges

Media Response Strategies

Navigating traditional and social media during a recruitment crisis
Responding to negative reviews and online criticism
Developing effective holding statements for a range of scenarios
When to engage and when to remain silent

Digital Crisis Management

Social media monitoring and response protocols
Managing your LinkedIn and other professional profiles during a crisis
Handling negative comments on job boards and review sites
Rebuilding digital reputation post-crisis

Creating Your Crisis Communications Strategy

Developing a crisis communications plan
Assembling and training your crisis response team
Message development and approval processes
Post-crisis evaluation and learning

What You'll Gain:

Confidence to respond swiftly and appropriately when issues arise
Skills to protect client and candidate relationships during turbulent times
Techniques to maintain business continuity during reputational challenges
Strategies to emerge stronger after a crisis has passed

Who Should Attend:

Recruitment agency owners, directors, and marketing/communications professionals responsible for protecting and enhancing your agency's reputation.

Sign up today to help your business – no matter how large or small – manage its reputation and prevent an issue from becoming a full-scale crisis.

Understanding Crisis Communications in Recruitment

9:30am - 3:30pm (breaks and lunch thoughtout the day)

Crisis Fundamentals for Recruitment

Risk assessment for recruitment agencies
Impact of crises on agency reputation and stakeholder relationships
Crisis lifecycle in recruitment contexts

Strategic Response Planning

Stakeholder Mapping

Identifying key stakeholders (clients, candidates, staff, partners)
Prioritising communications during crises
Message development for different stakeholder groups
Channel selection for maximum effectiveness

Media Management for Recruitment Crises

How recruitment crises are portrayed in media
Social media, review sites and job board monitoring
Crafting effective holding statements
Practical exercise: Creating recruitment-specific statements

Crisis Response Implementation

Managing Perceptions

Handling unfair criticism or inaccurate reporting
Balancing internal team communications with external messaging
Protecting candidate and client relationships during controversy
Addressing sensitive data issues unique to recruitment

Response Timing and Accuracy

First-hour response protocols for recruitment agencies
Information gathering during crisis
Communication frequency during different crisis phases
Decision-making frameworks for fast responses

Crisis Leadership

Media Engagement Strategies

Spokesperson selection and preparation
Interview techniques for recruitment crisis scenarios
Crisis press conference planning
When to engage vs when to redirect

Developing Your Crisis Communications Plan

Essential components of a crisis plan
Role allocation and responsibilities
Documentation and record-keeping requirements

Implementation and Testing

Crisis simulation exercise based on recruitment scenarios
Plan activation thresholds
Post-crisis recovery strategies for rebuilding client trust
Regular testing and updating protocols

Closing Session

Action planning for implementation
Resource sharing and next steps
Q&A and final discussion

Crisis Communications Training