Challenges
Why Organisations Are Unprepared When Crises Strike
A crisis management plan that exists only as a written document is not a crisis management capability. In practice, most organisations underestimate the time and coordination required to execute correctly under pressure:
- Activate the correct decision-making cell within the first 30 minutes, with the right people informed and present
- Communicate clearly to employees, media, regulators, and customers during the first hours of an event
- Coordinate IT, legal, communications, HR, and operations teams simultaneously without a defined command structure and pre-assigned roles
- Document decisions in real time for post-incident regulatory review, an obligation under FINMA and sector-specific frameworks
The difference between a controlled response and a chaotic one lies in thorough preparation, training of the crisis team members, and conducting regular and realistic simulations.
Scope of Services
What the Crisis Management Service Delivers
Crisis Documentation
A complete crisis management toolkit: a crisis policy defining activation criteria, escalation thresholds, and decision authority; an operational guide with step-by-step response procedures for defined scenario types; and a full toolbox of process templates and communication scripts designed to be usable under pressure, in conditions where there is no time to improvise.
Crisis Cell Structure
Design and formal documentation of the crisis management organisation: cell composition, member roles, decision authority, escalation paths to legal, regulatory, and board level, and substitution rules for unavailable members.
Training Workshop
A structured training workshop delivered to all members of the crisis management team, covering role expectations, procedure walkthrough, communication protocols, and escalation criteria. Designed to ensure that every team member can act without hesitation on their first day facing a real crisis.
Crisis Simulation Exercise
A half-day or full-day scenario-based exercise, built around a realistic and challenging scenario relevant to your organisation and sector. The simulation tests the full crisis response chain under time pressure and information ambiguity, conditions that replicate the experience of a real event. Available as a tabletop exercise for management teams or as a full operational simulation.
RETEX and Improvement Plan
A structured debrief (retour d'expérience / RETEX) following the simulation produces documented lessons learned. These feed directly into a formal Improvement Plan with prioritized corrective actions and assigned responsibilities, ensuring that capability is built continuously rather than assessed once.
Outcomes
What You Receive
- Crisis Cell description with organisational chart, role definitions, and substitution rules
- Crisis activation criteria matrix and escalation call process documentation
- Crisis Methodology documentation covering the full structured response approach
- Complete crisis toolbox: policies, procedures, communication templates, and decision aids
- Training workshop materials and attendance records
- Crisis simulation scenario package and exercise facilitation guide
- Structured RETEX report with documented observations and lessons learned
- Formal Improvement Plan with prioritised corrective actions and assigned responsibilities
Regulatory Compliance and Operational Confidence
Our Crisis Management service is designed to satisfy regulatory requirements while building genuine organisational capability. Deliverables are structured to demonstrate compliance with FINMA operational resilience expectations, ISO 22301 crisis management provisions, and sector-specific emergency response obligations. Post-simulation, organizations consistently report three measurable improvements: faster activation of the decision-making cell, clearer distribution of decision authority, and significantly higher personal confidence among crisis cell members in their ability to manage a real event.
Next Step
Evaluate Your Crisis Readiness
We provide an initial crisis management maturity assessment to identify gaps in your current preparedness, review existing documentation, and define a practical engagement scope. Most Crisis Management engagements, from initial assessment to completed simulation and formal RETEX, are delivered within six to ten weeks.