A State Government Agency was preparing to transition from a ‘start-up’ phase to an operationally active phase. FPL Advisory provided support to understand their risk environment and develop a sound communications strategy into the future.
Situation
A State Government Agency was seeking external support to complement existing resources during a period of significant change and into the future for any identified capacity constraints. Having completed and submitted their initial report to government, the key task outlined in their establishment, the Agency was preparing for the possible outcomes resulting from the government’s response to the report. One possible outcome would have meant a transition to an operational and public facing phase of engagement, largely supported and driven by a range of other government bodies.
Action
In addition to the operational complexity of a range of delivery partners, the Agency operated in a highly politically sensitive environment as well as a technically complex one. All communications and stakeholder engagement activity needed to be considered in terms of balancing technical accuracy with appropriate concern, sympathy and compassion to ensure the Agency was in a position to build profile, goodwill and rapport to execute on their mission.
Given the sensitivity of the issue and the range of government stakeholders impacted, the Agency also sought a review under the FPL Advisory government risk methodology. FPL provided a report outlining a series of indicators under our framework of risk categories as it applied to the anticipated operational phase to assess their operating environment more generally. The Risk Review was accompanied by a response template where the Agency was able to respond to the identified risks in terms of their management approach which included the communications strategy development as a key management tool for reputation risk.
Outcome
The Risk Review provided an external assessment which highlighted a number of risks already identified by the Agency, reaffirming their importance, as well as providing insight into new risks for consideration which the Agency was able to respond to and clearly articulate in their management strategy. Working with the Agency, the Communications plan articulated their vision for future communications and became a foundation from which to develop key messages and a corporate style guide to support cohesion and consistency in future Agency communications. The Communications Plan and Risk Review informed aspects of the Agency’s cabinet submission aligned with the expected government response to the plan.
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