What HR did and what they should have done...

What HR did and what they should have done...

When disaster strikes we all wish we’d had prior warning as those involved in the libor, horse meat and phone hackings scandals will testify. But such events are nothing new. PM looks at the five biggest HR crises of all time and asks the experts for their verdict on what should HR have done.

“Brent Spar reputational damage” one of those crisis.

What Happened? Oil storage buoy Brent Spar (operated by Shell), had a fractious fight in 1995 with Greenpeace over its plans to dispose of it in deep Atlantic waters (which had been approved by the UK government). After huge negative press, including petrol stations being targeted, Shell was forced to abandon its plans, costing it £60-100million in lost sales and reputation.

HR’s reaction? Shell’s top management admitted it concentrated on factual detail rather than polished presentation of its arguments. In 1996 it began a consultation process involving 7,500 members of the general public in ten countries and 1, 300 opinion leaders in 25 countries. In 1998, Shell published its landmark report Profits and principles – does there have to be a choice?, summarising how the company intends to integrate social responsibility into its business strategy.

Verdict: Speaking to PM in 2010, Hugh Mitchell, then its chief HR and corporate officer, Shell, said Brent Spar “gave us a whole lot of learning around how you manage public opinion, authorities.”

By Peter Crush 

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