Our advisors have deep expertise with ensuring your community is equipped to handle any crisis. Contact us at covidhelp@wittobriens.com to speak with one of our advisors highlighted below or another Government Solutions expert.
Develop a plan that's tailored to your culture & unique dynamics
Read our guide on preparing for a successful re-opening
Planning for office and facility re-openings may dwarf the effort to send everyone home in the first place. It will need to combine strategic planning, detailed tactical work and flawless communication. We’re here to increase your chance of success. No matter your level of confidence, it helps to have an objective and practical partner with decades of event-tested expertise.
Here Are a Few Ways Our Experts Can Help
Need someone to talk to?
Our business continuity and crisis management experts are available for a free one-hour telephone consultation. Use our expertise to help organize your thoughts, prioritize actions, and sort through your next steps. You drive the agenda. We provide broad perspective pulling from our diverse experiences and client base.
Is my office re-opening plan ready?
Our corporate resilience team is prepared to help you put processes in place for workforce planning (rotating groups, prioritization, scheduling); human resources and legal (procedures for new positive cases in the office, employee attestation for return to office); site readiness (seating analysis and planning; personal protection equipment, cleaning schedules); and communications (staff, external stakeholders, third-party partners). We can help you develop your customized “playbook”.
How can I get my teams ready?
The world has changed. Your company has changed. But how? The top-level leadership will need to take a close look at the policy changes or process adjustments that will accompany your office reopening. We can develop and facilitate a series of workshops to ensure that your critical functions and business units are coordinated and understand the dependencies that need to be supported to lead to success.
The psychology of information: Why lies are more believable than truths
Believability is hugely subjective and can be influenced. Information about COVID-19 is a great example. Around the world, opinion polls repeatedly find that people’s beliefs about whether masks help to prevent the spread of the disease, or whether their country is managing the pandemic well are significantly impacted by their political affiliation.
Witt O’Brien’s Teams Introduce Virtual Incident Management Exercises During COVID-19
Offering client-tailored training & exercises online during COVID-19 is just one way we are meeting their needs during the pandemic. We understand our clients' unique requirements and offer solutions to your challenges.
PandemicBuzz Podcast
PandemicBuzz is a snapshot-in-time interview series, where crisis management, business continuity and crisis communications experts talk about their current pandemic efforts, state of mind, and corporate path forward. You can listen by following the link below or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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Grace Burley
Grace Burley, Managing Director of Corporate Resilience for Witt O'Brien's, has nearly two decades of experience in the crisis management industry. She has managed comprehensive planning, training, and exercise programs for companies and organizations in various industries and has received her business continuity certification from Business Continuity Institute (BCI).
Her strength is developing customized preparedness programs that effectively integrate: Crisis Management, Business Continuity, Emergency Management, Crisis Communications, Human Impact/People Support/Workplace Violence, and IT Disaster Recovery.
Devin Sirmenis
Devin Sirmenis, Managing Director of Corporate Resilience for Witt O'Brien's, is a risk and crisis specialist focused on corporate resilience and has served clients for 20 years as a trusted advisor. Devin works with executive leadership at Fortune 500 firms to assess and develop their crisis management programs, train crisis leaders, and stress test the ability to manage an enterprise threatening crisis through simulations.
Prior to joining Witt O'Brien's he led consultant programs at Deloitte, Booz Allen Hamilton and Perot Systems Government Services. Devin pairs his years of client experience with continuing education and has completed Harvard Kennedy School's Crisis Leadership Program, and holds a Change Management Advanced Practitioner certification from Georgetown University McDonough School of Business.
Sean Fitzgerald
Sean Fitzgerald, Managing Director of Witt O'Brien's Crisis Communications practice, is a heavyweight communications professional whose talent for strategic communications advice is relied on by Fortune 500 and international corporations. He is renowned for his clear thinking in assessing companies’ crisis-preparedness and reputation vulnerabilities and creating effective plans and response protocols to support companies in crisis.
Sean’s experience includes client-side and agency communications leadership, first at global brands Mattel and Levi Strauss, and subsequently with Ketchum, a leading global PR agency. He held senior roles at the agency, including Global Partner – Corporate/Public Affairs Practice, North America, President of the firm’s Greater China practice and leader of the firm’s Western USA operations.
Bob Patterson
Bob Patterson, Managing Director of Witt O'Brien's Energy market, has broad commercial experience with crisis and emergency management. He is focused on keeping businesses operating smoothly by understanding the threats they face and putting in place the plans, the people and the resources to be able to withstand shocks of all kinds.
In 30 years, Bob’s strategies for operational resilience including crisis management have helped industries as diverse as including energy, manufacturing, investment banking and financial services.
Mike Gallagher
Mike Gallagher, Senior Managing Director of Witt O'Brien's Shipping & Transportation market, has more than 30 years of experience providing compliance, preparedness and response services to over 800 clients in the oil & gas, shipping, rail, and port industries. His spill/incident response management work predates OPA-90 and includes the 1989 M/T Exxon Valdez among other significant incidents. Mike also has significant preparedness/response experience in the public health sector, and spearheaded our response efforts on behalf of our client USDA to the 2015 avian influenza outbreak.
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