Crisis: Opportunity to Transform the Future

In a recent keynote speech, Imperial Sugar Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer John Sheptor recounted the numerous challenges faced by the company in the last two years, including a tragic crisis of unimaginable proportions, and how Imperial Sugar has transformed its future.

Addressing the International Association of Business Communicators Southern Region Conference in Houston, Sheptor detailed how impact of the crisis was confronted in a prompt and strategic manner – emphasizing clear and transparent communication – so as to rebuild and transform the future of Imperial Sugar Company while also being responsible to the victims, employees, their families, the community impacted by the explosion and fire at Imperial Sugar’s sugar refinery in February 2008 at Port Wentworth, Ga. and stakeholders.

Sheptor spoke candidly and in-depth about the series of challenges, including:

• Record 2006/7 profits as the result of hurricane Katrina eroded by losses caused by oversupply in the Fall of 2007.
• The industrial accident that shut down the Port Wentworth plant, idled 60 percent of the company’s production capacity, and caused numerous injuries and 14 deaths.
• The threat of losing raw sugar supply sources in Louisiana to competitive forces.
• Increased competition for sales share in Texas due to free trade agreements with Mexico.
• The bankruptcy of the company’s largest shareholder, Lehman Brothers.
• And, the lack of a corporate crisis management and communications plan.

Communicator from ten southern states and three Caribbean countries listened intently to the Imperial Sugar story.

Sheptor discussed the core elements of how Imperial Sugar Company promptly responded to the series of crisis events in a responsible manner that has strengthened the company’s competitive position and defined a clear vision for leadership into the future:

• Articulate strategy in simple statements to achieve clear prioritization, organization-wide alignment and stakeholder understanding.
• Tell the truth – no posturing or content spinning.
• Communicate news and developments openly to employees.
• Lead with humanitarian action … because it is the right thing to do.
• Implant over-arching vision encompassing short term strategy to build employee hope and investor interest.
• Transform production centric corporate culture to customer-centric culture, using crisis as a catalyst for change.
• Proactively engage the broad reach of the media to speak on industry issues.

Sheptor also spoke of the need to contract expertise in each critical sector of public relations and communication. In the case of Imperial Sugar Company, business and investor news was assigned to Pierpont Communications, tragedy communications was handled by Edelman, online reputation management and a dynamic online newsroom was developed and managed by The News Group Net, and government relations were assigned to DC-based Williams and Jensen.

Sheptor spoke of the need to contract expertise in each critical sector of communications.

Communications have been effective and successful, Sheptor said, because they have emphasized public CEO leadership, demonstrated a company holding itself accountable and readily available, being the first to speak on all topics and issues with consistent messages and delivering on promises made.

For the company’s investors, there has been a 260 percent increase in share price since March 2009.

In speaking before the audience of communications professionals, Sheptor explained why he, as the leader of a major corporation, believes that confronting and overcoming the devastation caused by crisis can be an opportunity to transform the future:

• Culture and business model transition requires that the previous norms be dropped to enable the choice of new norms – crisis is a catalyst and source of energy to make that possible.
• Leadership can transform despair into excitement and optimism by inspiring focus on a vision for future prosperity.
• Rebuilding and recovery become a means to a brighter future rather than an end with unknown prospects when in the context of a vision.
• Bold steps can be assumed due to the likely negative consequences of standing still.
• Crisis can scatter employees and stakeholders or enable powerful alignment – the determinant is leadership and communication.

Rainbow over the Port Wentworth sugar refinery after a storm.

Sheptor emphasized that Imperial still faces significant challenges, but remains “cautiously optimistic, because our story is still unfolding.”

In closing, Sheptor said, “There is a rainbow behind the clouds of every crisis – to experience it, you must shine the light of vision brighter than the darkness of lost confidence.” And, he shared an inspirational photograph taken by a contractor for Imperial Sugar of a dramatic rainbow seen over the Port Wentworth sugar refinery after a rain storm.