Your Recall Task Force

Your Recall Task Force

These are the people who jump into action in the event of a crisis. Your recall task force are the inside experts to help guide through every aspect of the product recall. Their overall knowledge of the company and the recall process is imperative to ensure that a product recall is handled efficiently, effectively and with minimal brand damage.  

Choosing the ‘A Team’

Appointing your recall task force is fundamental for when a recall strikes. Their experience from across the company will highlight any issues that might not be obvious to other departments and this allows a systemic way of managing a recall.

Who should be in it? 

·    Finance – crucial to a recall. Your finance team are there to ensure the right insurance is purchased and to provide the documentation that the regulatory authorities require throughout a recall. They also have full awareness of the damage hitting the balance sheet.

·    Legal counsel – in-house or outsourced. Legal need to be on stand by for a number of factors such as; dealing with potential lawsuits from consumers, suppliers or anyone directly affected by the recall and messaging. Messaging should be checked to ensure they are compliant with authority guidelines and to ensure that false promises are not being made.

·    Operations – know all the processes of the company. Their input is vital to highlight the key areas of the business and how they will be affected.

·   Marketing & PR – there to protect potential brand damage. A constant stream of approved communications must be prepared for, Consumers, Distributors and the media.

·   Customer Services –  calls and other activity should be directed to your dedicated recall channel. There will be some callers who will dial the company directly, so clear information on where to direct them to swiftly is advised. Ensure that pre-prepared statements and responses are on hand to keep both parties on the end of the line cool.

Roles & responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of your recall task force should be documented so that everyone knows what is expected of them when in a recall situation. Once you have appointed the team from across departments throughout the organisation on, you must formally announce your recall task force to the company and stakeholders. These are the people who departments will turn to in the event of a crisis.

The Benefits

Getting your recall task force together in advance has many benefits:

·         Efficiently execute yearly mock recalls 

·         Act quickly when a recall happens as a strategy is already in place

·         There is an expert team in place where any questions can be diverted

·         Minimise reputational damage when the recall is being managed effectively

To find out more about optimal recall management, visit our industry knowledge page.