However, many organisations are relying on expensive psychological debriefings after critical incidents as the sole way to support impacted employees.
Unfortunately, the evidence shows that these debriefings can actually do more harm than good. Instead, companies should be prioritising the delivery of timely, immediate assistance during emergencies to ensure the safety and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
In Sonder’s latest webinar, Navigating crisis with our critical incident response framework, our safety experts, including Brett Ward (Head of Member Safety), Dave Vidler (Response Network Manager) and Nick Marchant (Response Network Manager) shared how our services deliver the right support at the right time.
Watch this webinar on demand, or keep reading for the top takeaways.
“Unfortunately, we live in a society where critical incidents occur often. Your people are the lifeblood of your business. Without them, your output suffers and there are impacts on your bottom line as well as potential flow-on effects across your entire team. Empowering people to be their best goes a long way to support not only the individual but also the entire business.”
Brett Ward
Head of Member Safety at Sonder
Employees are living and working through uncertain times. Our research reveals that between 1 January and 31 March 2023, Sonder saw a +54% increase in the percentage of safety-related critical incidents that needed our support.
There is a broad range of critical incidents that can impact staff, including serious workplace injuries or accidents, severe weather events or even domestic violence incidents involving employees. Each of these common scenarios requires a personalised, tailored approach to ensure individuals receive the right support for their situation.
At Sonder, our nationwide network of first-responders offers in-person, urgent critical incident support to teams across the country. Whether an employee is dealing with customer abuse and violence or navigating grief following the death of a coworker, Sonder’s team of trusted professionals provide 24/7 on-demand support.
In the context of critical incidents, Sonder’s unique model of care means that impacted employees have a range of support types available to them, including the ability to:
“Our responders are highly trained in responding to a whole range of situations. For example, customer aggression and assaults on staff are becoming increasingly common. Our team of responders are able to deliver psychological first aid and be that listening ear to the person who has been the victim of an assault. Plus, they’re able to provide staff with tools and resources to get further assistance if they need it.”
Nick Marchant
Response Network Manager at Sonder
When encountering a critical incident, it’s common for employees to experience feelings of stress, fear and overwhelm. That’s why it’s so important that the right professional support is on speed dial and available to respond quickly when an incident arises.
At Sonder, our selection process for our responder network is rigorous, ensuring that the in-person support we deliver makes a meaningful difference and positive impact on our members. We actively seek out members with varied, lived experiences in the critical incidents members might be facing (such as coming from a policing background) to make members feel supported and at ease.
“We purposely recruit for responders with a background in emergency service, defence and the mental health industry as well.”
Dave Vidler
Response Network Manager at Sonder
Upskilling and lengthy training courses are provided to every Sonder first responder to ensure that members receive the highest level of care possible. This includes training in psychological first aid, privacy management as well as upskilling in providing care to members of the LGBTIQ+ and First Nations communities.
Plus, training is seen as a continuous process where regular webinars and courses are delivered to ensure responders are keeping up-to-date with industry best practices.
“Our responders have just undertaken a new psychological first aid course. We take the training of our responders really seriously and we're always relying on our other specialists within the organisation to help us upskill them and make sure that they're up to date with current practices.”
Dave Vidler
Response Network Manager at Sonder
There are several ways our team can offer support to employees impacted by critical incidents.
The first is a pre-planned deployment, which is delivered around 24 hours after an incident has occurred. Typically, this support is delivered in the workplace environment, giving members an organised, coordinated level of support after they’ve had time to digest an incident (such as learning of the death of an employee member).
The second is an immediate, in-person response that is delivered rapidly at the time of an incident.
For example, an employee might be using Sonder’s Track My Journey safety feature while travelling at night for work. If the member doesn’t confirm they’ve arrived safely at their hotel room, a first responder may be deployed to their last known location with the aim of confirming their safety.
At Sonder, we know that every situation is different. Our Triage Care Protocol also helps to assess a critical incident across three pillars of health (safety, medical and mental health) as well as five tiers of severity. This helps to assign the right care specialist to each case, ensuring the in-person deployment of responders is used effectively.
Regardless of what deployment takes place, our network of responders ensures support is available after the incident through follow-ups and welfare checks.
“In our critical incident workflows, we can also flag the anniversary of a major incident and potentially check in on staff after significant weather or safety events. Our goal isn’t just to provide bandaid support in the moment, but take a holistic approach.”
Brett Ward
Head of Member Safety at Sonder
A notable example of Sonder’s critical incident response framework in action was our coordinated response during the Bondi Junction incident.
In April 2024, Westfield Bondi Junction became the site of a major safety incident that impacted both retail staff as well as community members. Within 10 minutes of the incident occurring, our intelligence scanning picked up on what was unfolding and sent out an in-app safety notice to anyone located in the area, providing verified links to resources on how to stay up-to-date.
During this incident, we deployed a number of responders to support over 250+ impacted members. Our support ranged from 1:1 in-person support, gathering food and drinks and helping staff get home safely by booking rideshare trips.
“We'll always endeavour to choose the right responder for the incident. With Bondi Junction in particular, one of our responders had a background in police, having spent 14 years as a New South Wales Police officer. He was able to act as a conduit between the managers on the ground and the police. He spoke the language of the police. He understood the situation. He understood what was happening, what would occur next, and what police would need from that particular manager. So it was great to have him on the ground.”
Nick Marchant
Response Network Manager at Sonder
Sonder is a technology company that helps organisations improve the wellbeing of their people so they perform at their best. Our mobile app provides immediate, 24/7 support from a team of safety, medical, and mental health professionals – plus onsite help for time-sensitive scenarios. Accredited by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS), our platform gives leaders the insights they need to act on tomorrow’s wellbeing challenges today.
Ready to get started?