West will also jointly lead the firm’s global crisis communications practice and response team. The co-chairperson will be announced later in February. He will be responsible for Western clients operating in Asia, as well as Asian companies looking for support on a global scale.
Fleishman Hillard’s president and chief executive Dave Senay said that West would strengthen the firm’s systematic approach to global crisis management support amid “rapidly expanding client needs”.
West said his role would require a balance of external reputation management and risk mitigation with building stakeholder advocacy. "What clients are looking for is a unified strategy across disciplines, stakeholders and geographies," he noted.
He added that speed of response was a "key challenge" for client organisations. "In the traditional model, companies look to take control [of a crisis] but often they just become participants. A lot of companies have a command-control structure that is too rigid." The new model, he said, required more effective delegation of authority to enable a fast response.
West has more than thirty years’ experience in consultancy, corporate and government roles. He has acted as internal public affairs counsel to a broad range of clients and as a company spokesperson for companies facing litigation and other issues.
Most recently, he was market leader of Burson-Marsteller in Australia, a position he took on in 2007. Prior to that, he served as president and chief executive of Hill & Knowlton Asia-Pacific.
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