When a business finds itself in a crisis, it is often the staff who are able to pull things around. So it's about time directors recognised this and rewarded the extra effort

The Terminal 5 launch and subsequent PR disaster for British Airways and BAA is unparalleled in recent aviation history. But this sort of big project has gone wrong in the past, for example the Dome, Millennium Bridge and Wembley Stadium. There are of course multiple causes for such failures, many of which might apply to the Terminal 5 fiasco. Over-inflated expectations about what will be delivered at launch; a lack of a plan B if things go wrong; inadequate trialling of the business process; the lack of phasing of the introduction of new technology; over-reliance on technology and the inappropriate human backup; and the inadequate training of the people who have to deal with the new facility or service. Finally, when things go wrong, the lack of customer care and/or appropriate communications in dealing with the consequences of the failure.

It is easy, in hindsight, to highlight the problems and disasters. The good news in these situations is that staff often tend to "step up to the plate", to support and help their organisation recover from the bleak situation. They are embarrassed by their organisation's failure in the public's eye and want to do something to correct or restore their corporate image.

We saw this with BA, when thousands of staff turned up to help with the baggage problems and to deal with the anxiety and concerns of customers, in an effort to minimise inconvenience, and to show organisational commitment and support for senior executives. This pulling together under adversity—the typically British Dunkirk spirit—is one of the important and endearing features of British workers, many of whom have a personal loyalty to their business, even if they feel the senior management are less than competent.

So, what should top management do to reward staff for their commitment in trying times? It is easy for directors and managers to focus on what's happened and think, "phew, we're out of the woods now, let's just get back to business". But this fails to acknowledge the contribution of huge numbers of dedicated people who have gone out of their way to solve an embarrassing problem, which was mostly caused by poor management decisions in the first place. There are several things an employer should consider.

A public "thank you" from the CEO, is a good starting point. Line managers should also acknowledge those who volunteered to help the organisation at a critical or crunch time. Staff should also expect to see some token of the company's appreciation. This could be a bonus payment, but it might equally be an extra day's leave, or a "thank you" event after everything is resolved. Yes, this will cost. But in the long run, what is the cost of doing nothing?

If we really believe in our people, shouldn't we think about how we reward and honour them when they dig deep to help in difficult times? In failure, we can not only learn about contingency plans and risk, but about the loyalty of staff. As Nelson Mandela said: "The greatest glory in living, lies not in never failing, but rising every time we fail."