Fire! Flood! Swine flu! Terrorist attack! These situations are not just random alarmist theories but unfortunately, sobering possibilities as evidenced by Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, Madrid and Mumbai bombings, tsunamis and H1Ni virus. We do not need to only look at international headlines, incidents happen in our own environments. Apart from the grave impact on daily life, crises such as these cause havoc within the supply chain. Fundamental training in Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Management prepares us to competently plan for and handle such natural and man-mad disasters. While many organizations have proactively made crisis preparedness and response vital elements of their planning process, focus has been primarily on physical assets, technology and partner networks and daily operations. We need to look deeper and address the issue of human capital resiliency and the human dimensions of disaster. Human capital resiliency can be defined as an organization’s ability to respond and adapt rapidly to threats posed to its workforce. Let us look at human capital risks in crisis situations: in a crisis, organizations will be challenged to safeguard and support employees while continuing to deliver the services needed to keep the business operational and the revenue flowing. Ability to attend work We need to consider to what degree employee attendance will be affected because of health and safety concerns during a disaster. Even employees who are not directly affected by a disaster may need to miss work to look after the health and safety of family members who are affected. In the event of a pandemic, attendance may be disrupted over longer periods of time. If employees have lost or been displaced from their homes, they will need to spend time finding new housing, and some may even need to move to new locations. Transportation Employees who are willing and able to work through a crisis may simply not be able to get to their work location. Public transportation systems may be disrupted or international travel restrictions could be in force. Even smaller-scale disasters, such as transit strikes and floods, can significantly impact employees’ ability to get to work. Trauma Employee shock and grief can lead to increased absenteeism, as well as to higher turnover and reduced productivity. Proactive counseling may be required to help employees confront emergent issues — and enable them to address the crisis more rapidly, so they can focus on their work and tackle disaster recovery activities. Communications Mobile phone, landline and other communications networks can be destroyed or become dysfunctional in a disaster, making it difficult to locate employees and share critical information with them. If your offices or other facilities are unsafe to use or inaccessible, employees will find it more difficult to collaborate and tap into their existing social networks. Given the need for close coordination during a crisis situation, the inability to bring people together can significantly hamper the rapid decision-making needed during recovery efforts. Without normal communication channels, maintaining business relationships with customers and business partners may also be difficult. Payroll Maintaining payroll is both essential and challenging during and following a crisis. If your payroll system is inaccessible, funds are limited or the staff members who are responsible for payroll are absent, it’s going to be difficult to pay employees in a timely manner. Employees may also need disaster relief funding, which requires coordination from a variety of sources. Employee tracking Limited access to critical personnel data, such as emergency contact information, user IDs and passwords, and individual skill sets, can affect your organization’s ability to resume operations after a crisis. If your organization cannot determine which employees have been impacted by the crisis or how, it will be difficult for decision makers to determine the company’s next steps. Recovery efforts can be further hampered if your organization cannot locate key personnel or access core business systems, or has not identified or arranged for potential replacement workers. Succession and training Many times, organizational leaders are incapacitated or unavailable during or after a disaster. If your company has not engaged in formal succession planning, individuals at all levels may be forced to take on leadership roles or increased responsibilities with little or no preparation. Staffing issues can also emerge as a reduced workforce tries to cope with the demands of an increased workload. Skill gaps can also become a problem as workers try to carry out new jobs for which they have little training. In addition, crises may require changes in employee locations and schedules that are difficult to coordinate in a fast-changing environment. SOLUTIONS: There must be a people-based approach to your Business Continuity/Disaster Management Planning and must be vital elements of all: · Policies and communications · Employee education and support · Virtual infrastructure · Job training · Talent management · HR Systems and reporting · Organizational culture Are you prepared? CommentsLeave a Reply | AuthorTRIUMPH INTERNATIONAL ArchivesCategoriesAll |
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