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Prepare for Disaster Before It’s Too Late

03/07/07


As the past several years have proven, disasters of one kind or another can wreak havoc on daily operations of any business. Chaos, business interruption, injuries, possible widespread damage, and lack of communication often accompany a disaster. Make sure your company takes steps now to create a disaster management plan that will help protect your human capital, property and infrastructure, and ensure that short- and long-term business processes are not compromised.

Prepare for catastrophe. Your company depends on it.
Disaster. It’s something we don’t want to contemplate, and understandably so. A fire, flood, windstorm, hurricane, earthquake, epidemic, attack, or other event of catastrophic proportions can paralyze a business for days, weeks or longer. Unless you have a comprehensive plan to mitigate its impact, disaster will likely catch your company and your HR staff off guard on several strategic fronts.

Step back and appreciate how HR fits into the larger picture. Your company’s future may hinge on how you and your staff respond before, during, and after a disaster. Small and midsized companies are less likely to have disaster-specific policies and procedures in place than their larger counterparts.* Make sure you and your colleagues are ready for the challenge. For example, paper-based personnel records may be particularly vulnerable to certain disasters, while electronic databases may be susceptible to others. That’s why you need to think about the access, retrieval and safekeeping of records beforehand.


Emphasize on the key issues
If you need to bring your company up to speed on emergency preparedness, consider these elements for your disaster management plan:

  1. Employee health and safety — If management decides to keep the work site open during and/or after a disaster, health and safety issues become top priorities. Stress on emergency response and evacuation procedures, first aid and CPR training. Update and maintain safety supplies in a state of readiness. Contact public health services and local utility providers, and ask for their input on ways to ensure a safe environment at your work site.
  2. Security — Determine what needs to be done to protect company property, customer or client data, IT-related data, and the security of employees on the premises. Develop emergency points of primary and backup contact.
  3. Communications — Think about the multiple audiences who will need to be apprised of important developments. Examples include employees, COBRA participants, new hires, applicants, vendors, outsourcing partners and benefits plan providers. Make sure employees’ names and phone numbers are stored in a safe place with easy access, such as on an index card for your wallet or purse. Cell phones, with their separate networks, are good communication devices in emergencies. You can prerecord information on hotlines that have toll-free numbers. And don’t forget the Internet to connect with employees after a disaster.
  4. Payroll — Decisions to ensure that pay is delivered to employees in a timely manner should be made in advance. How will paychecks be generated if your work site is closed? Develop backup plans for either methods of delivery, such as pay advances to employees or paying them in cash. Consider putting all of your employees on direct deposit so they can get at their funds if of an evacuation is ordered.
  5. Alternative work schedules and sites — Consider different work sites that would be suitable should disaster strike. Think about limited or restricted work schedules, telecommuting arrangements and company transportation services for employees. You may want to revisit any existing work schedules your company has for a compressed workweek — job sharing or and flextime— and tweak them for an emergency environment.
Finally, remember this: It’s not a question of whether disaster will strike, but when. Take this opportunity to make sure that your company survives the challenge and continues to operate.

*Source: “Crisis Management in Today’s Business Environment: HR’s Strategic Role,” Society for Human Resource Management, December 2005, page 5.