EVERY ORGANISATION CAN EXPECT TO FACE ONE MAJOR CRISIS EVERY FIVE YEARS

In a seminar held in London this week, Business Continuity experts* from CiC, one of the UK’s most bespoke Employee Assistance Providers, helped train organisations to address their duty of care requirements. Outlining the ‘five P’s’ that all organisations should focus on when planning and implementing their business continuity policies, CiC used a range of different scenarios including an outbreak of Avian Flu, natural disasters, death in the workplace, job loss and terrorism to look at the particular importance of the top five issues:

1. People: The most important resource in an organisation:
- A communication system is vital. Keeping employees informed of what is happening will ensure there are no dark areas and that staff will not start drawing their own conclusions. There should be a clear methodology to this and a management crisis team to implement it.
- Staff may not only be affected physically but psychologically. Have resources available such as EAP / confidential helplines /on-site support where staff and managers can talk to trained counsellors about their feelings during an incident and in its aftermath
- Address the issue of absenteeism by offering flexible working hours. Also make home working available and alter the infrastructure of the organisation to allow this. Another area to be considered may be practical support, financial or otherwise, to help staff coming into work. Incentives may cost money but it is important to weigh up the financial implication for the interim against the financial implications of staff not returning to work at all

2. Product: The corporate reputation of an organisation is a key factor to address:
- Risk assessment is an integral part of crisis planning, especially within the first 24 / 48 hours. Assess different departments, identify the critical posts within the organisation and put plans in place for these areas. This will help to minimise disruption to staff and clients in the event of a critical incident
- Review policies on the financial side of the organisation with accounts / payroll. In any crisis employees still need to be paid so organisations must ensure that basic pay can be given, even if it is necessary for the organisation to relocate their payroll department
- Managing potential job loss. The organisation should act responsibly and supportively and pre-plan. HR must be prepared as there is likely to be an influx of calls from employees
- Liability issues. The gestation period after any critical incident is around three to five years, therefore it is crucial that organisations plan ahead and constantly review those policies that are in place

3. Partnerships: An organisation will need to call on these partnerships in times of crisis:
- Ensure partnerships are strong and that key suppliers have business continuity plans of their own in place. This will help to minimise disruption to both parties in the event of an incident
- Build external relationships. Look ahead to areas of the business that could be outsourced and put plans in place to do this

4. Press:
- It is important to plan for how an organisation will respond to the media in a crisis, both in terms of keeping them informed and handling media speculation. It is essential to have a responsible, senior and well briefed single point of contact for all press communication.

5. Property: Key assets for an organisation must be addressed in an business continuity plan.

Business continuity is never the highest priority in a company yet it is its life support when things go wrong. The owners of the plan will need to work for a gradual buy in process that can take several years to enhance and perfect. Organisations with effective business continuity plans are those who prioritise and look after their staff. If an organisation pre-plans the ‘five P’s,’ they will have the ability to deal with the tidal wave of continuous issues that are thrown at them during any major incident and their businesses have the best chances of survival.


For further information contact Beccy Whittles, Max PR:
020 8334 5749 / beccy@maxpr-events.com

Logo and Visuals available from http://www.maxpr-events.com/gallery_14.html

Kate Nowlan, CEO of CiC, available for interview

Notes to Editor:

* Kate Nowlan, CEO of CiC, has worked as a corporate psychologist and psychotherapist for the past twenty years with a particular interest in supporting those who have been exposed to traumatic experiences in the course of their working lives. She acts as consultant to business continuity departments on ‘human continuity’ - the need to understand how trauma can affect performance at all levels of a company.
Chris Larkin’s background in Business Continuity Planning & Crisis Management was gained at Marks & Spencer plc where he was responsible for developing their business continuity plans for over 8 years. Chris has also worked with companies affected by a range of major incidents including the Manchester City Centre bombing in 1996, the London bombings of 2005 and the Buncefield Oil Terminal fire.
Rupert Reid is a founder member of the Security Exchange, an independent advisory and resource management service for the security industry. A former police officer, he has specialised in corporate contingency planning and crisis management for the past eighteen years.