We all know how natural disaster and disaster in other forms can adversely affect the workplace. We often don’t realize how badly the workplace can be affected until there is an actual disaster. The key is to prepare for possible disaster so that you will incur less damage and can recover much more quickly. The less damage you sustain and the faster your recovery is the key to maintaining your business.
Management Today provides some excellent insight regarding the best way to prepare for the eventualities of a disaster. Kate Russell is the MD of Russell HR Consulting , is the author of the article. Here are some ideas from her article…
“Back in the workplace, organisations need to give detailed thought and plan in advance to prepare for disasters. To lead your business back to work with maximum effectiveness you need to prepare yourself and your employees. Your ‘Disaster Recovery Plan’ should be put together by representatives of the entire organisation and carried out in several iterations to ensure rigour and completeness.
1. Identify the fullest list you can imagine of serious risk to the business. Assign a probability rating to each risk and assess the likely level of severity.
2. Against each risk decide what your plan of recovery action is and what resources you will need in place to enable the recovery.
3. You will need to identify stages within the process i.e. action in immediate aftermath of the disaster; action in the following weeks; action in the following months.
4. Identify what business functions will need to be resumed and in what order. You will need to identify which employees are key to achieving this.
5. Test the plan. The emergency services hold periodic disaster practice sessions to ensure that in the event of an unusual emergency that things run as well as possible. We saw evidence of considerable success in the London bombings in July 2005. Lessons still have to be refined, but in general the plans worked well.
6. Make sure all critical personnel are well briefed, trained and regularly tested in their specific roles. Keep records of test results.
7. Brief, train and rehearse staff so that they all know what to do in the event of an emergency.
8. Audit and review the plan and update as necessary.
Having clear policies and guidelines, training and testing employees in what behavior is expected of them in these circumstances can go a long way towards making sure your disaster recovery plan works effectively.
Hundreds of businesses have been sunk by disasters, both natural and man made. Your workplace might be destroyed, and your technology pummeled but with preparation and knowledge you can save your employees and your business.”
