Taking the Sting Out of a Crisis

By David Perl*

In the past, business continuity and crisis management has focused on the tangible assets, essentially recovery of systems and data and re-establishment of facilities and services.  This all changed in the aftermath of 9/11, when it was realised that the human factor was as critical as the technology and buildings.

Watching the heart-wrenching suffering of the people affected by the Madrid bombings has reinforced the need to ensure your contingency plans pay regard to the people elements as well.   I have listed below just a few of the many aspects that should be given consideration:

1. Identify suitable skilled staff to form your crisis response team. Take into account minimum numbers, in a long running crisis people will burn out if not enough backups exist.
2. Take into consideration recent personnel circumstances. Young families and elderly dependents can all affect the availability and willingness of your crisis team.
3. Be aware that in a crisis, your crisis team's core personality traits will be accentuated.  We have seen internal politics, competitiveness, jealousy, insecurities and a whole host of other issues all bubble to the surface within crisis management teams.
4. Ensure strong leadership during a crisis -- this will be crucial if you have any chance of weathering the storm.
5. Develop a workable plan -- we like lots of checklists.  Your crisis team will not have time to read a thick manual in a crisis.  Remember, Noah built the Ark before the rains came.
6. Clearly define the organisation's expectations of the crisis teams and in turn what they can expect.  Issues such as overtime payments and relocation/hardship cover needs to be considered.
7. Train the team around your crisis response and exercise the plans on a regular basis.  Human performance increases with training and practise.  This was something crucial I learned from my medical training!
8. Give your crisis team some education on how people react in a crisis and how people cope with grief -- use specialists for this.
9. Develop relationships with external suppliers you may need to call upon, especially if dealing with loss of life.  The role of counselling (or more accurately Psychological Debriefing) in the aftermath of human loss or serious injury is now thought to do more harm than good, but what you will certainly need in the immediate aftermath are people skilled in providing "psychological first aid".
10. Do not shirk your responsibilities as an employer when dealing with real tough stuff.  Whatever the cause of the crisis, if it involves human suffering, your staff will want to know that they are working for a caring and compassionate organisation.
11. Consider the best way to communicate with all your staff on a frequent basis - even those not involved in the crisis response. In our experience, personal face-to-face team briefings are best.
12. Test your 'call out' notification system out of office hours. Dedicated systems exist to simplify this task.
13. Ensure all employee records are current and include home and mobile numbers.  You should also have their emergency contact numbers and their relationship with the emergency contact listed for all staff.  Update this information quarterly.
14. Make sure HR can be contacted  out of hours -- you will need their input if your staff are impacted in any way.
15. Make it easy for staff to communicate with your organisation during a crisis.  Set up a  free phone number that gives out a pre-recorded message of the latest factual information.
16. People will be desperate for information in a crisis -- your phones could get jammed very quickly. Consider outsourcing this to a specialist supplier.
17. Use your website for disseminating information to your staff     and customers.
18. If invoking a remote site, consider all the practical and     logistical issues in advance: transportation, accommodation, catering, child care, shift patterns, etc.
19. If you have a crisis overseas, a whole host of other issues will come into play.  Time differences, language barriers, variable medical standards, cultural differences in dealing with death and bereavement, poor or non-existent local support, involvement of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, etc., will all come into play.
20. Be aware of the protocols of death notification for the country you live in.  In Australia and the UK, this is done by the police.
21. Provide ongoing support to those who have been personally affected by the crisis.  This could include regular hospital visits, frequent communication and possibly attending funerals.
22. Give consideration to the most sensitive way of returning the personal effects of staff if dealing with fatalities.

Dealing with the human factor is perhaps one of the most challenging and rewarding areas of crisis management.   Hopefully, your crisis will never involve injury or death, as nothing canfully prepare you and your crisis team for dealing with these issues.  However, with good planning, training, and a first class crisis response, you and your organisation can deal with the unthinkable.   The reputation of your organisation could even beenhanced, as one that really does care about its people, whetherstaff or customers.

*David Perl originally qualified as a medical doctor. In 1998,after 15 years of practice, he founded Docleaf, a UK-based crisis management consultancy.  His medical background gives him a unique perspective on the world of crises and the importance of maintaining business continuity in the aftermath of a disaster.