By James Green
In the wake of Winter Storm Jonas, many credit unions are either feeling thankful they had realistic and thoughtful business continuity plans in place before the storm hit, or wishing they had been more thorough when it comes to disaster preparedness.
Even if you took into account factors like off-site data storage and disaster recovery plans for your systems, you might have still found yourself unprepared.
In a 2014 survey, managers were asked: “In the event of a disaster, what percentage of your employees would return to the office once it reopens or would be willing to relocate to a secondary location?” The most common answer was 80 percent. But if history is any indication, you would be lucky to have 15% of your workforce return to work or relocate in the event of a disaster.
Why such a significant discrepancy?
Let’s look at three potential reasons why your business continuity puzzle may be incomplete:
Absenteeism & Geography
Many companies project absenteeism rates during an emergency without considering the geographical uniqueness of not only their office’s physical location, but also where their employees live. But an office with the lights on and no people is as bad as an office full of people with no lights on. For example, if your office is near a river that is prone to flooding, how many employees live in an area that would be affected by that same flood?
The reason that absenteeism rates are usually underestimated is that companies tend to focus primarily on getting their facility back up and running as soon as possible. But as an employee, if MY house is flooded, if MY house has roof damage, if I need to have a claims adjuster onsite at MY house, I am not coming to work that day. So take a look at where your employees live in relation to your office.
Not Business as Usual
Your office and branches are back open, your employees’ homes are in the process of being repaired, but they are still not coming to work. Why? Companies who call their employees to let them know the office is now open often forget to ask critically important questions, like whether they have running water and electricity, clean clothes, access to food and drinking water, or transportation to work.
Your employees may want to return to work but are embarrassed to do so without having the ability to take care of these basic human needs. Most natural disasters include a loss of power, and with that drinking water and the ability to cook a meal are lost too. If my car is underwater as a result of the aforementioned flood, I may be ready and willing to work but do not have a way to get there. Or perhaps my child’s school is still closed, and I can’t leave him/her at home alone.
Emotional & Physiological Effects
Your business is back up and running, your employees’ homes are in reasonably good shape, and life is on its way back to normal. So why are people still not coming to work? One aspect of disasters that is often overlooked is the mental trauma and anguish they can inflict on people. The American Psychological Society states that normal reactions to a disaster may include, “tense, unpredictable feelings; flashbacks; trouble concentrating or making decisions; disrupted eating and sleeping patterns; strained personal relationships; and physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea or chest pain.”
So what can you do? You may already have an Employee Assistance Program, but companies often forget to use it during a disaster. The Red Cross also deploys Mental Health Teams to areas that have experienced an event, and other non-governmental organizations (NGO) do the same.
Preparing for what happens to your employees during and after a disaster is as vital to your business as the preparations you make for your systems and equipment in the case of the same event. One is irrelevant without the other to you and your members. Having a realistic and thoughtful business continuity plan including all aspects of your business will help you get back to “business as usual” much sooner than your competitors.
James Green leads the business continuity program at PSCU. He is passionate about life safety and helps the C-Suite understand the importance of business continuity not just during an emergency, but as an integral part of day to day operations. James attended Northeastern University and holds both the Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) designation from the Disaster Recovery Institute International and the Credit Union Enterprise Risk Management Expert designation from the Credit Union National Association.