| It's time to stop the excuses
A survey by the American Management Association shows that 64 percent of American companies, many in the medium range with less than 5,000 employees, are prepared to face a crisis, a term broadly defined to include any significant interruption to operations ranging from a chemical spill to an act of terrorism. This means that, in the midst of the war on terrorism, a disturbing 36 percent of medium size businesses do not have crisis plans and are not prepared for an unexpected catastrophe of any type. The latest report from The Conference Board indicates more disturbing news – that only 28 percent of mid-market companies have an off-site centre for emergency operations. Some or all of these companies at least have security guards at their doors or gates. But crisis plans and business continuity plans go well beyond that, and include the essential information senior management need to have at their fingertips in a crisis, the infrastructure such as a ‘war room’ in which to function during a crisis, communications guidelines, contingency plans, and the like. While the nation frets about, reacts to or even becomes complacent about the government's colour-coded threat levels and bureaucratic turf battles, the fact remains that American businesses, not the US government, are in total control of a whopping 85 percent of the infrastructure of the United States! It is time to take the mystery out of why so many businesses remain unprepared – and take the steps to prepare. The excuses fail to justify American businesses’ lack of preparedness. Let's take a look: Excuse: It's expensive to create a plan. Fact: Yes, it costs money, but that expense is negligible compared to the cost of recovering from a crisis that could have been prevented or managed so well that the losses and disruptions were minimal. The cost of a crisis is far more than the physical expense of destroyed goods or idled labour. Your company’s precious asset – its reputation, built carefully over the years – is on the line too. It only takes one poorly managed crisis to send a company into a reputational tailspin from which it may never recover.
Fact: On any given day, bad things happen to good companies. Everything from tornadoes to employee violence darken the doors of companies every day – the threat of terrorism notwithstanding, which can surprise any company in any location on any given day. Excuse: Planning is complicated and time consuming. And we just cannot afford the distraction. Fact: You cannot afford not to. Once companies accept crisis planning as a normal part of their business, it becomes just that – a normal part of business. Like factoring in time and expense for government clearances or legal review, the more routine a company makes crisis planning, the more accepted and efficient it becomes, and the more protected your company is from the unexpected. Excuse: Once the plan's in the place I understand we need to train our people. And if that's not enough, I hear we need to do periodic simulations. There is no way we can take the time! Fact: Yes, that is correct. Training, like all other aspects of crisis planning, can and should become a part of the company's routine. Simulations, whether annual or semi-annual, are unusual and do disrupt the company routines for the time they take. The most effective ones do not exceed four hours plus another hour or two for debriefing to discuss lessons learned and steps to take to improve. The big war games you hear about are important, but leave those to the government agencies responsible for protecting mass casualties. There's an interesting plus to the simulations which I have noticed over the years. A company invariably discovers, during a simulation, a previously overlooked area of operations that, if corrected, may prevent a crisis. It doesn't get much better than that.
* The simpler the plan the better. * A commitment must be made to make planning and training part of company culture. Where to start? It's simple – the beginning! Take a long, hard look at all the vulnerabilities of your company – from terrorism to scandal to natural disasters. Alongside each potential disaster on the list, give your company a score, from one to 10 – to indicate how well prepared you are to manage each crisis, should it occur; to continue operations at essential levels; and to recover. If your company needs further motivation, consider the competitive advantage of joining those companies who work every day to improve their crisis preparedness and leaving your competitors in the ranks of the 36 percent of the unprepared. And if nothing else motivates you to work on a crisis plan for your company on a calm day, then you may want to get to work on the explanations you will need to deliver to shareholders, customers, government investigators and the media in the midst of a crisis about why you were not prepared. Len Biegel is president of The Biegel Group of Washington, D.C. He works with corporations and industry groups throughout the United States on crisis communications and management organisation. He was a member of the crisis management team involved in the Tylenol tamperings in the 1980s and his current work involves Homeland security issues as a consultant to The Business Roundtable and as an advisor to the McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Summit. Download a print friendly version (PDF)
•Date:
3rd September 2004 •Region: N.America •Type:
Article •Topic: BC
general |
