Training - the key to business continuity success?

Investment in people pays off during disaster situations. Keith Pursall explores the key aspects of BC training.

People are the most critical resource at the time of a disaster. It is surprising, then, that in the majority of organisations so little attention is paid to training staff in preparation for such an event.

Experience has shown that, in disaster situations, organisations that have invested in business continuity training programmes effect a smoother recovery than those that have not made a similar investment. Also, those that invested in such training programmes have discovered additional benefits under normal working conditions - with business continuity processes becoming accepted as part of normal day-to-day operations and business managers more supportive of such efforts.

Business continuity is never a one-off project; it is a constantly evolving process, requiring continuing support in terms of time, people and money. To ensure that all the effort and resources put into developing business continuity plans is not wasted; senior management must show an ongoing commitment to the business continuity process. One area where this commitment can be demonstrated is training.

Developing a training programme
Most business continuity training brochures cover a now familiar range of subject matter - risk analysis, business impact review, recovery strategy selection, plan development, plan testing etc. They may also cover related topics such as project set-up, budgets and resource allocation. These are certainly skills and techniques required by the business continuity professional, and it is important that s/he is trained in their use. However, in the wider business context, much more is needed.

For instance, what about the people who will have to implement any plans?
A comprehensive business-wide training programme is vital. This can take many forms, so it must be tailored to each individual organisation. Identifying and classifying your target audiences is crucial, so the programme must be structured to reflect the level of involvement of any group of individuals - both during the development of the plans and at the time of a disaster.

Typically, a training programme might include:
* Executive briefings for senior management, covering the firm's business continuity policy, the disaster recovery arrangements which have been put in place, and the responsibilities of the senior decision-makers;
* Seminars for key business users, explaining how they would recover, and what is expected of them and their staff in preparation for and dealing with a disaster;
* Workshops for crisis management and recovery team members, including scenario exercises and role-play sessions;
* In-house literature, promoting a business continuity culture and informing all staff of any news, changes and developments.

Reaping the benefits
Significant benefits can be derived from such a training programme. For example:
* Less time spent convincing senior managers on the need for disaster recovery arrangements;
* Suggestions can be fed back to the business continuity manager from within the business on a regular basis;
* Risk reduction and disaster avoidance measures might be introduced by the business areas themselves;
* There will be more support within the organisation for what the business continuity manager is trying to achieve;
* Individual business areas can take responsibility for their part in dealing with a disaster;
* All staff will be made more aware of their role if a disaster should occur.

Never lose sight of why your business continuity plans are being developed in the first place, as people will turn to them at the time of a disaster - a time of considerable upheaval, disorientation and stress. If they have been properly trained in how to use them, then the organisation's response to the disaster will be far more effective.
If the necessary skills to do this are not already available within the organisation, then outside consultants may well be a more cost-effective option.

Like everything else, the necessary resources and budgets must be allocated to these activities, it should compare well with the time taken to respond to situations which would never have arisen if the people concerned had been better informed.

Concentrate more on the people involved, and establish a business continuity culture throughout your organisation by putting staff training at the top of the agenda.

Contact Keith Pursall via the www.alkemists.com website.

Reader comment:

Whilst endorsing all that Keith said in the article, I think we BCP practitioners may sometimes miss an opportunity. Many of the methods and techniques we use in our 'problem definition' phase of BCP activities are transferable to other contexts. For example, identifying and evaluating risks, developing and implementing measures to avoid disasters, and identifying the interdependencies between people, processes, and systems, can be helpful to project managers involved in non-BCP endeavours. I believe the clearer we show this value, the greater will be the acceptance of BCP as a general management skill.

Mike Faithfull MBCI

•Date: 23rd May 2003 •Region: Worldwide / UK •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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