The following are several "frequently asked questions" I thought would be good to share.
1. How did you get involved in this kind of Business, training businesses how to plan for a crisis?
I am a Native Midwesterner, so I grew up experiencing the severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and winter storms that are common to this part of the country. While in the military I learned about planning, and preparation, As an Intelligence Officer I learned the importance of being “Proactive”; meaning I wanted as much advance warning as possible of developing situations in order to monitor and respond to the developing threat.
2. Why do businesses that have survived just fine for 60 years need to re-evaluate threats that seem unlikely in small town USA (terrorism, pandemic)?
Threats today are different than those of the past. In our global economy we are no longer as independent, the events elsewhere can have dramatic effects here at home. The impact and speed of recovery following an incident depends on the planning done today.
Of course the complexity of an emergency preparedness program varies according to many factors such as location, as well as type and size of business. For example a Pandemic effects everyone where a Hurricane is a threat only to certain locations.
3. What types of changes do you suggest?
The impact and speed of recovery following a disaster depends on preparedness planning and response done today. Business owners invest a considerable amount of time, money and resources to be successful, being prepared can mean staying in business following a disaster. According to the Institute for Business and Home Safety, an estimated 25 percent of businesses do not reopen following a major disaster,
4. What types of costs are involved for a typical business?
Emergency preparedness is more than a matter of cost. Numerous factors impact cost, the size and type of business, geographic locations, what types of threats are they exposed to, and the current state of their emergency preparedness program are all variables to be considered.
For example, a small business is less involved than a large business and a National business has not as complex as an International business. It is important to understand that there are no “Silver Bullets”. Technology and systems are enablers. Technology can be damaged or fail, it is training and people that are essential, strong leadership is decisive to the success of the program.
5. Have you actually seen clients use their use their new plan?
Sure, it’s not a matter of “if” as much as “When”. I led the development of a Global Pandemic Plan for an international company. At that time “Avian Flu” was considered a potential threat however it was not imminent. Several months later in March, the Novel H1N1 virus (formerly Swine Flu) sprung up in Mexico and less than three months later on June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization Declared the H1N1 a Pandemic. Organizations around the world are scrambling to respond to an event that was unthinkable a few months earlier.
6. Success/Failures?
I see this as a matter of perspective. What I have observed is in the area of Successes; A better understanding of the benefits of being better prepared and the positive aspects to the long term success of the business.
In the area of Failures; Communications remains a challenge for many organizations, quickly reaching a widely dispersed number of people is challenging in itself, confirming and directing operations remotely is exceptionally hard. This is an area that is being better addressed both by technology and by organizational leadership.
The second area is Training. Having plan is not enough to ensure success. Employee turnover and changes in the business require that crisis response plans to be regularly updated and training be conducted on a recurring basis. Training must be as realistic as time and cost allow. In many organizations evacuations and fire drills are performed during the spring and summer months during good weather. This can provide a false sense of security as plans do not include procedures for inclement weather and personnel accountability.
HOW ROBUST IS YOUR PLAN?
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