| The recent eruption of an Icelandic volcano was | | | | childcare provisions, particularly during school |
| the first of a cascading series of events. The | | | | holidays. So, it's prudent to assume that loss of |
| eruption occurred at a time when, unseasonably | | | | key workers is to be a recurring problem. |
| the prevailing winds across the UK were from the | | | | To prepare your business, you need to be able to |
| North West (typically at this time of year, UK | | | | answer the following questions: |
| weather comes from the South West), carrying | | | | |
| the ash cloud over Northern Europe. The | | | | 1. Do you know who your key workers are? |
| authorities had little choice to close airspace until | | | | 2. Do you know where they are at the moment? |
| the picture became clearer. The, critically, it | | | | 3. What critical activities are they handling in the |
| happened on the final weekend of the schools' | | | | short-term? |
| Easter holidays, leaving thousands of families | | | | 4. What information do they need to keep those |
| stranded. Up to 100,000 Britons were caught up in | | | | activities moving? |
| the chaos. Many businesses were faced by | | | | 5. Can they access it remotely if necessary? |
| unexpected staff absences and some of those | | | | 6. If a key worker becomes unavailable, who |
| staff may not be back yet. It's always | | | | could deputise? |
| inconvenient when staff are absent, but what if | | | | 7. Do those deputies know what the priority |
| they're key workers? While we're prepared (at | | | | actions are? |
| least to some degree) to cope with major | | | | 8. Can they reach the necessary information? |
| disruptions to our IT infrastructure, or even our | | | | One important thing you could do, which is specific |
| physical premises, there's an increasing awareness | | | | to the recent problem, is to provide assistance to |
| that people also affect business continuity. | | | | key staff when they're travelling, either on |
| When disaster strikes, the first priority is to stop | | | | business or for pleasure. For example, one large, |
| events spiralling out of control and developing into | | | | global software vendor partners with an |
| a crisis. The most sophisticated organisations have | | | | organisation specialising in managing travel related |
| standing crisis management teams and conduct | | | | risks. Whenever staff arrange a business trip |
| regular exercises for those team, anticipating a | | | | through the corporate travel booking system, |
| wide range of situations, however improbable, and | | | | their itinerary and contact details were |
| planning the business response to protect | | | | automatically passed to the partner organisation. |
| reputation and customer confidence. A little over | | | | Staff carry a card with telephone numbers for a |
| a year ago, businesses were preparing for | | | | 24 hour emergency contact centre and the |
| widespread disruption when Swine Flu reached | | | | partner could arrange direct assistance, including |
| pandemic proportions. Mercifully, that didn't happen | | | | evacuation if needed. |
| to anything like the level feared, but hopefully, | | | | Only once you understand the "who" and the |
| that preparation will have helped with this new | | | | "what" of staff-related risks to business continuity, |
| challenge. As we emerge from the recession, | | | | you can turn your attention to the "where" and |
| staffing levels have been pared to the bone; plus, | | | | the "how" by preparing mitigation strategies. |
| we know that many families barely cope with | | | | |