Pandemic Planning Top Ten Tips to Increase Your Business Resilience Although the WHO announced in August 2010 that the H1N1 influenza virus ('Swine Flu') has moved into the post pandemic phase, pandemic influenza remains on the UK's National Risk Register and organisations are still urged to prepare for it. Absenteeism is the major continuity challenge of the pandemic situation with short-staffing inevitable due to illness, caring responsibilities and fear of leaving home to go to work. This may have a significant knock on effect and lead to disruption of transport networks, power and water supply, ICT systems and create massive strain within the supply chain. So, what can you do to minimise the potential impacts of staff absence on your organisation? Here we give our Top Ten Tips to increase your resilience to pandemic influenza.
1. Build on existing business continuity and crisis management arrangements The key difference between a pandemic situation and 'traditional' business continuity incident (where planning typically focuses on premises and IT) is that the prime impact is people. Planning for a pandemic should therefore build on your existing business continuity and crisis management arrangements. So first, look at what you currently have in place and how it can be adapted.
2. Consider your vulnerabilities Consider what your vulnerabilities are as a business. You might want to gather a few people together from across the organisation to do a quick analysis. Some considerations include:
Staff with specialist skills i.e. succession planning Location i.e. urban / rural / global Resilience of external suppliers and other stakeholders Demand for your services and whether these would be affected by a pandemic situation Key tasks that need to be performed on a routine basis Resources that underpin the organisation such as IT and premises Key events and diary dates
3. Identify your business priorities and minimum staffing requirements
Agree what your priorities would be in the event of a disruption i.e. which services are most critical or urgent and which could be stood down Confirm the minimum staffing requirements to maintain critical services and how this will be achieved If you have a business continuity plan you should already have a clear idea of what your priorities would be in the event of a disruption – revisit and consider them in the context of a pandemic scenario
4. Consider and revise your HR policies A pandemic scenario has the potential to raise a number of HR related issues. Consider existing HR related policies and how these may need to be adapted to deal with a pandemic situation. Key areas for consideration include: Flexible working arrangements Absence, pay, leave and return to work Overseas travel Dealing with fatalities Benefits and disciplinary
5. Brief staff regularly and demonstrate commitment to their care As with any crisis, perception can be more important and damaging than reality. How people respond can have huge impacts on an organisation or community. It is vital that staff feel that their management team cares, that they are kept briefed about any steps the organisation is taking to prepare for a developing pandemic situation, and what their role is in helping reduce the potential impact. Reiterate the health expert’s messages about good personal hygiene and what to do if you become ill.
6. Develop a communications strategy Managing any major incident successfully depends upon strong leadership and good communications. Your communications team, or person, could be quite busy: If you have a communications strategy look at how it might need adapting to deal with a more severe pandemic situation i.e. high levels of absenteeism etc Identify key stakeholders that you might need to keep briefed (internal and external) Draft core communications messages Ensure staff know where to get information and advice from, both in relation to the general situation and the organisation’s response
7. Assign roles and responsibilities Ensure that roles and responsibilities are clearly assigned at all levels of the organisation, along with clear identification of who takes on which responsibilities should a key member of staff be taken ill.
8. Set up a flu team It is a good idea to set up an in-house flu team or task force to help move any planning forward quickly and keep abreast of the situation as it develops.
9. Infection control Consider any pragmatic steps to help reduce the risk of infection in the work place including: Maintaining a stock of essential cleaning supplies Conduct a workplace review – could it be better set up to reduce infection? Cleaning regimes and how these can be enhanced
10. Examine the impact of flexible working arrangements on ICT provision In the event that the current pandemic situation develops, many organisations are planning to make use of flexible working arrangements. It is important to consider the following; Is IT capable of supporting the number of remote workers expected to utilise the facility? Identification of ‘hands on’ support activities and whether a ‘hands off’ alternative can be implemented e.g. disaster recovery backup processing Non-emergency changes that could be suspended Resilience of the IT engineering team and if necessary how this could be improved e.g. documenting key tasks or processes
Regardless of how a pandemic evolves, taking these steps can ensure that your organisation is as best prepared as possible. Close examination of these factors will lead to improved business resilience that will endure long after a pandemic has passed.
If you would like further information or help with your pandemic planning, please call us on 0845 094 2117. www.steelhenge.co.uk