Gustav Gives a Human Resources Reminder
by Lois MelbourneAs we watched the weather obsessively throughout Labor Day weekend, it was reminiscent of, but not as scary as, the Katrina weekend of 3 years ago. However, like during Katrina, our cousin was ‘locked down’ at the Mississippi gulf coast hospital where she works. Evacuation is not an option for those people keeping much of our infrastructure operating in times of need.
As an infection control expert now managing vast implementations for the IT of the hospital, her expertise is amazing and very valuable. Yet during the lock down she wore many hats, including serving food in the cafeteria. When an organization is affected by emergencies, everybody has to do their part.
This raises a very vital human resource question. Is your organization cross trained to work in a wide variety of emergency situations? IT departments are typically charged with producing redundant systems to keep at least mission critical systems running. Is your staff trained to keep the technology in use? For instance, in small businesses, how deep is the bench that knows how to run payroll? In a disaster or emergency situation a large group of employees may be affected. Does an outsourcer or other department head at least have written instructions to keep the minimum systems operational? (I know IT would sure feel better if all that effort to make things work in a disaster recovery situation is going to be supported by the human side as well). In a large business, can the west coast office really support the east coast’s operations when you switch the phone lines to their direction? Are your people ready?
Our cousins are safe. The people hit the hardest by Katrina were spared the worst this time. There are many unsung heroes in these situations. I hope your team takes Gustav as a reminder that contingency plans go way beyond call trees and evacuation plans. Keeping the company going is the next level needed after the safety of the employees is addressed. This level of planning keeps their future safe, too.
Cheers,
Lois
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