Operational Risk and Business Continuity go hand-in-hand. The most common potential failure I have seen regarding an external event is a lack of preparedness by key personnel at the personal level. If a severe natural disaster or riots disrupt a large urban area, most organisations would fail to implement their emergency plan or be able to maintain emergency operations because the key personnel and their families are not prepared for such emergencies.
We have all heard of the proverbial “Three-day Emergency Kit” promoted by government disaster planning organisations. Unfortunately this limit is not realistic for most situations. The “72 hours” limit is a military standard based upon the ability of a functioning logistics establishment. Soldiers get re-supplied, but who will re-supply you after 72 hours?
If the key personnel are not able to keep their families warm, fed, and safe with the supplies on hand, then they will not show-up to keep the company running. Planning for this type of business interruption starts with the people who will keep things running during the emergency, and that includes their families.
Recently, a client got to try-out their well-laid plans. They were very fortunate to have their emergency operations centre only about 60 miles from their normal location. They had the foresight to preposition food, shelter, and equipment. However, the after-action reports revealed some critical failures.
The first was the inadequate physical conditioning of the key personnel. Most had to walk, with their immediate families, for a maximum of 8 miles to get out of the disaster area to where transport was waiting. Communication was adequate as the company radio system remained functional to allow the transport part of the plan to work properly. However, some key personnel could not make the walk due to poor physical conditioning or poor health. The company had not even considered this factor in planning, or when selecting key personnel.
The other critical failure was an utter lack of planning or preparation on the part of the key personnel and the company did not offer any training or guidance on how to hike the distance required. None of the key staff had proper boots or clothing. None had a proper pack, DEET, bug suit, or anything else of practical value. The weather was wet, cold for the season, and the biting insects were out in force. This could have been the second disaster.
This company did many things right. They had a kitchen and 2 weeks of food. They had a former ER nurse on-site. They had emergency housing on-site. They had communications and the equipment needed to keep operating. What they didn’t have was staff. Over one-half of the key staff were unable, or unprepared, to walk to the rally point.