Business Continuity Planning is Business Efficiency at a Survival Level!
The Insurance Information Institute1 cites surveys noting that:
- Less than a third (31 percent) of business owners said their businesses are “extremely” or “very prepared” for disasters
- Over half (54 percent) indicated they were not concerned about a disaster impacting their business
- Only 37 percent of business owners surveyed said they had a defined and practiced emergency plan at work
- As many as 40 percent of small businesses hit directly by a serious natural disaster perish!
I recommend using an All Hazards Approach as defined by NFPA 1600 (National Fire Protection Association) for Business Continuity Planning. FEMA2 has posted a site which notes the following key elements for an effective plan:
- Program Management
- Organize, develop and administer your preparedness program
- Identify regulations that establish minimum requirements for your program
- Planning
- Gather information about hazards and assess risks
- Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA)
- Examine ways to prevent hazards and reduce risks
- Implementation
Write a preparedness plan addressing:- Resource management
- Emergency response
- Crisis communications
- Business continuity
- Information technology
- Employee assistance
- Incident management
- Training
- Testing and Exercises
- Test and evaluate your plan
- Define different types of exercises
- Learn how to conduct exercises
- Use exercise results to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan
- Program Improvement
- Identify when the preparedness program needs to be reviewed
- Discover methods to evaluate the preparedness program
- Utilize the review to make necessary changes and plan improvements
Be Prepared!
Robert A. Fowke, MBA, Ph.D. (NIBCM Certified Continuity Manager Certification No. 20130120-01)
Sources:
1Insurance Information Institute, retrieved from: http://www2.iii.org/small-business-guide/risk-management/disaster-response-and-recovery-planning.html
2FEMA, retrieved from: http://www.ready.gov/business