Make sure the task force has representation from a wide range of viewpoints
Commit significant time, people, and money to the planning process
Conduct regular meeting
Assign task force members with deliverables
Make sure every member understands the significance of a pandemic on business operations
Write down your plan and communicate it to all staff
You cannot create a business continuity plan by yourself.
Points to Consider in Your Plan
1. Operations
Essential functions—what has to run regardless of the event?
What is the minimum staffing level needed to function?
Who will have decision-making authority and how will it be delegated?
What is the order of succession, in case top management becomes ill or unable to attend to business?
Are your communication capabilities adequate?
Can your physical facility remain open and running?
Can you provide adequate security to your employees?
Do you have appropriate agreements/plans with your suppliers? Is your business part of your suppliers’ continuity of operations plan?
Do you have a backup plan for your critical records?
Do you have/need an alternate worksite?
Have you determined how you are going to recover after the pandemic?
2. Human Resources
Decide what functions are critical to your business operation and what staff are essential to those functions. Assign one staff member to be responsible for each critical function. Assign staff to report to each critical function leader. Assign one person to be in charge of overall operations, and designate a back up to that person.
Consider all the employees in your organization and assign them to one of the following categories:
Your plan should address the following:
How long do you pay those who aren’t working? (Partial or full?)
How long do you continue benefits?
What will you do if employees refuse to come to work?
What if a family member is sick but the employee is well — do you have them come in?
If a person comes down with the flu after being at work, is it a workers compensation issue?
What if schools are closed?
Some businesses may need to consider the following workforce situations:
Lock downs—essential employees may not be allowed to return to their homes
Job shifting—essential tasks may need to be shifted to employees who are able to come to work
3. Worksite Practices/Social Distancing:
Implement a robust work-from-home program
Invest in a broadband connection, if you have not already
Consider who would be issued a company-sponsored computer and all necessary peripherals
Practice working from home at least one day a month
Encourage hand washing-Place signs in restrooms and use hand sanitizer
Conduct employee trainings on expectations during a pandemic
Distribute people across different shifts
Reduce workspace germs by cleaning employee work areas more frequently than normal, especially surfaces that harbor more germs (telephone, keyboard, computer mouse)
Eliminate face-to-face meetings
4. Travel
Consider the following questions in relation to your business’s travel policy:
Do your employees travel for business?
What happens if you have people in Southeast Asia and the borders are shut down and airlines are ordered to stop flying?
Will you expatriate them?
Will you pay for their accommodations until you can get them out?
Do you have a relationship with an international health provider?
Do you have the ability to get your employees health care and prescriptions until they can be safely expatriated?
What if employees travel for personal reasons?
Does your company’s health insurance plan include international coverage?
Will you hold employees’ jobs or continue salary and benefits if they cannot get home due to travel restrictions?
Should you require home quarantine before returning to work if an employee travels to areas where outbreaks have occurred?
Do you have a place where employees can get information about travel destinations and influenza?
5. Communication
Internal communication will be crucial to business continuity. Your plan should include the following:
How do you communicate (with what tools)?
How often?
To whom?
What is the message?
When to communicate?
Who does the communicating?
Update employee information including all forms of home contact (e.g., address, primary contact, cellular phone, home email, etc.)
Your web site should contain a wealth of accurate and up-to-date information about pandemic influenza and how it might impact your business. Consider instituting an influenza Intranet page for your employees containing links to government sources of information.
Communicate any changes in strategies and outbreak updates through an employee notification system.
Develop strategies and prioritization if the phones are overloaded, such as: