Don't forget your people!

People are the most valuable asset any organization has.  In planning, sometimes, we forget to include the importance of people and focus on the Information Technology (IT) or the business functions.  These can't happen if the right people with the right skill sets aren't available.

 After reading a white paper from IBM Global Services, In the spotlight: the human side of business continuity planning, I thought it would be important to pull out some of the important parts of this paper.

The paper discusses human capital resiliency and defines it as "the organization's ability to respond and adapt rapidly to threats posed to its workforce." The people that make up the organization know the critical systems that run the business. They know the customers and stakeholders who would be impacted by any outage and they know how to communicate with each other under normal circumstances.

When an event occurs, it may be anything but normal for individuals involved directly and indirectly.  Tasks that we accomplish with ease today can become a struggle.  Decisions that would be easy to make can become complex.  It's important to have policies and procedures in place, which all employees know and they understand what to do during an event.  These should be exercised and don't wait until an event occurs to put them into action.  These policies include sick time, paid leave, flex time, childcare, elder care, etc.

Communicating with your employees during an event is also critical.  Make sure the message that the employees receive about the event's response and recovery is clear and concise.  Allow employees to communicate via multiple communication vehicles like voice, intra-net, email, etc. "Adopting a virtual working environment requires that your company address specific technology and communication requirements, including providing remote access and support, on line tools and collaborative workspace."  

From the white paper, there are questions we need to ask ourselves; "Are we prepared?"

• Does our organization have critical policies identified and alternatives designed specifically for use during a crisis?
• How will our employees receive critical information in the event of a crisis?
• How will employees communicate with colleagues to keep the business running?
• Have we provided the right preparatory advice to employees in the event of a crisis? Is it kept up to date?
• Are we able to provide immediate support to our employees and their families if a crisis would occur? What kind of support would we provide?
• How is critical job training being rolled out so that personnel gaps can be filled or capabilities outsourced to business partners at a moment's notice?
• Do we have short- and long-term succession plans for critical management and operational roles?
• How should our resource plans and sourcing strategies change to accommodate crisis?
• What plans are in place to provide critical services?
• What components of our organization's culture do we believe will support or hinder individuals in the event of a crisis? 

If you are an IT leader, ask yourselves these questions as well:

•  In the event of a disaster, will our company be able to keep critical communications systems up and running?
• What can we do to establish and optimize virtual infrastructure, so employees can work effectively in remote locations if required?
• Do our third-party providers have business continuity plans to ensure that critical systems, reporting and processes can operate during a crisis?
• Can our company provide crisis response materials and training on demand?

By focusing on the people as well as the critical services and infrastructure needed to run the business, our plans become more robust and more useful. It brings the planning back to the people, who will ultimately be the ones ensuring the recovery plans are followed in the first place.