Kia Takatū te Mahi Get Work Ready
Business resilience planning
Running a business or enterprise keeps you busy, but you should plan for disruption, whether a large earthquake, small power outage, or a disease outbreak or pandemic. It’s more than just having an emergency kit on hand, it’s about knowing the risks to your business, having a plan to respond and making sure your team is ready to act.
A business that’s well-prepared can keep running during an emergency and recover faster afterward. Being prepared is key to keeping your staff safe, protecting your assets, and helping your business recover quickly.
You should consider:
What essential goods and services you rely on.
How you will manage any disruption to supply.
How you will manage with high numbers of staff absence over an extended period.
How you can implement alternative work practices in your business.
What services will need additional support to meet any surge in demand.
Storing information in a cloud environment so that if your internal system goes down, you can still have access to important information.
If there is an alternate location you could temporarily run your business from if necessary.
Think you need a bit of extra help? Resilient Organisations (ResOrgs) is a research and consulting group focused on helping businesses to thrive. There are a range of resources including booklets, case studies and videos to support your planning.
Prepare your workplace and look after your staff
Every workplace has a responsibility to care and look after their staff including keeping them safe during emergencies. Staff are essential to the continuity and resilience of your business.
When a disaster occurs, you may need your team to go above and beyond, and they will rely on your support in return. That’s why it’s important to involve staff in the development of emergency plans, helping to build preparedness and confidence in responding to emergencies that may occur while they’re at work.
Tips to support your staff:
Have a prep talk with your staff. Do they feel prepared for an emergency at work? Are they confident with what to do and where to go?
Encourage your team to have personal emergency plans, so they know how to reach their families and get home safely in the event of a major disruption.
Encouraging your staff to be prepared at home for the sake of themselves and their families is not only good business practice but can help to ensure that staff are able to come back to work feeling reassured that their families are safe.
Plan for and practice earthquake and evacuation drills. Regularly practicing drills can make sure staff remain familiar with emergency procedures.
Consider how you can protect your employees from injury and reduce the risk of the spread of infectious diseases in the workplace. Ensure you have first aid supplies and that your team knows basic first aid.
Make sure you and your staff know how to stay informed during an emergency. If you are issuing work phones, check that the phones are compatible to receive Emergency Mobile Alerts (EMA). Details on EMAs are available on the Get Ready website.
The Resilient Organisations resource ‘Staffed or Stuffed’ has some great ideas on supporting business resilience through your people.
Business Recovery Plans
Business continuity and recovery planning helps your business keep its key operations going during an emergency and recover faster. It’s simpler than you think, and our easy-to-follow guide will walk you through the process.
Your recovery plan should contain information relating to planning for recovery, as well as the resumption of critical business activities after a crisis has occurred. It will help you respond effectively if an incident or crisis affects your business, with the aim to shorten your recovery time and minimise losses.
Developing a recovery plan gives you a chance to consider how you will get your business back on track if you do experience a crisis. It should include:
Strategies to recover your business activities in the quickest possible time
A description of key resources, equipment and staff required to recover your operations
Your recovery time objects
A checklist you can use after a crisis has passed and it is safe to return to your premises
Not sure where to start? Or want to make sure you’ve got everything covered? Our Business Resilience Enhancement Framework is here to help. Click on the documents below to get started.