The Corona Virus is here to stay, at least for some time. I do not want to go into the details of the virus as our esteemed experts from the medical field have already highlighted the same.
The problem has manifested across the world since almost every country has some linkage with China, some more than others.
What should companies do?
In the absence of reliable data, companies need to invoke their BCPs for Pandemics.
- Help employees and other key stakeholders (like suppliers, Board Members, Members of the public etc.)
- understand the way this virus can be spread.
- Under what circumstances should employees exercise self-regulation and not attend office or go into public places etc.
- Under what circumstances should employees seek medical help to avert any serious consequences of this pandemic. If possible vulnerable employees need to be extended all possible help, especially those who are living away from their families. Possibly creating support groups for such employees wherever feasible would be in order.
- Organizations need to encourage employees to separate fact from perception in these cases. Many a time, we may tend to overreact to even small colds and may want to avoid going to office and hence affect productivity. On the other hand we may be dismissive (nothing can happen to me) which is also a dangerous assumption as it can induce long term damage to self and to colleagues.
- Organizations should quickly revisit their succession planning to identify the business impact. For eg. If they have personnel who may have visited China or may have been affected by the virus, then organizations should invoke the succession plans as a precautionary measure
- Organizations need to convey to key stakeholders including customers about any possibility of service disruptions. Before doing this, a proper professional statement needs to be vetted by the authorized media communication personnel of the organization with help from the legal experts, to avoid any possible litigations and consequently avoid reputational damage. Most customers would also not accept statements which do not provide timelines for review of the situation. So all statements need to provide reassurance to customers that a daily or weekly or fortnightly review (Based on the MTPD, RTOs for the client) shall be carried out by the organization and make sure clients are kept informed.
- Most importantly, all stakeholders need to be informed when the stand down of the BCP is exercised once organization has assessed that the situation has passed and is no longer affecting the organization.
Look forward to any more suggestions in this regard.
CONTACT:
Sudharshan Balasubramanyam
Director – Technology
MCA Technologies
