Meteorologists and other weather experts said that natural disasters are getting more frequent and becoming more violent nowadays. They could be right. We have just experienced some unprecedented catastrophic wrath of nature in recent years. Well, even man-made disasters are getting deadlier by the day. Now that we have entered the rainy season, it would be wise to be prepared for the onslaught of typhoons, the occurrence of which is not far-fetched and God forbid, other unforeseen calamities. We have to brace ourselves for whatever comes.
It was for this reason that I endeavored to attend the recently concluded trainers training on Business Continuity Planning. If you have not encountered this term before, this is simply about crafting a plan to take appropriate measures to be able to minimize the likelihood and impact of the damage brought about by a disaster. It was intended for businesses to bounce back and recover immediately in case a disaster strikes. And true enough, this training caused me to have a deeper appreciation on the necessity of preparing our business, office or company in the event of an impending disaster that disrupts our services.
Unfortunately, our country is situated within the Pacific Ring of Fire, of all places. This is the corner of the world where it is the favorite spot for earthquakes and typhoons to show off their strength. Therefore, we are not isolated and insulated from these natural disasters. And by this time, we should already have a ready plan on what to do when disaster strikes. Furthermore, our offices including our co-op businesses, must be prepared to implement preventive measures, response measures and recovery measures to cushion the destructive effects of violent winds and lashing rains pounding on our land including those sudden deadly shaking of the earth.
It is with this fact that we encourage our co-ops, as part of their planning, to put in place measures to become resilient in times of business disruptions. Resilience is commonly defined as the ability to bounce back and recover from a major setback caused by disasters, natural or man-made. It is about time that co-ops and businesses must learn about Business Continuity Management or BCM.
According to some practitioners, BCM is the “Management’s capability to identify potential impacts that threaten an organization and to provide a framework for building resilience and an effective response that safeguards the interests of its key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value-creating activities. Stakeholders include employees, customers, suppliers, investors, and the community or communities in which an organization operates”.
Suppose our office was consumed by fire or inundated with water brought about by a strong typhoon destroying all of our critical files, do we have a way to recover those data? Do we have a pre-determined area where we can hold our temporary office in case our office was reduced to rubble or unsafe for occupancy? More importantly, our employees. Do they have safety measures such as protective gears and insurance as they go on about their daily routine especially for those who are constantly travelling?
These are just a few examples of things that must be addressed to ensure we can be back for regular business at the soonest possible time after the occurrence of a major disruption. For those who are interested to know more about business continuity planning, you can get in touch with our office for proper guidance.
