As the H1N1 swine flu rapidly spreads from nation to nation, many companies are taking advanced measures to prevent further spread. One major concern is business travel. Many crisis management plans call for employees’ travel to be tracked, as an interview from this New York Times web article states.
“So we can tell a company, you had 35 people in Mexico City last week, and this is where they were, and these are the specific days when each of them arrived back at whatever location,” Dr. Druckman said. “The incubation period is X number of days, and this is when they were potentially exposed. Now and in the future, the issue in these situations is going to be, ‘Well, John just got back from Mexico City on this day, and we need him to stay home for a couple of days.’ ”
Between this high-tech approach and more traditional measures such simply sharing information between branches and organizations, most crisis prevention plans are holding up fairly well. The next step is to cover all the angles. What if an epidemic strikes and the bulk of your workforce can’t come in to the office? Who’s in charge if your entire executive branch falls ill after a retreat? These are the types of questions you absolutely must have answers to before they arise.
JB
Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com