Your company culture: does it include emergency preparedness?

It’s May, officially “Small Business Month” 2014. The month starts off with good news: ADP reported that small businesses added 82,000 jobs in April. And NFIP, the National Federation of Independent Business, reports that its Optimism Index reached 95, a level not seen since October 2007.

Good news offset by sad realities

This good news is tempered by continued reports of natural disasters impacting business owners across the country: wildfires in Southern California, severe storms in the central states, and hurricane season on the East Coast just around the corner from the corner. And as I write this, I know that it is the one year anniversary of the tornado that devastated Moore, Oklahoma in 2013.

There is no way that a company can survive some of these disasters.

But all businesses can take steps to survive emergencies and prevent them from becoming disasters. The NFIB points the way: “Emergency preparedness must be embedded in the culture of the organization.”

Build a culture of readiness

Having a plan and having practiced it goes a long way in building that necessary “culture.” (In fact, NOT having a plan pretty much negates any possibility of having one.) There are many great resources available online to help you develop your plan, from FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Red Cross. Even NFIB has a good starter article.

The best plans also have scheduled practices. Everyone should understand the basics of emergency or safety equipment. In many cases, when the emergency occurs, some employees may be missing. Others will have to step up to do jobs that are not normally theirs. There will be no time to train once the disaster strikes.

Customize your Business Continuity Plan

However, most generic plans don’t really get into the details that make the plan effective for your particular business!

To help fill these gaps, we’re putting together a series of short videos. Each addresses a potential “missing piece” of a typical small business continuity plan.

You can already see the first three videos. They cover different aspects of emergency communications in the business environment. In less than 16 minutes, you can get some common-sense recommendations that will apply if services are temporarily disrupted, buildings are damaged, or your entire workplace becomes unusable.

Interestingly, a report came out last week from Tinker Federal Credit Union, whose branch in Moore was struck by the Oklahoma tornado. One of his recommendations: “Improve site communications during a disaster.”