Comment: Bert van Walbeek on crisis management
19 May 2010
What else can go wrong?
Volcano-ash, Demo-crazy Riots, Financial Crisis, Oil-spill, Terrorism, Bankruptcy, Earthquake, Strikes….you name it and we, the hospitality industry, have to face it…
Therefore allow me a few simple and very realistic questions:
Ø Do you look left and then right when you cross the street?
In many countries however you must look right and then left …..
Ø Do you have a computer back-up system for all departments?
But can you access it from the distance and what if you have no electricity …….
Ø What does your insurance policy cover?
Is it for water and/or wind damage and what are/are not “acts of god”?
Ø How large and where is your emergency fund?
Can you access it in case of political unrest or natural calamities?
The answers to those relatively simple challenges are, first of all, create higher awareness for the need for Business Contingency Planning, Risk Management and preventive Crisis Management and, second, acquire the management skills and the “corporate will” that are needed to implement these concepts.
Business Contingency Planning (BCP) is a documented set of procedures and information intended to deliver continuity of critical functions in the event of a disruption.
A BCP manual for a small hotel may be simply a printed manual stored safely away from the primary work location, containing the names, addresses, and phone numbers for crisis management staff, general staff members, clients, media and vendors along with the location of the offsite data backup, copies of insurance contracts, and other critical materials necessary for organizational survival.
At its most complex, a BCP manual may outline a secondary work site, technical requirements and readiness, regulatory reporting requirements, work recovery measures, the means to re-establish physical records, the means to establish a new supply chain, or the means to establish new production centers.
