Business Continuity, Its Not Just About Disasters

A Disaster by Any Other Name

The clue is in the name really, but many people consider Business Continuity (BC) to be keeping a business running after a crisis or incident (see our previous post The Biggest Secret of BCP). This is of course true, but the definition of what makes a crisis or incident is what trips up many people.

People, People, People

People are the most important part of every organisation, one of the key planning exercises that some organisations over look is the importance of succession planning. Every person within an organisation should ideally be succession planning, but the more senior the person the more important the exercise.

This is just a Small Company Thing?

No it isn’t. At Fifth Step we’ve worked with small organisations that have excellent succession plans, that are part of the fabric of the organisation and definitely part of their business as usual operations. That certainly isn’t the majority of cases though, so if you’re part of a small company you need to make sure you’re doing the right things.

I work in a Department in a Big Company, Someone Else is Doing this For Me

No they’re not. You need to be professional about this and take responsibility for this as part of your role. Remember a lack of a succession plan will greatly hamper your ability to leave your current role for that job on that tropical island that you’ve always wanted to live on.

Remember people can leave suddenly, for all sorts of reasons (promotion within or out of the organisation, a spouse or partner being head hunted for a role in another location, even a lottery win), so a crisis can be caused by both good and bad things.

How do I Know?

Here are some initial questions to ask of yourself, your staff and your organisation to prompt the question about succession planning.

Who would do my job if I left tomorrow?
Do you have a list of people who should be considered for your role if needed?
Does it include people outside of your organisation?
Are there any areas of my work that only I can do?
Do my direct reports or peers understand your area’s budgets and financial planning?
Are your plans documented enough that someone else could pick them up?
Are your staff reviews kept up to date?
Are key contacts (internal or external) available and known to those who would need them?
Are my direct reports asking themselves these same questions?

Your Next Steps

If your organisation doesn’t have a formal succession planning or succession development activity, perhaps you need to be the person who changes that. Even if you can’t make it organisation-wide you can improve things by being personally professional and accountable for your own succession planning.

If your organisation needs help in any aspect of its business continuity planning or business continuity management then please contact our business continuity team or visit www.fifthstep.com.