A Response to Japan: The Role of HR in Business Continuity Planning

by Taylor Korsak

On Friday, March 11, I woke to the news of Japan’s 8.9 magnitude quake and the subsequent tsunami.

In the few days since, mounting troubles continue to jar us – videos and pictures have shown a crumbling Japanese coastline, towns gutted and washed away by black water, and children, arms outstretched, undergoing radiation scans.

It’s difficult, first, to comprehend the fragility of our great cities and towns, and then to put it into words. The northeast of Japan, in just days, has experienced a hellish chain of events that the AP News reports has likely killed over 10,000 people.

As weakening tsunami waves made their way from Japan across the Pacific, Friday and evacuation plans for Hawaii and the west coast of the U.S. flashed on TV sets and computer screens, I questioned the extent to which we’ll ever be prepared for disasters like these.

As we focus on the lives lost, the shells of homes left and the very real possibility of a nuclear meltdown, we can imagine the impact on businesses across Japan.

Tragic events like these (think of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake) command our attention and force us to make comparisons: how can we improve or lessen the impact of a similar situation in our area based on what we’ve seen unfold in others? For example, the near meltdown status of the Fukushima nuclear power plant has caused those living near the Indian Point power plant in Buchanan, NY to request a re-evaluation of its stability in the event of an earthquake or other natural disaster.

So how do we increase business resiliency?

Many larger businesses have a systems focused Disaster Recovery Plan, complete with backed-up data in an alternative central hub at a safer location. But HR professionals become more prominent during Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP). A COOP program seeks to preserve the organization and the people in it versus a data and systems based disaster recovery plan.

HR plays one of the most important roles in an organization in the event of a disaster: from accounting for employees during an emergency evacuation to moving them back in when the dust settles, Human Resources’ primary responsibility is to take care of people. It should go without saying – the absolute latest employee information must be organized and easily accessible, whether your company has 100 employees or 20,000. You’ll need to reach out to families, employees abroad, and, if possible, keep an open line for communication at all times.

It’s your job as an HR professional to maintain calm and order when others experience panic and frustration. During day-to-day operations you may be handling employee complaints, benefits and compensation, and training and development, but during a leveling earthquake, fire, or flood, the HR role sort of undergoes a metamorphosis and the very concept of helping your employees rises to a drastically higher level.

Human Resources iQ is interested in your companies policies, personal ideas, and first hand experiences – please feel free to share in the comments section below.

Read more about HR and the disaster in Japan:

Aftershock: What Would Your Business do at 2:47 PM?

When Disaster Strikes: How HR Can Prepare Your Workforce for Crisis