Disaster

The last five years have seen an increased focus on crisis management and disaster recovery. Disasters such as 9/11, the South Asian Tsunami, and most recently Hurricane Katrina, have left people with the startling realization that they are unprepared for such life-altering events. And while one might argue that a crisis is precisely that because it is unexpected, it does not have to be an unplanned for event.

Kevin Becker, Psy.D., nationally recognized for his skills in psychological trauma and crisis, is a senior partner at Organizational Resilience International, a crisis consulting firm that specializes in the people aspects of crisis preparedness. Dr. Becker recently addressed SMH’s Workplace Teleconference Series on how organizations can prepare for, respond to, and overcome the human impact of disaster.

“There are a lot of people who your organization touches and therefore, when you’re preparing for a crisis you want to make sure that you’re specifically preparing for the needs of those people across the lifecycle of a crisis, from prevention and early identification through the response and recovery process,” says Becker.

“Human Impact Preparedness” focuses on what individuals need to stay healthy, productive, and motivated in order to keep the organization running. This means thinking about the people behind the plan. Just as a company would with a business continuity plan, organizations must anticipate the needs of their people, figure out how they operate under pressure, and design plans that will work accordingly. “It’s a team effort that has to be vetted with the folks within the organization,” said Becker.

The model that Dr. Becker uses to help organizations address human impact issues consists of five component areas: Emergency Assistance, Psychological Support, Family Readiness, Organizational Readiness, and Additional Stakeholders. Together, these areas comprehensively address the needs of the organization and its stakeholders and assure optimal functioning in a crisis.

“It’s not just response focused,” Becker said. He used SMH’s Workplace Screening Program as an example of a program that can be used on an ongoing basis, but can be customized to relate to specific traumatic incidents.

“That can be an important component of your human impact preparedness because you may set up structures in your agency to help you identify folks who may be more vulnerable for long-term impact if you do have a crisis. There are a lot of different things from a psychological perspective that can be preventative,” he pointed out.

Whether it is a natural disaster, terrorist attempt, an assault on a company’s reputation or threat of a merger or downsizing, there are a lot of ways that people can feel threatened. “One of the first things [organizations should] do in the planning process is think of what kind of crisis they need to plan for,” says Becker. “As you start to put mechanisms in place as part of your impact planning, look at what you think your business is most susceptible to and put your plans together in view of that. The point is to ask these questions in advance so you simply activate the plan instead of playing catch-up.

Becker encourages all organizations to create a human impact team, develop a plan, and ensure that all members of the organization have input into the process. “Leaders keep their eye on the horizon, not just on the bottom line,” says Becker. Planning ahead can save an organization, business, or community from the detrimental effects of disaster.

Dr. Becker can be reached at www.oriconsulting.com.