A common lament of business continuity management professionals is that their leaders and fellow employees aren’t interested in business continuity. But if you ask, “What have you done to engage people in business continuity?” the answer is often a sheepish, “Well, nothing!”
If you want people to be engaged with your program, you have to take the initiative and engage them! Intentionally facilitate and inform people at every level about business continuity and the value that it delivers, as well as about how they can be involved and make a difference. Remember that people take ownership for what they help create, so the more you interact with people, the more business continuity management will become the cultural norm for your enterprise.
There are countless ways in which you can embed business continuity into your organization. For instance, you can:
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Engage executives and department heads in tests and exercises. These tests and exercises can be designed to accomplish a variety of purposes, such as educating participants about critical components of business continuity management or testing participants’ abilities to respond appropriately to a completely unexpected “curve ball.”
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Establish annual mandatory training for all employees. The training should explain what business continuity is, how the process works once an incident is declared, and what is required of employees.
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Launch an internal business continuity website. The site can house the plans that are in place, provide additional resources, and instruct employees how to be prepared at work and at home for a disaster.
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Disseminate information on a regular basis. Take advantage of departmental meetings, lunch-and-learn events, newsletters, social media, and more to keep business continuity in front of employees.
The key here is to be consistent so that the message is being transmitted constantly across the organization, and to be creative so that people want to listen to and engage with the message!
Find out more on how to build a business continuity culture by reading the white paper 8 Steps to Building an Engaging Business Continuity Management Culture.
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