In the News

You can’t spell pandemic without panic. It’s no wonder: the World Health Organization reported 719 H1N1 influenza cases in Canada as of May 22, and 15% to 35% of the workforce could end up catching the virus at any one time.

PANDEMIC PLAN
A highly communicable disease could hit the province hard before local companies know what to do about absent employees. “When we talk about business in general… I would say they’re not as prepared as they should be,” says Bob Klay, the president and founder of Klay Information Management Consulting Ltd. in Calgary. If the company has a smaller staff count or its business doesn’t provide “essential services” (like the police, firefighters or hospitals), it likely hasn’t considered a pandemic plan.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY
Historically, pandemics have occurred only three or four times per century, according to Health Canada. But should a breakout of infection arise, companies without pandemic plans can turn to their business continuity plans, in which they can “identify what things you can prevent, what things you can mitigate and the other things that are just imminent,” says Klay. “And then the question is, ‘What steps can we take to continue business or even recover from an incident?’”

LEADERSHIP
Every ship needs a captain. If management start to feel under the weather, “one of the starting points is figuring out who will be in charge and what their responsibilities and roles are,” says Katie Virtue, a management consultant at Klay. Management team members are just as vulnerable to the flu as their employees, and it’s hard to lead with a high fever.

WHO’S YOUR BACKUP?
Because the mailroom clerk isn’t qualified to serve as CEO, it helps to establish the skills and qualifications of employees. Klay says using a skills matrix can help identify individuals to fill critical roles. “Not every function you perform in a company is critical.” Employees in critical roles (ones that make or break the company’s success) should have a backup person, either already on the payroll or willing to take a temporary position The purpose of pandemic planning: to reassure your employees that they belong to a well-prepared organization.

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