While the idea that business continuity management needs to become part of corporate culture is gradually gaining ground, the practical aspects of making it happen may be less obvious. You want everybody in your organisation to be BC-aware, because business discontinuity can happen at any time and affect anyone. But how do you communicate that to every individual and how do you confirm that at least the rudiments of BC knowledge are internalised and ready for application? While publicity campaigns and senior management role models are important, there’s another part of an organisation that already connects with literally everybody in it, and which could become one of your most important BC resources.
The Human Resources department is one of the few parts of an organisation that is actively concerned with every person – from recruitment through induction and on-boarding, to the application of HR policies and performance appraisals. It makes sense to enlist the help of the HR department to start passing the message about business continuity to each individual. Leveraging the reach of the HR department also means that business continuity management can also be efficient, as well as effective: you can use an existing resource and avoid duplicated, parallel efforts.
Naturally, HR has to be convinced and enthusiastic about spreading BC to the masses. Although this might seem like a foregone conclusion, remember that like any other part of the organisation, its time is already taken up with a hundred and one other requirements. That means you’ll need to “sell” business continuity management to your HR director or management, by showing them the advantages it brings, such as workforce safety, reassurance, productivity, job satisfaction and so on. When HR sees that BC is directly aligned to its own goals and strategies, you can acquire a powerful ally in making an enterprise-wide BC culture.