As the world watches the death toll in Mexico rise and the increase of confirmed cases in our own countries, an event like this begs the question: Do you have a plan?
And if you don’t have a plan, do you have the flexibility to improvise quickly and effectively? Can you reduce risk to your employees and maintain “normal” operations?
Remember SARS? Most of our clients with offices in Toronto in April 2003 didn’t have a plan either
One team was Lennox. A service office in Toronto quickly improvised with the tools they had available. Being early hosted call center adopters proved to be very advantageous. Although at the time a work-from-home program or satellite offices were not setup, this was the impetus they needed. They preempted any issues with their staff, they began voluntarily working in smaller teams or working from home. All seamlessly and all without our knowledge or help.
The funny thing was that once emergency came and went new possibilities for satellite offices and teleworking had been opened up. If the pandemic plan flowed into a teleworking plan then it follows that if you have remote worker capabilities, you’re already on your way to hedging against the impact of a health crisis.
It turns out that in addition to helping the environment, reducing travel and office costs, remote worker capabilities are most critical in reducing the impact of a pandemic on the health of a business and most critically, the health of its employees.
For more on the swine influenza please read the epidemic and pandemic alert and response page of the World Health Organization website.