Ensure Safety by Preparing for the Worst
Creating a Crisis Management Plan
There’s no doubt that the unexpected can happen at any time. Stories and images of school shootings, hurricanes and floods, disease pandemics, workplace violence, terror attacks and more fill the news. These tragedies can happen anywhere – at home or at work. But as difficult as it is to imagine what you would do if faced with a crisis on the job, it’s even worse to be caught in the middle of one with no plan for what to do. That’s why creating a workplace crisis plan is vital for any business owner.
Since it’s safety month, set aside some time during June to ensure the safety of your workforce and the future of your business by creating a workplace crisis plan. Here are some guidelines to consider when you create your plan.
Consider every potential scenario. Depending on your region, industry and work environment, each workplace will have different possible crisis scenarios. For example, costal regions should plan for hurricane threats. Industrial plants should establish guidelines for serious workplace injuries, plant fires or chemical leaks. The first step in establishing a comprehensive crisis plan is to seriously consider each potential issue that could arise. Then, you can create one comprehensive plan that will list special considerations for each potential crisis scenario.
Cover the basics. According to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the essential elements for any business’s emergency management plan include the following:
- Designating leaders – Who will be in charge if a crisis strikes? You must decide beforehand who will take the lead if a crisis occurs, including a succession list in case top personnel are injured.
- Selecting an offsite location – Establish a temporary base of operations in case your facilities are damaged and you need to operate elsewhere until the recovery phase.
- Establishing communications procedures – This includes reporting to emergency officials such as the police or fire department, establishing a way for personnel to report an emergency, communicating with on- and off-duty staff members and their families if a crisis occurs, and telling clients, customers and suppliers if necessary.
- Protecting health and safety – Before any crisis strikes, you should establish and communicate evacuation plans, routes and procedures, create safety and shelter zones for employees, and regularly conduct training on these policies.
- Protecting property, facilities and data – Being proactive is the best way to prevent damage to your business. Many crises can be prevented by simply having policies and systems in place to protect your workplace in case of fire, flood or storm. Establish a regular time to conduct a safety audit to make sure you’re in compliance with state or provincial and federal regulations, along with industry standards.
- Conducting community outreach – Often called “crisis communications,” this element of crisis planning helps your organization communicate with officials, emergency response organizations, the media and the public at large when an emergency occurs. Create a list of key contacts and put it in a safe place for your company’s leadership to access if necessary. When a crisis occurs, the media will call whether you have a communications or public relations professional on staff or not. Learn more about FEMA’s crisis communications guidelines here.
- Restoring operations – In this step, you’ll need to create guidelines for processes such as repairing equipment, finding an alternative location, dealing with insurance, supporting employees and ensuring management continuity. Read more at FEMA’s guide to the recovery and restoration process after a crisis strikes.
Communicate your plan. The best crisis plans are those everyone in your workplace is aware of, from top management to first-day employees. Make sure everyone at your workplace has access to emergency planning details that are pertinent to their role. Regularly train employees who have specific roles in the crisis management process, and routinely update your plan to deal with turnover of roles, new potential issues and updated policies and procedures.
Planning ahead for a crisis may seem like a daunting, thankless task, but you’ll rest easier when you’ve done your best to prepare for the worst.
Additional Resources
• Preparing Your Business For the Unthinkable – American Red Cross
• Emergency Management Guide for Business & Industry – FEMA
• State Offices and Agencies of Emergency Management – FEMA
• A Guide to Business Continuity Planning – Public Safety Canada
• Public Safety Canada Regional Offices List – Public Safety Canada
Be the One Coaching
Tips to Lead Your Team to Victory
As a manager or supervisor, one of your most important roles is retaining the talented employees under your leadership. In fact, 61% of HR professionals polled by HR Executive magazine stated that there’s currently a war for talent. Experts agree: one of the main ways to win the talent wars is to recognize and reward employees.
That’s why feedback, recognition and coaching are vital skills for any manager to regularly employ. However, they are also some of the greatest weaknesses in most organizations. Many managers view feedback as unnecessary, time-intensive or negative, and thus they avoid it. They assume that the people working for them are doing what they can and don’t challenge them to improve. Workers in turn discover the level of work their supervisor will settle for as “good enough” and then become comfortable working at that level. In other words, both employees and managers are part of the problem of low performance at the workplace.
Here are some quick coaching tips to help you engage your workforce, raise productivity and become a better manager.
• Give regular feedback. You shouldn’t wait for review time to talk to employees about their work. Over 60% of employees say they don’t get enough performance-related feedback. Most experts suggest scheduling a regular time to meet with each employee between once a month and once a week, depending on the preferences of the employee.
• Address low performance. The primary reason most employees perform poorly is lack of feedback. Failure to address low performance perpetuates the problem and forces other employees to take up the poor performing individual’s slack, draining your team and increasing productivity problems. That’s why it’s vital to tell employees who are performing poorly that they’re not meeting expectations. You must also tell them the specific consequences that will arise if they don’t improve their performance.
• Differentiate employees. Realize that you don’t have to treat all employees the same. In fact, unless all your employees are performing on an equal level, it’s in your best interest not to treat them the same. If you treat low- and high-performing employees identically, there is no reason to do more than the bare minimum. After all, everyone on your team can tell who’s pulling their weight consistently and who’s not. Plus, the best way to lose your star employees is to treat them the same as average or low performing employees.
• Reward top performers publicly. Give positive feedback and visible, tangible rewards to your high-performing team players. Recognizing your talented employees will give others on your team something to work for, and it will also make your top performers feel appreciated for their hard work.
• Create meaningful rewards. According to a survey by the Compensation and Benefits Review, 81% of employees said they are not rewarded for increasing productivity, and 60% of managers don’t feel management is rewarded for their work either. Salary reports indicate this is true as well. Typically, only 3% of base salary separates average employees from outstanding employees. If your top performers are making only 3% more than average or low performers, or worse, if they are all at the same level, why would they be motivated to work harder, much less stay at your organization? As a manager, you should spend the majority of your money on top performers and keep the remaining for average performing ones. It’s also important for low performing employees to receive no rewards. Rewarding them takes away their incentive to improve and causes top performers to become frustrated and leave.
You can use feedback and reward systems to elevate your workforce to new levels of productivity and at the same time help retain your best workers. Implementing these tips will help set your organization apart as world-class as you learn to coach your team to personal and career success.
Wow the Crowd with a Great Presentation
Tips for Becoming a More Effective Speaker
Most people have had to give a presentation during some point in their lives. Whether at a meeting of five people or before a group of hundreds, speaking in front of a crowd can be daunting. The next time you need to give speech or presentation, you can use these tips to get your message across and leave a good impression with your audience.
Be Prepared
Benjamin Franklin once said that by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. Preparation is essential to delivering a great speech or presentation. Familiarize yourself with your topic, write out your main points and take note cards outlining topic points with you in case you lose your train of thought. A smooth presentation requires being familiar with your material as well as the environment you’re presenting in. Visit the place you will speak at in advance to set up visual aids, practice using the microphone and become comfortable with your surroundings. By doing so, you reduce the risk of running into technical difficulties. Memorize your speech so you don’t have to constantly refer to your notes. Distractions can veer you off course and make your audience’s attention wane.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Captivating the audience with your presentation isn’t something that you can achieve without practice and hard work. Rehearsing your speech will help you become more comfortable with your material and decrease your nervousness. Practice in front of friends and family to become more comfortable speaking in front of an audience. To identify bad habits, you might also consider using a tape recorder or camcorder when practicing, especially if you plan to speak before a large crowd. Practicing will allow you to find your weak points so you can tweak them.
Focus on Delivery
Keep your body language in mind when giving your speech. Too many hand gestures and excessively moving around will distract your audience, while not enough movement will bore them. Maintain sincere eye contact, so you connect with your audience and leave them with a positive impression. Add pauses to your speech to give you time to look at the audience and catch your breath. Pauses also give the audience time to reflect and think. Even with preparation and practice, you still might become a little nervous when it’s time to speak. The feeling is completely normal, but don’t apologize for your nervousness. This might bring your audience’s attention to something they might not have noticed.
With preparation and practice, you can increase the chances of delivering your message effectively. During your speech, maintaining eye contact and displaying enthusiastic body language will hold your audience’s attention. Keep these tips in mind, and your next presentation will surely win over your crowd.
Employment Situation Summary
United States
Non-farm employment rose by 88,000 jobs in April, and the unemployment rate increased slightly to 4.5%.
Major Industry Employment for April 2007
• Construction: - 11,000
• Manufacturing: - 19,000
• Retail Trade: - 26,000
• Professional & Business Services: + 24,000
• Educational & Health Services: + 53,000
• Leisure & Hospitality: + 22,000
• Government: + 25,000
Canada
The unemployment rate remained at 6.1%.
Major Industry Employment for April 2007
• Construction: + 6,000
• Manufacturing: - 19,000
• Trade: + 20,000
• Transportation & Warehousing: + 7,000
• Finance, Insurance, Real Estate & Leasing: - 17,000
• Professional, Scientific & Technical Services: - 8,000
• Business, Building & Support Services: - 5,000
• Educational Services: + 7,000
• Information, Culture & Recreation: - 3,000
•
Accommodation
and Food Services: - 4,000
• Public Administration: + 7,000
e-Xchange is a publication of Express Services, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2007.