Pandemic Ready

By Lee Stewart

Business owners in United Kingdom have been alerted to the need to prepare for the imminent H1N1 (Swine Flu) Pandemic. The British government is going to great lengths to make sure that the excellent systems they have put in place to protect the population in the U.K. are going to be supported by a workforce of staff trained to minimise the disruption to the businesses that are the foundation of it’s economy. Prioritising the areas that will need the greatest support is an excellent first step in ensuring that life will go on as normal if, or when, the pandemic takes hold. Underpinning that prioritisation by making sure that key personnel are trained in all the important skills to maximise business continuity and to minimise the spread of a virus through an organisation is the natural next step for a pro-active executive to take.

The recruitment of temporary staff to cover sickness absence is an obvious action many human resource managers are considering. How many managers have considered the impact of a pandemic on their recruitment department, how many personnel departments will find their training/induction programs ill-equipped to deal with an influx of new, temporary staff? A ‘flu pandemic will throw up all of the unforeseeable problems strategic managers hate, now is the time to cover all of your bases to make sure your team has the knowledge and capacity to work in a situation previously unimagined.

Lee Stewart is the creator of the online education tool Pandemic Ready which is used by a number of businesses to help edcuate staff and potentially minimise the impact of a pandemic in the workplace.  He can be contacted via email. lee.stewart@2and2.com.au