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HR Party of One is brought to you by BerniePortal.

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Recently, a bad patch update to Windows systems using CrowdStrike cybersecurity

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software shut down all online operations for millions of businesses. If you didn’t

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experience the effects yourself, ask your IT person about it—and maybe

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get them a nice card, because they might be half-traumatized by that experience.

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With all online systems out of commission, many businesses faced a serious challenge:

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how do we keep operations running when we can’t instant message,

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email, access any online platforms, submit help requests, and more…?

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Businesses without a backup plan couldn’t operate, and millions in lost revenue may

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never be recovered. For small businesses that have built trusting relationships with clients,

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a backup plan or business continuity plan is critical to success.

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So, in this episode of HR Party of One, we’ll cover:

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What A Business Continuity Plan Is, Different Types of Plans,

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Why Small Businesses Need One, and,

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What It Should Cover Let’s dive in!

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What Is a Business Continuity Plan? Think of a business continuity plan,

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or BCP, as your business’s insurance policy against chaos. It’s a strategic blueprint

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that outlines how your company will keep its doors open—or, in today’s world,

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keep the emails flowing—when faced with unexpected disruptions.

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Let’s break it down with a simple example: a Wi-Fi outage.

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In many small businesses, Wi-Fi is the lifeline that keeps everything connected,

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from customer service to payroll processing. Now, imagine your Wi-Fi goes down in the middle of a

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critical workday. Without a business continuity plan, this could spell disaster—no emails,

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no access to cloud-based tools, no communication with clients. But with a well-crafted business

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continuity plan, you’ve already anticipated this scenario. Maybe your plan includes backup mobile

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hotspots, a designated employee who knows how to troubleshoot the issue, or a temporary switch

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to offline tasks. The idea is to ensure that even when Wi-Fi is out, your business isn’t.

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Are There Different Kinds of Business Continuity Plans?

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BCPs can be better understood based on the events they respond to. These events include

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geological, biological, human-caused accidental, human-caused intentional,

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and technological events. Here are examples:

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Geological event: serious storm or weather phenomenon,

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like a hurricane or snowfall in a Southern state (if you’ve ever seen a southern town

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cease to function because of half an inch of snow, you know exactly what I mean).

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Biological event: this could be something like communicable disease causing major staffing

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shortage or food-borne illness present in contaminated supply at a restaurant

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Human-caused accidental event: human error forcing business activities to be suspended, such

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as a toxic leak requiring everyone to vacate the premises

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Human-cased intentional event: maliciously intended act, such

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as a ransomware attack, vandalism, arson, etc.

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Technological event: disruption of the wifi network or platform

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necessary for a business function, such as an important website crashing

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They are responded to based on their severity: disaster or crisis.

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An Emergency Disaster Plan pertains to any event that completely halts

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operations in a lasting and impactful manner. The concept is the same. So,

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this kind of BCP is intended for a worst-case scenario. Many small businesses in New Orleans

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had to fall back on disaster BCPs in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which was a geological

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disaster. When storefronts and people’s homes no longer exist, this is the BCP you need.

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A Crisis Management Plan is less severe than a Disaster BCP. How you define a BCP-level

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crisis depends on your organization and industry. If you’re a software company,

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this might be a wifi outage. For restaurants, this could be a food delivery running too late

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for dinner service. Small companies may need a crisis BCP in case key leaders are

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incapacitated. The reasons are endless, and this is the time to consider all the hypotheticals.

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The best practice is to design BCPs to respond to all manners of crises, even the ridiculous

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ones that may never happen. You’re in HR, so you know you can never say never. Your

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business might be in the middle of the desert, and you should still have a BCP for snowstorms.

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Why Do Small Businesses Need a Business Continuity Plan?

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Small businesses are the backbone of the economy,

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but they’re also more vulnerable to disruptions. Without the safety net of a large corporation,

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one unexpected event can have a significant impact. Let’s look at a terrifying fact:

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40% to 60% of small businesses never reopen after a disaster. That’s a

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staggering statistic, but it highlights the importance of being prepared.

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Whether it’s a flood that destroys physical property, a ransomware attack that locks up

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your data, or even a pandemic that forces you to shut down operations—having a BCP is your

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lifeline. It’s the difference between bouncing back quickly or not bouncing back at all.

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All businesses need a BCP, but as you well know, large companies have bigger

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teams and more capacity to create such a plan if they don’t already have one.

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Your role may be swamped with administrative tasks, which limits your ability to focus on

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important projects. At BerniePortal, I work with overwhelmed HR professionals every day

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who adopt BerniePortal’s all-in-one solution to create the time and capacity for important

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projects—and this is one of them. So, how can you get started and save time doing this project?

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The Most Important Parts of a Business Continuity Plan.

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As an HR professional, your role in business continuity is

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crucial. You’re not just thinking about processes;

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you’re thinking about people. Here are the key elements you can’t afford to overlook:

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Employee Communication: How will you keep in touch

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with your team during a disruption? A clear communication plan is essential.

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Backup Staffing Plans: If key employees are unavailable, who steps in? Cross-training

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and a backup staffing plan can keep operations running smoothly. This portion of a BCP strongly

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overlaps with succession planning, about which I have a great resource in the description.

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Data Security: Ensure that employee data and sensitive company information

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are protected. This might mean having remote work options or cloud-based storage solutions.

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Compliance: Don’t forget about the legal side. Ensuring compliance with regulations like FLSA,

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even during a crisis, is non-negotiable.

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Testing and Training: A plan is only as good as its execution. Regularly test your

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continuity plan and train your employees so that everyone knows their role when the time comes.

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Luckily, any BCP will contain common elements, your boilerplate language. Create and fine-tune

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the most important elements, and then consider the specific disasters or crises that require

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a unique approach. And remember – your role is as strategic as you make it!