Friday 18 July 2014

The professional footpath for business continuity practitioners

As Business Continuity continues its growth as a profession, the idea of certification and the membership of professional bodies are more frequently discussed at all levels of the organization – from those starting out their career in the industry, right up to the Board Room.

As an individual you will be looking at the long term development of your career while those at Board level need to consider the long term growth of the organization. Of course the two of these are not mutually exclusive and many managers will tell you that the best way to grow an organization is to invest in its people.

The first step on the professional ladder is certification. Certification gives you an outward facing verification of your knowledge in that discipline. Attaining this level of qualification will set you apart from those who are not certified, who would only have knowledge of BC in their current environment.

Once you have become certified and embarked on your career in business continuity you need to think about what your next steps will be.

Like with any good BC Plan, you wouldn’t just write it and place it on a shelf to gather dust. It is a continual process of planning, learning, assessing and adapting to ensure that the plan is effective and can be relied upon. The professional development of anyone working in the BC industry is no different. You don’t take your newly earned certificate and hang it on a wall only to forget all that you have learned. You would, or at least you should, continue to develop yourself as a professional by testing your skills and adapting your skillset to suit the needs of the job.

Mentoring allows those who are new to the profession to be guided along the early stages of their career and offer great scope for improving their knowledge, understanding and the practical application of good practice.

For those at any stage of their career, Continuous Professional Development provides an opportunity to reflect on their academic and professional experiences to see how they can apply what they have learned to their own work. Where certification tests your base knowledge of a set subject matter, CPD requires a detailed demonstration of this knowledge and evidence of its implementation.

Increasingly employers are asking for evidence of professional development when employing people to work on their BC programme, so to find out how you can take advantage of the opportunities available, develop your skills and progress your career, visit the BCI website. With Education Month coming up in September, it is the perfect opportunity to do so.

Monday 14 July 2014

Preparing for the Commonwealth Games

Two years on from the London 2012 Olympic Games, the UK is set to play host yet again to one of the largest sporting events in the world – the Commonwealth Games, hosted by the city of Glasgow in Scotland. Glasgow 2014 may not quite be on the same scale as London 2012, but the crowds will still be high.

On the 23rd July, and over the following two weeks, 6,500 athletes from 71 different countries will be taking part in 17 different sports for the right to win a gold medal. 2,500 journalists will be attending the events and with more than a million tickets sold, the number of additional visitors to Glasgow is expected to exceed 100,000.

So what does all this mean for business continuity planners? For many organizations events like this are a dream come true. Investment in the city in order to rebuild infrastructure over the past few years has been high with many local firms reaping the benefit. During the Games, retail outlets will do a roaring trade as the visitors spend their money on souvenirs, food, drink and, seeing as it’s the west coast of Scotland, probably a few umbrellas and rain coats.

For some organizations however, whether getting into the spirit of the Games or not, there will possibly be some disruption during the two weeks.

If you’re an employer then it’s highly likely that a few of your staff will want to attend some of the events or take leave during what is normally the holiday period. Have you taken this into consideration and made suitable arrangements?

Transport networks will be stretched to the limit as trains and roads become busier than normal. Have you made suitable arrangements to ensure your staff can get to work or perhaps work from home instead? If you work in the transport industry, are your customers or suppliers aware that there might be some delays? For such high profile events, security is always an issue and this can slow things down even further.

If you’re a retailer then the increase in visitor numbers means your stock may go quickly (that’s a good thing) but how quickly can you replace it in order to take an even greater advantage of the circumstances? With international events such as the Commonwealth Games, language can often be a barrier. English may be the common language for many of the countries competing, but there will be many other languages spoken too, do you have the ability to communicate with non-English speakers?

Let’s not forget the extra strain that will be placed on the communications network, do you rely on your mobile phone, and can you guarantee it will work when so many other people are trying to use theirs? There may be a similar issue with broadband if the network starts to reach capacity.

Of course, with all the excitement about the influx of new customers, businesses mustn’t forget their existing customers, those people who will (hopefully!) still be there long after the Games are over. Do they know what your arrangements are during the Games and have you considered ways to reduce the disruption to them?

A major event such as the Commonwealth Games brings plenty of opportunities to the host city and the surrounding area, but everything comes at a cost. If you prepare properly however, and consider what disruptions could affect your organization, then plans can easily be put in place to ensure that this cost is not high and is far outweighed by the positives.

Andrew Scott is the Senior Communications Manager at the Business Continuity Institute who joined after a brief stint working as the Press Officer for a national health charity. Prior to that he had over ten years at the Ministry of Defence working in a number of roles including communications and business continuity. During this time he also completed a Masters in Public Relations at the University of Stirling.