The great flood of 2016 was unprecedented. But even though they didn’t see it coming, Starmount Life Insurance Company executives started working on their response to it almost 10 years ago.
“Having that baseline disaster recovery plan in place is essential,” says Sarah Munson, Starmount’s vice president of human resources and compliance. While flexibility was important, Munson says that if the basic procedures hadn’t been in place, “we would have been behind the eight ball.”
As Business Report details in a feature from the new issue, research suggests companies that take care of their people during and after a disaster have a better chance to survive and even emerge from the crisis stronger than before. The responsibility for communicating with employees and outside stakeholders often falls on the HR department.
Starmount’s disaster continuity plan, which the company reviews at the beginning of every hurricane season, includes a text alert system for employees and a virtual meeting room where they can update their status. All top executives have lists of current employee phone numbers.
“We didn’t have to scramble to figure out how we were going to get in touch with our employees,” Munson says.
Starmount opened on the Monday after the weekend flood. While the disaster policy states employees are only paid for time off when the office is forced to close, the company made an exception and continued to pay employees that couldn’t make it in.
Executives knew people would want to help the affected employees, Munson says, but they didn’t feel comfortable dealing with cash donations. Instead, the HR department set up Amazon wish lists with thousands of items employees needed, like mops, work gloves, toiletries, sheets and blankets.
It wasn’t alone in its effort.
The HR departments of almost 80 companies and government agencies opened employee assistance funds overseen by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, says BRAF spokesman Mukul Verma. More than $6 million has been donated, and some companies are keeping their funds open to help workers during other unforeseen emergencies such as illnesses, fires or a death in the family.
Pinnacle Entertainment’s crisis communication plan is reviewed quarterly, says Kizzy Smith, human resources director for L’Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge, a Pinnacle property. Smith maintains an emergency hotline for L’Auberge employees, and the company has a text message and auto robocall system.
Read the full feature, which also explores how Baton Rouge General Medical Center and ExxonMobil weathered the flood and helped employees in its aftermath. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
