With the aftermath here in the Northeast of Hurricane Irene, and the stress of more storms to come during this hurricane season, we all remember too well who extensively exercised their preparedness and who did not. Luckily, the storm itself wasn’t as much of a catastrophe as it had led on to be, but there were many of us that went days without power afterwards. The National Weather Service stressed how lack of preparedness can lead to hurricane disasters, especially for us as residents in a location that is not used to this kind of weather – it doesn’t hurt to be TOO prepared.
Ready.gov released steps, “Prepare. Plan. Stay informed”, to make sure you have done everything you need to. Then, we must just hope Mother Nature isn’t too angry:
Step 1: Build a Kit/“To-Go Bag”
- Non perishables
- Water
- Battery powered or hand-crank radio
- Extra flashlights and batteries
Step 2: Make a Plan
- Evacuation Plans: plan places where your family will meet, fill your car with gas, take an emergency supply kit
- Family Communication: plan a strategy just in case you and your family aren’t together when the hurricane hits
- Shut off utilities if you need to evacuate
Step 3: Be Informed
- Educate yourself on hurricane hazards, rainfall, flooding, storm surges, tornadoes
- If not evacuating, secure storm shutters, bring outside objects indoors
- Ensure a supply of water for cleaning and flushing toilets by filling the bathtub and other large containers
No one should face a potential disaster without educating themselves and stocking up on proper supplies.
What does this, you ask, have anything to do with HR? Just like one must prepare for a hurricane, an HR professional must also have a plan in place for those unexpected resignations. Succession planning is a helpful process in seeking out and preparing internal employees to potentially fill future roles within a company. But in order to prepare, a process needs to be set in place well ahead of time.
Deciding whether to hire internally or externally may be a difficult decision. And, while it is important to have a good mix of both types of hires, the risk associated with external hires can be greater, since you don't know exactly how they will integrate with the company. The good thing about internal players is that you already know how they work and if they have adopted company values, so the chance of success could be much higher. It is important to start considering these employees for future openings. Even if you end up hiring externally, it is essential to prepare and support current employees for those newly opened positions just in case you need someone to take over temporarily. Human Resources Executive Online has a great article that discusses this topic.
So, do you have a succession plan in place? If you don’t, it’s time to get started. Check out some educational resources, like SHRM.org, to help you optimize your succession planning process.
Another way to simplify succession planning is through automation. By making everything electronic, you’ll be able to focus more on employee training and preparation programs rather than spending time manually managing employee information. Most companies adopt succession planning solutions to do this, where you should get the following features:
- An online employee database to store all employee training and succession planning information for future reference.
- Online scheduler to help employees sign up for training sessions or complete training documents.
- Employee progress/evaluation forms to help hiring managers decide what areas internal employees need to improve.
Electronic and searchable documents provide a much more organized and easier approach than paper applications and employee progress files. The more an HR professional is organized and has easier access to employee progress, the better the chances are for employee improvement and ultimately, internal promotions.
