London, UK: 2nd February 2009: As millions of UK workers remain at home today, unable to travel in to work, business continuity expert SunGard Availability Services is issuing advice to help businesses minimise disruption and ensure continued operations.
Keith Tilley, managing director UK and executive vice president Europe, SunGard Availability Services, said: “At a time when many businesses are fighting for their survival the need to ensure that they can continue to operate and minimise disruption during the current bad weather is essential.
“Employers need to do everything they can to allow staff to work from home and ensure that those that do manage to travel to work are well looked after, with overnight accommodation if necessary. Clear and regular communication both internally and externally is vital to avoid confusion and uncertainty amongst staff, customers and suppliers. Businesses need to do all they can to maintain normal service levels and ultimately avoid losing customers and revenue.”
SunGard’s 'Bouncebackability Index' carried out at the end of 2008 revealed that the UK’s SMEs are particularly vulnerable to disruption, with only a third having a business continuity plan in place to enable them to continue to operate under any circumstances.
SunGard’s Top Tips For Surviving The Snow
- Communicate internally. Keep in touch with your staff to ensure they are aware of procedure and ongoing developments throughout the day.
- Communicate externally. Be honest with your suppliers; be honest with your customers. Most businesses will be dealing with the same problems and will understand the difficulties you face.
- Consider remote working. If staff are unable to reach work or their journey will be severely hampered, then can they work from home? If this is a possibility then your business could save money when rivals are faltering.
- Remember the human touch. If staff have a long commute, then look into booking hotels for the night to allow them to work the following day. Provide hot food and drinks to boost moral.
- If you have not already done so, invest in business continuity planning so that your organisation is prepared for similar and other types of business disruption in the future.
- And where arrangements are in place, implement your recovery plans in a timely manner to avoid unnecessary operational interruption.