With a 71 per cent mortality rate, no fear gripped the world greater than the Ebola virus outbreak in 2014. The first signs of the disease were reported in the West African nation of Guinea, and within a short span of time spread across many other countries, including Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone and Senegal. It was a phenomenon to observe and sympathize for the rest of the world before a couple of reported cases in the United States and Spain made the fear real and present. In no time, airports and other entry ports in countries across the globe started to equip themselves to prevent the spread of the disease. More than 17,000 suspected cases of Ebola were reported until the end of November 2014 leading to more than 6000 deaths. The emergence and spread of Ebola made us aware of some harsh realities of existence in our times.
It’s a global village
The virus was first detected in December 2013, in the small country of Guinea and within a few months, it became a global phenomenon. Considering the disease was reported thousands of miles away in a different continent, the sheer distance cushioned the fears of many across Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Americas. In no time, the threat was knocking at the very doors of those who felt safe and protected. A new case is equally likely to be reported in New Delhi now as it is in New York. It taught us a very important lesson that preparedness is vital and that no one is completely shielded from a phenomenon just because it occurred in some far reaching corner of the globe.
It is important for an employer in any industry or any type- global or local- to have disaster recovery plans in place in the face of any global epidemic. Safeguarding health is a primary expectation that employees have from an employer. Partnership with a benefits provider is often considered as a “check-in-the-box” exercise rather than an important part of an organizational talent management plan. AON Hewitt’s ‘Total Rewards Survey’ across the last three years have consistently show that an organization’s commitment to employee health is one of the key factors of attraction in the Indian market. Organizations which offer excellent health benefits to employees stand at an inherent advantage to attract and retain talent. It is on occasions of crisis such as these that an organization gets the opportunity to review a relationship with a benefits service provider.
You can hide, but you cannot run
The Wireless Application Services Providers of Ghana (WASPAG) donated GHS 50,000 for medical research to prevent the spread of Ebola across the globe. A mining company based in Ghana, Newmont, actually built a simulation exercise to prepare contingency plans and scenarios. The coming months will see many more such examples of how organizations gear themselves for the worst. Newmont has also partnered with the Red Cross and other companies to finance Project C.U.R.E. for medical supplies. The WHO has actively contributed to the prevention and cure of the disease in the affected countries. The United Bank of Africa (UBA) announced the donation of US $1 million to assist the fight against Ebola.
It is not difficult to miss that most contributions and efforts have come from corporations and businesses that have a direct stake in the affected region. If we calculate the total amount of monetary and non-monetary contributions of corporations who are not directly connected with Ebola affected countries it is a negligible fraction compared to contribution of the ones who are directly facing the heat of the problem.
It almost appears that a majority of the global business community is shrugging off common responsibility though they are well aware that everyone has a stake in the problem. Most organizations outside the zone of direct impact have made their contributions as a source of PR branding, rather than CSR. Western Union, for example, came under the fire of critics for the sheer size of their donation for Ebola. The corporation, which earns a sizeable chunk of its revenue from expatriate money transfers from Africa, donated a paltry sum of US $ 25,000. The company earns a sizeable cut from the US $ 7 billion that Africans pay to remit money on and to the continent. The Press termed this move as “humiliating” and insulting, akin to kicking someone half dead and then throwing a Tylenol at them.”
Commitment to the community and society is one of the key factors of millennial generations to choose an employer. The Forbes article, “CSR: A Lever for Employee Attraction and Engagement” published last year presents findings from various research studies from across the globe about preferences of today’s generations for choosing an employer. One such survey in the US, from Net Impact, states that 53 per cent of workers choose a job where they can make an impact. They state that having an employer which is socially responsible is important for their happiness. Results from various studies globally reveal the same sentiment of workforces in different countries composed of diverse skill sets. Maybe it is time for organizations to rethink their CSR strategy and assess how to include it as a key ingredient of their branding strategy.
Plan for business continuity
Many leading global companies are showing the way of how to face the threat of a catastrophe through several steps and measures to educate, prevent and treat people. One of the immediate steps which global organizations have taken is the restriction of non-essential travel to affected countries. Many companies are trying to prevent the fear psychosis through regular communications with its employees to educate them about safe habits. Shell Oil Company has posted all information related to the disease on its health and travel website. IBM created a blog, which is run, administered, and maintained by the company’s medical personnel. Several companies demonstrate care for their employees by evacuating them from affected countries, while others have issued notifications and guidelines about what constitutes safe habits and prevention. Firestone Tires built a whole medical centre in Liberia, their largest source of rubber, when the wife of one of its employees was infected with the virus.
The Ebola epidemic exposed several gaps in organizational preparedness to continue business. Business Continuity Planning (BCP) in many organizations is either restricted to paper plans or in worse cases, missing altogether. The Disaster Recovery Preparedness Council, an industry body based in America to check and control Disaster Recovery (DR) practices among IT companies, said in its report, “Disaster Recovery Preparedness Benchmark Survey 2014”, that almost 3 out of 4 companies are inadequately prepared for disaster recovery. Karl Palachuk, a disaster recovery expert and author of several books on the subject, has seen five common problems companies have in their disaster recovery plan — no plan, inadequate plan, wrong technology, untested plan, and insufficient information management. It is appalling to see that despite all the talk and investments in BCP and DR, most companies fail to conduct a basic hygiene check about disaster preparedness. A company, which prides itself about being a great place to work, is expected to demonstrate its commitment to employees in every aspect, including disaster recovery and employee safety.