There can be many reasons why organizations must have crisis management in place. In recent times, the scale, the reach and increased intensity of terror attacks have become a cause of concern for everyone. However, with large and small corporations, safety and security of the employees are a concern - notwithstanding the case of business continuity. 

What are the important things which organizations must keep in mind in cases like these? Because not just office buildings, but given the fact that employees often travel to different parts of the world – it’s a legitimate cause for concern. 

According to 2016 Terrorism Risk Insurance Report by Marsh – a global professional services firm, with operations in insurance broking and risk management, there are several things organizations must ensure to plan in case of untoward incidents.

The Report states, “As the modes of terrorist attacks change, more companies are using terrorism risk models and other analytical tools to:

• Better understand their financial exposure. 
• Determine appropriate insurance deductibles and limits.
• Optimize risk finance strategies. 
• Rate the terrorism risk to negotiate insurance premiums. 
• Understand the risk’s potential impact on capital. 
• Build efficient business continuity plans. 
• Address terrorism risk aggregation issues. 
• Prioritize risk mitigation strategies.
• Make informed decisions on implementing loss control measures, such as building retaining walls, increasing security, and establishing gated entryways.”

The Report has also suggested 6 ways by which organizations can limit their impact if such attacks ever happen.

Crisis management

Develop and test an overall framework for management, response, and recovery. After an attack, organizations need to move quickly and efficiently to understand the potential impacts to people, property, and operations, and make policy/ strategy decisions to address and manage those impacts.

Crisis communications

Companies may have to contact employees, customers, investors, and others. During a crisis, messages and communications should be linked to reinforce the overall strategies and decisions made by the crisis management team. 

Emergency response

Responding to physical incidents may involve life safety, event mitigation, evacuations, and the protection of physical assets. 

Humanitarian assistance

Providing support during and after an incident may include physical, social, emotional, and financial help, as needed. Making professional counselling and support services available is an example of how companies can support employees. 

Business continuity

Keeping the business running is a key concern once safety issues have been addressed. Plans should account for the management and logistical process for continuing or resuming operations, and recovering partially or completely interrupted critical business functions.

Information technology/disaster recovery

In a tech-driven age, recovery includes plans to ensure the availability of networks, applications, and data. Ensuring that technology is up and running efficiently may help support business continuity, including work-from-home and other strategies. Integrated and well-practiced crisis and continuity plans can help you to be risk ready should a crisis occur.

According to Workplace Preparedness for Terrorism Report of Findings to Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, “Corporate “culture” and corporate values influence both the content of disaster preparedness plans and the effectiveness with which plans and training were communicated throughout a corporation. For example, if safety is a widely recognized corporate value, then preparedness training may be effectively embedded in corporate safety training.”