Voices

Planning for the human factor in workplace recovery

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DRJ 2020 to feature disaster recovery insights of Regus expert Dan Perrin

 

When it comes to preparing contingencies for a workplace disaster, there’s one variable that even the best-laid plans can struggle to be ready for – people. 

While things like data and financial information can be backed up using tried and tested methods, humans can be highly unpredictable, so planning for people is essential. The staff-recovery aspect is the subject that Dan Perrin, Regus’s Managing Director Workplace Recovery, will be focussing on when he gives a presentation to industry leaders at DRJ Spring 2020 in March. 

The Orlando event is the leading global conference focused on organisational resiliency and disaster recovery, which this year is set to attract upwards of 1,500 attendees. Due to take place at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, the showcase will feature 650 sessions and more than 85 speakers from the industry. In terms of training, education and collaboration with industry experts, it’s considered second to none. 

Perrin’s presentation – entitled ‘The Human Element of Recovery’ – will see him talking about perhaps the least predictable factor that risk managers have to account for when preparing plans for the worst. “People are an unknown quantity with differing requirements,” Perrin says. “Every person has unique expectations and commitments, and are the hardest to plan for during a crisis.”

He adds that, whether they’re dealing with the upheaval of a change of address from a burst pipe in the office to the aftermath of a citywide disaster, how adequately an organisation’s staff reacts when the business continuity plan is activated is affected by the time, training and communications that happened well before the specific event occurred.

During the upcoming disaster recovery event, Perrin and his team will be talking about a range of real-world scenarios, from active shooters to major weather events, with Regus experts from North America and EMEA on hand to support and consult with existing and potential new clients about their recovery strategies. 

Regus specialises in disaster recovery space, with 3,500 locations globally and 100,000 recovery desks around the world ready for access at short notice. 

And the need for these types of services is real and urgent. For example, last summer in Guadalajara, Mexico, the city was hit by a hailstorm that buried the city under five feet of ice. This freak weather front caused travel chaos and left many companies unable to function. During the crisis, Regus Mexico opened three of its flexible workspaces to local businesses to offer stranded employees fully-equipped offices to  work from, allowing business operations to continue and saving companies both money and time.

To cater for firms of different sizes, Regus offers a multi-tier workplace recovery system that allows clients to pick and choose which option best suits different people and roles within their organisation. 

If a company’s staff are based in a particular city, part of the company’s risk-management planning might involve redeploying staff to a nearby Regus office if their own office becomes unusable. Such a scenario reduces disruption, with workers able to maintain a relatively normal commute while still being able to access their own company’s systems. 

However, the strategy may differ if the company in question is a global operator with a distributed workforce all over the world, with staff engaged in flexible working or sales teams deployed globally. Such a scenario could benefit from IWG’s Enterprise Plan, which provides on-demand access to the workspaces around IWG’s network, Regus’ parent company. This option enables staff to drop in and use facilities wherever they are and whenever they need to make use of them. 

Ultimately, Regus Workplace Recovery has been designed to keep businesses working, whatever the situation: “Altogether, it’s a comprehensive recovery service that covers every eventuality,” Perrin says.

 

Find out more about Workplace Recovery from Regus