Managers’ ‘heads in the sand’ over crisis prevention
Thursday, 18th March 2010
Only half of the UK’s businesses and organisations have ‘adequate’ plans in place to counteract emergencies, such as severe weather or technology failings, a new report has revealed.
The Chartered Management Institute (CMI), in conjunction with the Cabinet Office, believes that most firms are “dangerously under-prepared” for a crisis.
Of the 900 businesses surveyed by the CMI, almost 90% were damaged by December’s harsh winter, yet less than 50% described extreme weather as a significant threat to their business.
The damage of staff absenteeism and lost revenue created by winter’s aggression cost SMEs almost £7.5bn. The frailties of modern business mean that such costs are hard felt across the nation and the CMI is keen to stress the importance of planning.
"Neglecting business planning is reckless in the extreme and it represents a huge failure of management in the UK,” said CMI Chief Executive, Ruth Spellman. "Until UK managers have the time and skills they need to write, test and update these plans, and leaders give them the priority they deserve, this will remain a severe risk for the UK economy."
The publicised failings of Eurostar over the festive period have highlighted the damage that can be inflicted on business reputation during a crisis. Eurostar may never fully recover from the negative publicity that encircled its actions and the CMI is keen to stress that measures must be enforced to uphold company image.
"Despite the pressures of the economic downturn, UK businesses have to appreciate that business continuity management is not a 'nice to have' - it is crucial to business survival,” added Ms Spellman.
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