Be Prepared - Disaster Planning

A large percentage of businesses don't survive the first year after a major disaster, largely because they weren't ready with a recovery plan that they could put into place quickly. Disaster planning (and business continuity planning in general) can stack the odds in favor of a company's survival. Following are just a few of the key issues you should plan for before you are faced with a disaster.

Who's in charge?

• Form a disaster management team.
• Who should be on the team?

Do a vulnerability assessment

• Likelihood of various natural and manmade disasters
• Impact of various disasters

Create a plan

• Business continuity
• Needs of employees
• Disaster-related policies

Communicating with employees and responding to their needs after a disaster

• Message from senior management
• Informational meetings
• Coping with the intense reactions of vulnerable employees
• Performance management strategies
• Company response to the larger community

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) disaster services available

• Education and support—pre-critical event
• Critical incident response—immediately following critical event
• After-care services—ongoing support

Cigna can help

If you have EAP coverage through Cigna, we are available by phone at (877) 622-4327 any time to help you understand what services are available to support you during this time.