Eight Business Lessons Learned From the Swine Flu – H1N1 Outbreak

The mild H1N1 (Swine Flu) provided a useful test of the business community’s resilience during pandemic events and continuity of its operations. We learned the following eight lessons:

1. Companies that had developed and tested their business pandemic response plan had the most success in managing the impact of the outbreak

2.      The H1N1 virus spread more rapidly than expected.  Our assumptions were based on the belief that a pandemic would start in Asia and the spread would be relatively slow. It didn’t. Business pandemic response plans must be adaptable to changing conditions and designed to respond appropriately to the severity of an outbreak.

3.      School closings had a major impact on numbers of employees reporting for work. Employers found they needed to be more flexible with their work-from-home options.

4.      The health care system was overwhelmed with only a mild outbreak.

5.      Firms with a global presence found that it was difficult to manage a global crisis with one single message. Communication plans need to develop appropriate messages for both domestic and overseas audiences.

6.      Travel policies need to be adaptable to variables such as: the necessity of the trip, the likelihood of the employee’s exposure to crowds, the individual’s health condition, the severity of the event, etc.

7.      With the media in overdrive, companies need to communicate promptly and frequently in order to allay employees’ fears, maintain credibility and neutralize rumors with quick, clear and truthful information.  International coordination was more complicated than expected.

Click here for our Business Pandemic Planning Services

Copyright ©2009 by Ken Wilson All rights reserved.