Irma Gerd!

Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc for us Florida folks and so many other coastal areas. As a family, you get supplies as needed, fill up the gas tanks, secure your home, etc. Believe me, my family took all of those precautions such as boarding up windows, making sure our generator was up and running and picking up large items from the yard that could pose a threat. We ended up making it through the storm okay, with a little mini-area war zone left in our yard and no power, internet or TV for 8 days! Fun stuff! We were one of the lucky ones though. My heart breaks for those in Houston, Miami, Puerto Rico, and so many more that were – and still are – impacted by the flooding and devastation. Hopefully most took the necessary precautions and braced for Mother Nature’s brutal attack as much as it was possible. Hopefully you made it through securing your home, but what about your firm and maintaining business continuity? Was your firm ready?

There are so many areas to consider. Wages, leaves of absence, allowing staff to work remotely, unemployment compensation, qualified disaster payments, restoring IT systems and operations as effectively as possible….. The list goes on. Does your firm have a policy in place for a natural disaster? This is an area that is frequently overlooked or procrastinated by the best of us. Being prepared to make changes and provide the necessary resources and training for your staff is key. This will enable you to resume normal business activity without the adverse effects of downtime that affect not only your staff but your clients as well. It has been said that a good plan doesn’t collect dust. It should be reviewed regularly and put to the test.

Working for BDO, I was extremely impressed with the amount of communication that the corporate offices maintained throughout the entire duration of Hurricane Irma, including the days prior to the storm, during and after. This was no easy feat. Meetings were held with Florida Managing Partners, Office Management and the Marketing and Communications team. It was a great feeling to know that BDO and all the Florida offices were concerned for every employee and their well-being.

So get your plans in place. Assign a team, make sure each department is represented and determine all potential dangers that could impact your firm. Most importantly, once that plan is developed, make sure everyone at the organization understands his/her responsibilities should disaster strike. Provide the necessary training and by all means, test the plan regularly.