Reaching Finance Employees During Disasters
September 16, 2005
Elizabeth Johns, Managing Director, AFP

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Picture a flotilla of inflatable life rafts paddling out of a flooded city, all with armed guards at the helm.

Now, imagine that the reason you are seeing armed, inflatable boats in the first place is because the helicopters you hired to rescue your employees couldn't get close enough: They were drawing gunfire.

This was the scene that played out for some New Orleans employees in the operations center of Hibernia National Bank in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, according to executive vice president David Frady. Speaking at AFP's teleconference on disaster recovery yesterday, Frady described the time line of events that unfolded for his company during the storm and the plan in place to keep the business – and employees – safe.

"It's important to remember that events can occur that fall well outside of predictions," Frady said.

Hibernia's plan included activating an incident management team to communicate with customers and employees at the first sign of trouble, as well as deploying certain key employees to "hot sites" away from the area to ensure continuity with staff.

Not surprisingly, employee communication was a component of the continuity plans of all five companies participating in AFP's teleconference, which was attended by over 500 listeners.

David Simmons, senior vice president of AmSouth, said that regular web postings proved to be a good way to keep in touch with staff who had evacuated the area. As the hurricane formed, AmSouth's business continuity group began conference calls to determine necessary steps. They decided branch closings so that third party property managers could be sent in to secure the sites. And before the hurricane struck, direct deposits were sent – in advance of the delivery date. Judging from the severity of the storm and the problems many locals had afterwards, Simmons said advance direct deposits should be a best practice.

Telephone trees at AmSouth allowed the bank to track down staff, as did a special call-in 800-number where responses were recorded in a database. As a last resort, the bank checked account activity of missing employees. Eventually, all but two were accounted for.

Anita Stevenson-Patterson, CTP,director ofliquidity management at BellSouth in the region, said hercompany set up special "I'm Okay" and "Info Now" employee hotlines, with numbers imprinted on stickers and key fobs. Luckily, thecompany was able to locate all its workers, and then moved to provide safety and essentials, including decontamination facilities where necessary and employee assistance teams to aid in counseling.BellSouth also provided for $1.7 million in employee loans.

"We knew whoour employees were and where they were," Stevenson-Patterson said. "Then we had to communicate next steps." BellSouth's employee communication effort also included newspaper ads and radio broadcasts, as well as postings on the corporate intranet.

Again at BellSouth, direct deposit for employees proved useful, as most employees did in fact have the service. Nevertheless, several panelists pointed out that in times of extreme disaster, ATMs and debit and credit card processors may not work. What you get then is a cash-based society. In some cases, panelists said, their companies disbursed cash when necessary.

Chris Wilbur, vice president of treasury management at JP Morgan, echoed the importance of employee communication as well as the importance of understandingthe organization's full cash needs.

"Your front line employees are a vital component to business continuity plans," said Kraig Conrad, AFP's director of corporate finance and risk management, who moderated the panel. "Effective plans should address staff safety and their potential needs during a recovery."

Tent Cities

Katherine Decker, CCM, director of treasury operations at Atlanta-based Manheim Auctions, Inc.,told listeners that no mater how elaborate your plans to protect employees, you can't protect them once they leave the premises. In order to be able to eventually get people back to work after the hurricane, Manheim Auctions set up tent cities, complete with amenities.

Daily conference calls among groups of mission critical staff maintained communication throughout the disaster. This was a situation where eyewitness reports from employees were invaluable. "Only first-hand knowledge of what's actually happening can show you which parts of your plan to put in place," Decker said. The company was delighted to learn, for example, that a particular location was not under water, as had been reported by the media.

"One thing you can't predict is when disaster is going to strike," Decker said. "Don't wait to make improvements to your plan when you become aware of them. You have to be prepared at all times."

—Elizabeth Johns, AFP's managing director of communications, runs the association's Web site, magazine, newsletters and books, among other content inititatives. Contact her at ejohns@afponline.org with your stories.

Copyright © 2005 Association for Financial Professionals. All Rights Reserved.