Sunday
Sep182005
345 - Special Report: Learning's Role in Dire Emergencies
September 18, 2005
Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - Sept 18, 2005.
#345 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
50,893 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Learning 2005: Oct 30 - Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida.
Special Report: Learning's Role in Dire Emergencies
We have been interviewing CEO's and Learning Executives of large organizations that were impacted by Hurricane Katrina, focusing on steps/roles that learning and training organizations can take in the future to prepare for these types of dire emergencies:
* Emergency Contact Points: In the immediate aftermath of a disaster like Katrina, 9/11 or the Tsusnami, employees may find themselves in a communication blackout. The offices, phone numbers and web services of the organization may be down, yet employees may have cell/mobile phone service or be moved to a different location with full communications.
CEO's we spoke to have realized that organizations need a secondary emergency point of contact. Create a crisis telephone number that may be answered by either a remote office in another location or even an outsourced call center. It might be an 800 number with an easy-to-remember-name. Likewise, create a small emergency website, hosted by an external provider (even offshore) with a different URL, like www.911companyname.com
* Emergency Readiness Drill/Simulation: Learning managers might consider scheduling an Enterprise Wide Readiness Drill to teach and test what individual workers, work groups and the entire enterprise must do immediately following an emergency. What is the process for contacting missing employee's families? Who makes decisions about closing offices?
What is the process for determining the emotional state of key leaders who are personally impacted by the disaster?
* Portability and Survivability of Data: While organizations became deeply aware of data backups and redundancy during the ramp up to Y2K, there are other levels of data portability and survivability that need to be considered. I spoke with a President of a Mississippi company who had all of his family's personal data, including personal pictures, as well as all of his key employees' and suppliers' contact information on a USB Keychain Drive that he keeps with his car keys. He was able to access this data from a relative's laptop following the full destruction of his home and office.
* Alumni Workers to the Rescue: In emergencies, we can often turn to the seasoned and caring retired and alumni workers for assistance. The former CEO of a Gas Company was asked to return as an in-field counselor to workers and families impacted by Katrina. The alumni workforce can be a major second wave of support and effort to deal with personal and organizational shock.
* Mutual Assistance Agreements: The Electric Utility industry has a set of mutual assistance agreements in place to facilitate the process of helping out when a major emergency hits. These agreements cover the process, funding and even insurance liability issues to allow trucks and workers from one utility to converge on a disaster area rapidly to assist an impacted electric company. Consider using your associations to draft mutual assistance agreements that could be triggered by extreme events.
* The Impact of Shock on Learning: Following major emergencies, one of the impacts of shock and disruption can be seen in the skill and memory arena. Tasks that might have been "no-brainers" suddenly become challenging for some workers. Be sensitive to the potential need for retraining or Performance Support tools to refresh and rebuild skill sets. In addition, organizational behavior often shifts, including risk-aversion, leadership styles and communication capacities. Dire emergencies create the need for full-blown Organizational Development approaches.
* Nurse on the Spot: A trainer described how they "drafted" into service the spouse of an executive who is a nurse to become their corporate on-site medical officer during the days after Katrina. She was dedicated to providing first level triage support for employees and families, including tetanus shots to workers exposed to polluted spaces. He is now building a list of relatives with medical background who can be used in these emergencies.
* Rumor Control: It is critical to have a Rumor Control point of coordination. This person or group takes on the role of gathering any rumors that are floating around the company and using traditional and non-traditional communication methods to disseminate immediate responses.
One company near New Orleans created a cell phone "tree" to reach out to as many employees as possible every day with updates and rumor control.
* Technologies for Recovery: The tools of digital collaboration and e-Learning can play a key role for organizations on the road to recovery following a dire emergency:
- Web Conferencing: When travel is impossible or employees are not able to return to their offices, web conferencing and video conferencing allows for a more rapid return to work. A number of employees are working from their relatives' homes in other cities following Katrina and are using the webcams of their hosts' kids to restore productivity.
- e-Learning and Performance Support: Organizations need to rapidly reformat processes and projects. e-Learning can be a quick way to get knowledge and collaboration flowing throughout the organization. Rapid development, mixed with some prepared content and syndicated content, can allow organizations a quicker recovery.
- Assessment Tools: Consider using survey tools, with a mixture of named or non-named responders, to gather information on the logistical and emotional state of employees as they return to the worksite. The effects of shock and disruption will be felt for some time and often organizations don't really have avenues for employees to express that or to map it across the enterprise.
* Learning Skills in Emergencies: The skills of learning and training professionals are key during dire emergencies. Look at the applicability of our field's competencies to these awful circumstances:
- Organizational Development.
- Group Facilitation.
- Performance Consulting.
- Classroom Instruction.
- Assessment and Measurement.
- Coaching.
- Document Design.
- Remediation.
- Talent Management.
- Web Conferencing.
- Instructional Design.
- Train the Trainer Skills Assessment.
- Content Management.
- After Action Debriefing.
- Simulation.
- Cross Training.
- Humor.
- Human Resource Interventions.
- Subject Matter Expert Management.
- Competency Management.
- Plus the wide range of content areas including Stress Management, On-Boarding, Organizational Process and Institutional Memory.
Learning professionals can play a key role in the current and future dire emergencies facing our organizations. We would encourage you to explore the readiness of your organization and the role of your learning department to be of assistance in these situations. Please send any additional ideas or perspectives to me at emasie@masie.com
Our hearts, prayers and thoughts go out to our learning colleagues who were impacted by Katrina.
Yours in learning,
Elliott
Elliott Masie,
The MASIE Center and Learning CONSORTIUM
Upcoming MASIE Center Event:
* Learning 2005 - Oct 30 - Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida - 1,400 Registered Already - http://www.learning2005.com
#345 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
50,893 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Learning 2005: Oct 30 - Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida.
Special Report: Learning's Role in Dire Emergencies
We have been interviewing CEO's and Learning Executives of large organizations that were impacted by Hurricane Katrina, focusing on steps/roles that learning and training organizations can take in the future to prepare for these types of dire emergencies:
* Emergency Contact Points: In the immediate aftermath of a disaster like Katrina, 9/11 or the Tsusnami, employees may find themselves in a communication blackout. The offices, phone numbers and web services of the organization may be down, yet employees may have cell/mobile phone service or be moved to a different location with full communications.
CEO's we spoke to have realized that organizations need a secondary emergency point of contact. Create a crisis telephone number that may be answered by either a remote office in another location or even an outsourced call center. It might be an 800 number with an easy-to-remember-name. Likewise, create a small emergency website, hosted by an external provider (even offshore) with a different URL, like www.911companyname.com
* Emergency Readiness Drill/Simulation: Learning managers might consider scheduling an Enterprise Wide Readiness Drill to teach and test what individual workers, work groups and the entire enterprise must do immediately following an emergency. What is the process for contacting missing employee's families? Who makes decisions about closing offices?
What is the process for determining the emotional state of key leaders who are personally impacted by the disaster?
* Portability and Survivability of Data: While organizations became deeply aware of data backups and redundancy during the ramp up to Y2K, there are other levels of data portability and survivability that need to be considered. I spoke with a President of a Mississippi company who had all of his family's personal data, including personal pictures, as well as all of his key employees' and suppliers' contact information on a USB Keychain Drive that he keeps with his car keys. He was able to access this data from a relative's laptop following the full destruction of his home and office.
* Alumni Workers to the Rescue: In emergencies, we can often turn to the seasoned and caring retired and alumni workers for assistance. The former CEO of a Gas Company was asked to return as an in-field counselor to workers and families impacted by Katrina. The alumni workforce can be a major second wave of support and effort to deal with personal and organizational shock.
* Mutual Assistance Agreements: The Electric Utility industry has a set of mutual assistance agreements in place to facilitate the process of helping out when a major emergency hits. These agreements cover the process, funding and even insurance liability issues to allow trucks and workers from one utility to converge on a disaster area rapidly to assist an impacted electric company. Consider using your associations to draft mutual assistance agreements that could be triggered by extreme events.
* The Impact of Shock on Learning: Following major emergencies, one of the impacts of shock and disruption can be seen in the skill and memory arena. Tasks that might have been "no-brainers" suddenly become challenging for some workers. Be sensitive to the potential need for retraining or Performance Support tools to refresh and rebuild skill sets. In addition, organizational behavior often shifts, including risk-aversion, leadership styles and communication capacities. Dire emergencies create the need for full-blown Organizational Development approaches.
* Nurse on the Spot: A trainer described how they "drafted" into service the spouse of an executive who is a nurse to become their corporate on-site medical officer during the days after Katrina. She was dedicated to providing first level triage support for employees and families, including tetanus shots to workers exposed to polluted spaces. He is now building a list of relatives with medical background who can be used in these emergencies.
* Rumor Control: It is critical to have a Rumor Control point of coordination. This person or group takes on the role of gathering any rumors that are floating around the company and using traditional and non-traditional communication methods to disseminate immediate responses.
One company near New Orleans created a cell phone "tree" to reach out to as many employees as possible every day with updates and rumor control.
* Technologies for Recovery: The tools of digital collaboration and e-Learning can play a key role for organizations on the road to recovery following a dire emergency:
- Web Conferencing: When travel is impossible or employees are not able to return to their offices, web conferencing and video conferencing allows for a more rapid return to work. A number of employees are working from their relatives' homes in other cities following Katrina and are using the webcams of their hosts' kids to restore productivity.
- e-Learning and Performance Support: Organizations need to rapidly reformat processes and projects. e-Learning can be a quick way to get knowledge and collaboration flowing throughout the organization. Rapid development, mixed with some prepared content and syndicated content, can allow organizations a quicker recovery.
- Assessment Tools: Consider using survey tools, with a mixture of named or non-named responders, to gather information on the logistical and emotional state of employees as they return to the worksite. The effects of shock and disruption will be felt for some time and often organizations don't really have avenues for employees to express that or to map it across the enterprise.
* Learning Skills in Emergencies: The skills of learning and training professionals are key during dire emergencies. Look at the applicability of our field's competencies to these awful circumstances:
- Organizational Development.
- Group Facilitation.
- Performance Consulting.
- Classroom Instruction.
- Assessment and Measurement.
- Coaching.
- Document Design.
- Remediation.
- Talent Management.
- Web Conferencing.
- Instructional Design.
- Train the Trainer Skills Assessment.
- Content Management.
- After Action Debriefing.
- Simulation.
- Cross Training.
- Humor.
- Human Resource Interventions.
- Subject Matter Expert Management.
- Competency Management.
- Plus the wide range of content areas including Stress Management, On-Boarding, Organizational Process and Institutional Memory.
Learning professionals can play a key role in the current and future dire emergencies facing our organizations. We would encourage you to explore the readiness of your organization and the role of your learning department to be of assistance in these situations. Please send any additional ideas or perspectives to me at emasie@masie.com
Our hearts, prayers and thoughts go out to our learning colleagues who were impacted by Katrina.
Yours in learning,
Elliott
Elliott Masie,
The MASIE Center and Learning CONSORTIUM
Upcoming MASIE Center Event:
* Learning 2005 - Oct 30 - Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida - 1,400 Registered Already - http://www.learning2005.com
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