Managing in an Age of Terrorism
Since 9/11, U.S. companies have become increasingly security conscious, forming new crisis management plans and policies. Nonetheless, there seems to have been a significant decline in HR-related periodical literature dealing with terrorism, calling into question whether this topic remains front and center for HR professionals.
A survey conducted by the American Management Association found that the percentage of surveyed organizations with a crisis management plan jumped from 49% in 2002 to 64% in 2003. The survey also found that more companies have a designated crisis team, 62% in 2003 as compared with 54% in 2002.
These preparations are, in part, driven by the desire to prevent and prepare for terrorist acts. Although the most widely cited situation for which companies have a crisis management plan is natural disasters, fully 45% had one for “disturbances such as terrorism, political unrest” in 2003, up from 33% in 2002. And Pinkerton’s most recent survey of security directors at Fortune 1000 firms shows that terrorism ranks as the fourth highest security threat facing corporations, after workplace violence, business interruption, and Internet/intranet security.
While terrorism remains a major concern, there have been signs of progress in the battle against it. In 2003, there were 190 acts of international terrorism, a decline from 198 attacks that occurred in 2002 but a large drop from the 346 attacks of 2001, reports the U.S. State Department. In fact, 2003 represents the lowest annual total of international terrorist attacks since 1969. A total of 307 persons were killed in terrorist attacks in 2003, but this does not include the devastating violence that occurred in Spain on March 11, 2004. That attack killed almost 200 people.
HR professionals as well as security professionals view terrorism as a vital business topic. A 2003 Human Resource Institute survey showed that at that time HR professionals saw terrorism as among the most important issues affecting workforce management, ranking it 13th out of 120 issues.
Nonetheless, a scan of the recent periodical literature on the subject indicates there’s been a drop in the number of articles dealing with HR and terrorism. HRI recently conducted a search using the ProQuest database, plugging in the terms “terrorism” and “human resources” and confining the parameters to citations and abstracts. Whereas 50 articles met these criteria in the 12 months extending from May 1, 2001, to May 1, 2002, only 22 articles appeared in the period from May 2002 to May 2003, and the number fell to just nine in the 2003-2004 period. Other searches support the contention that there’s been a falloff in the number of articles targeted toward HR professionals that deal with the subject of terrorism.
Perhaps such a decline is natural given HR’s many other responsibilities. In recent years, HR has had to deal with cost cutting, layoffs, surging healthcare costs, the search for metrics, workforce planning, a rash of age-bias charges, and various other issues. If terrorism preparedness is becoming relatively routine and spearheaded by security experts, then perhaps it deserves less media attention in the HR field.
Still, HR professionals should beware complacency on this issue. In the U.S., 80% of the “critical infrastructure” is owned by private industry, making companies prime targets in potential future attacks. And it’s HR that is generally held responsible for everything from background checks to training, so HR should play key roles on the rising numbers of crisis management teams.
In light of today’s growing economy, one area of particular focus should be the screening of potential hires. HR can help create cross-functional teams to ensure that such screening is carried out in a way that is both effective and fair. At electronics distributor Avnet, for example, a team made up of HR, operations, legal, and security and risk management came together to develop a screening process. “This way, they all had a stake in it. They know how it is being done and why,” explains Ed Rana, director of asset protection.
Another critical area is training, which must be implemented along with new crisis management polices and procedures. “For example, many sites have a program through which designated employees screen incoming mail for suspicious packages; these employees are specially trained to identify and handle such packages,” writes Brian Bennett, safety manager for Akzo Nobel Polymer Chemicals LLC. It’s only through the proper management of such details that trainers and other HR professionals can help companies remain safe.
Information on the U.S. State Department’s newly released 2004 edition of its “Patterns of Global Terrorism” report can be found at
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2003/
Information on the AMA’s “2003 Crisis Management and Security Issues Survey” can be found at
http://www.amanet.org/research/
For information on the AMA’s Security Council, go to
http://www.amanet.org/press/amanews/security_council.htm
For more information on Pinkerton’s “Top Security Threats and Management Issues Facing Corporate America,” go to
http://www.ci-pinkerton.com/
IOMA’s Human Resource Department Management Report points to Marsh’s Crisis Academy’s PowerPoint security briefing called “Security in a Dangerous World.” For more information, go to
http://www.marshcrisisacademy.com/content/00_Home/
For information on a Towers Perrin report called “Workers' Compensation Terrorism Reinsurance Pool Feasibility Study,” go to
http://www.towersperrin.com/tillinghast/
For a Federal Emergency Management Agency report on how to deal with national emergencies, see the PDF report at
http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/security.pdf
Members of the Society for Human Resource Management can access its emergency response toolkit at
http://www.shrm.org/hrtools/toolkits/emergencyresponse.asp
The sources used in this TrendWatcher include the following:
American Management Association (2003). 2003 AMA Survey: Crisis Management and Security Issues. Retrieved April 19, 2004, from
http://www.amanet.org/research/pdf.htm
American Management Association (2002). 2002 AMA Survey: Crisis Management and Security Issues. Retrieved April 28, 2004, from
http://www.amanet.org/research/pdf.htm
Bennett, B.T. (2003, October). Terrorism. Professional Safety, 48(10). Retrieved April 19, 2004, from ProQuest database (433512681).
Human Resource Institute (2003). Major Issues Impacting People Management Survey Results 2003.
Johnson, K & Crawford, D. (2004, April 5). Spain Refocuses Terrorism Probe Following Arrests. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 29, 2004, from ProQuest database (608079201).
Lacefield, S.K. (2004, March). Who Are Your Workers...Really? Logistics Management, 43(3). Retrieved April 19, 2004, from ProQuest database (588985421).
LePree, J. (2003, May). Industrial Security: New Threats Call for New Tactics. Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation, pp. 10, 12, 13.
Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations Inc. (2003). Top Security Threats and Management Issues Facing Corporate America: 2003 Survey of Fortune 1000 Companies. Retrieved April 21, 2004, from
http://www.ci-pinkerton.com/news/pdf/PinkertonTopThreats2003.pdf
U.S. Department of State. Patterns of Global Terrorism. Retrieved April 29, 2004, from
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2003/
Zalud, B. (2004, March). Sharing Responsibilities. Security. Retrieved April 19, 2004, from ProQuest database (579369071).
A survey conducted by the American Management Association found that the percentage of surveyed organizations with a crisis management plan jumped from 49% in 2002 to 64% in 2003. The survey also found that more companies have a designated crisis team, 62% in 2003 as compared with 54% in 2002.
These preparations are, in part, driven by the desire to prevent and prepare for terrorist acts. Although the most widely cited situation for which companies have a crisis management plan is natural disasters, fully 45% had one for “disturbances such as terrorism, political unrest” in 2003, up from 33% in 2002. And Pinkerton’s most recent survey of security directors at Fortune 1000 firms shows that terrorism ranks as the fourth highest security threat facing corporations, after workplace violence, business interruption, and Internet/intranet security.
While terrorism remains a major concern, there have been signs of progress in the battle against it. In 2003, there were 190 acts of international terrorism, a decline from 198 attacks that occurred in 2002 but a large drop from the 346 attacks of 2001, reports the U.S. State Department. In fact, 2003 represents the lowest annual total of international terrorist attacks since 1969. A total of 307 persons were killed in terrorist attacks in 2003, but this does not include the devastating violence that occurred in Spain on March 11, 2004. That attack killed almost 200 people.
HR professionals as well as security professionals view terrorism as a vital business topic. A 2003 Human Resource Institute survey showed that at that time HR professionals saw terrorism as among the most important issues affecting workforce management, ranking it 13th out of 120 issues.
Nonetheless, a scan of the recent periodical literature on the subject indicates there’s been a drop in the number of articles dealing with HR and terrorism. HRI recently conducted a search using the ProQuest database, plugging in the terms “terrorism” and “human resources” and confining the parameters to citations and abstracts. Whereas 50 articles met these criteria in the 12 months extending from May 1, 2001, to May 1, 2002, only 22 articles appeared in the period from May 2002 to May 2003, and the number fell to just nine in the 2003-2004 period. Other searches support the contention that there’s been a falloff in the number of articles targeted toward HR professionals that deal with the subject of terrorism.
Perhaps such a decline is natural given HR’s many other responsibilities. In recent years, HR has had to deal with cost cutting, layoffs, surging healthcare costs, the search for metrics, workforce planning, a rash of age-bias charges, and various other issues. If terrorism preparedness is becoming relatively routine and spearheaded by security experts, then perhaps it deserves less media attention in the HR field.
Still, HR professionals should beware complacency on this issue. In the U.S., 80% of the “critical infrastructure” is owned by private industry, making companies prime targets in potential future attacks. And it’s HR that is generally held responsible for everything from background checks to training, so HR should play key roles on the rising numbers of crisis management teams.
In light of today’s growing economy, one area of particular focus should be the screening of potential hires. HR can help create cross-functional teams to ensure that such screening is carried out in a way that is both effective and fair. At electronics distributor Avnet, for example, a team made up of HR, operations, legal, and security and risk management came together to develop a screening process. “This way, they all had a stake in it. They know how it is being done and why,” explains Ed Rana, director of asset protection.
Another critical area is training, which must be implemented along with new crisis management polices and procedures. “For example, many sites have a program through which designated employees screen incoming mail for suspicious packages; these employees are specially trained to identify and handle such packages,” writes Brian Bennett, safety manager for Akzo Nobel Polymer Chemicals LLC. It’s only through the proper management of such details that trainers and other HR professionals can help companies remain safe.
Information on the U.S. State Department’s newly released 2004 edition of its “Patterns of Global Terrorism” report can be found at
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2003/
Information on the AMA’s “2003 Crisis Management and Security Issues Survey” can be found at
http://www.amanet.org/research/
For information on the AMA’s Security Council, go to
http://www.amanet.org/press/amanews/security_council.htm
For more information on Pinkerton’s “Top Security Threats and Management Issues Facing Corporate America,” go to
http://www.ci-pinkerton.com/
IOMA’s Human Resource Department Management Report points to Marsh’s Crisis Academy’s PowerPoint security briefing called “Security in a Dangerous World.” For more information, go to
http://www.marshcrisisacademy.com/content/00_Home/
For information on a Towers Perrin report called “Workers' Compensation Terrorism Reinsurance Pool Feasibility Study,” go to
http://www.towersperrin.com/tillinghast/
For a Federal Emergency Management Agency report on how to deal with national emergencies, see the PDF report at
http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/security.pdf
Members of the Society for Human Resource Management can access its emergency response toolkit at
http://www.shrm.org/hrtools/toolkits/emergencyresponse.asp
The sources used in this TrendWatcher include the following:
American Management Association (2003). 2003 AMA Survey: Crisis Management and Security Issues. Retrieved April 19, 2004, from
http://www.amanet.org/research/pdf.htm
American Management Association (2002). 2002 AMA Survey: Crisis Management and Security Issues. Retrieved April 28, 2004, from
http://www.amanet.org/research/pdf.htm
Bennett, B.T. (2003, October). Terrorism. Professional Safety, 48(10). Retrieved April 19, 2004, from ProQuest database (433512681).
Human Resource Institute (2003). Major Issues Impacting People Management Survey Results 2003.
Johnson, K & Crawford, D. (2004, April 5). Spain Refocuses Terrorism Probe Following Arrests. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 29, 2004, from ProQuest database (608079201).
Lacefield, S.K. (2004, March). Who Are Your Workers...Really? Logistics Management, 43(3). Retrieved April 19, 2004, from ProQuest database (588985421).
LePree, J. (2003, May). Industrial Security: New Threats Call for New Tactics. Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation, pp. 10, 12, 13.
Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations Inc. (2003). Top Security Threats and Management Issues Facing Corporate America: 2003 Survey of Fortune 1000 Companies. Retrieved April 21, 2004, from
http://www.ci-pinkerton.com/news/pdf/PinkertonTopThreats2003.pdf
U.S. Department of State. Patterns of Global Terrorism. Retrieved April 29, 2004, from
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2003/
Zalud, B. (2004, March). Sharing Responsibilities. Security. Retrieved April 19, 2004, from ProQuest database (579369071).