The Inevitable Storm
These days, living along the U.S. Gulf Coast makes one extremely wary and yet also thoughtful when it comes to hurricanes. They’re unpredictable, destructive, heart-rending and too often deadly, yet they’re ultimately inevitable. Sooner or later, big storms happen.
In some ways, we all live in the potential path of a dangerous storm. Maybe it’s a terrorist attack, or a deadly global pandemic, or a business crisis, or a personal disaster. But, being mortal, each of us is subject to calamity.
The question is, What do we do with this knowledge? From what I’ve seen, people generally cope with the inevitability of storms in one of four ways. First, we live in denial or with fatalism, ignoring storms until they’re right on top of us. Second, we dig bunkers and reduce risks at all costs. Third, we prepare for the inevitable storm as best we can and react to it as effectively and humanely as possible. Fourth, we panic outright.
My experience is that people who have been through big storms before usually try to take the third option. They realize that denial and panic are deadly, that reducing all risks is impossible, and that preparation – including a timely evacuation if necessary – is an act of empowerment. When a storm hits, those who focus on preparation may still suffer but will tend to be in better positions than they otherwise would have been.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, one company that seems to have prepared and responded particularly well is Wal-Mart. In recent years, the company’s image has been tarnished by allegations of sex discrimination and accusations that it underpays workers. But its quick and coordinated actions in the aftermath of Katrina earned it respect even among critics.
Wal-Mart’s preparation was methodical, but its execution was dazzlingly quick. The company’s director of business continuity, Jason Jackson, started encamping at the company’s emergency command center on August 24. By the time Katrina hit Florida, the command center included a wide range of managers and experts.
“On Sunday, before the storm made landfall on the Gulf Coast,” reports the Wall Street Journal, “Mr. Jackson ordered Wal-Mart warehouses to deliver a variety of emergency supplies, from generators to dry ice to bottled water, to designated staging areas so that company stores would be able to reopen quickly if disaster struck.” And strike it did. Yet, out of 126 stores that had been closed in the face of the hurricane, only 15 failed to reopen by September 9th. In the end, Wal-Mart often outperformed the Federal Emergency Management Agency in terms of its speed at trucking in emergency supplies to hurricane victims and relief workers (Zimmerman & Bauerlein, 2005).
Serving as a fast-reacting community lifeline wasn’t Wal-Mart’s only course of action. The organization also used the Katrina disaster to demonstrate its charity and social awareness. As one of the largest contributors to relief efforts, it has given $38 million, including donations from the founders of the chain.
Especially important, from the viewpoint of its workers, was that Wal-Mart offered them some help if their homes were harmed in the storm and reportedly offered displaced workers jobs in other Wal-Mart stores across the U.S. (“Wal-Mart,” 2005). Using a special fund, the company donated up to $1,000 to each employee whose home had been destroyed. In some cases, Wal-Mart managers even took evacuees into their own homes.
The Katrina disaster made it clear that companies need to take personnel issues into strong consideration when drawing up business continuity plans. Just being able to locate workers became a major challenge after Katrina. BellSouth is an example of a company that used technology to good advantage, giving key employees satellite phones before the storm (Warren, 2005).
Afterward, BellSouth, Chevron and other companies set up tents to give displaced employees somewhere to eat, sleep, and shelter families (White, 2005). BellSouth called on retiree volunteers to help man these employee shelters.
“Not having a place to work or a paycheck to count on is a devastating blow, and compounds the trauma the victims of Katrina are experiencing,” said Christine Nyirjesy Bragale, speaking for Goodwill Industries International (Hays, 2005). Some companies went to great lengths to avoid this. Hospital Corporation of America employees, for example, not only received company transportation to temporary shelter locations but “received a three-page memo prepared by John Steele, HCA’s senior vice president of HR, on salary continuation, interim employment and other programs designed to help them” (Gurchiek, 2005).
As this TrendWatcher goes to press, another major storm approaches landfall in the U.S. People and organizations – many still weary and battered from Katrina – are being forced to contend with Hurricane Rita. In most cases, they’ve already made what preparations they could and now await the storm itself. Our hearts and thoughts are with them in the face of this storm. May they suffer as few losses as possible, and may many rally to their aid in the aftermath.
For an article on how various human resource departments took charge after Katrina, click here.
For an article on how Wal-Mart’s emergency plans paid off, click here.
For a story on how Wal-Mart served as a lifeline in the aftermath of Katrina, click here.
For an article on Wal-Mart’s contributions, click here.
For an article on how employers struggled to respond in the aftermath of Katrina, click here.
For an article on how the U.S. might be better able to manage future crises, click here.
For a link to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, click here.
For the Society of Human Resource Management’s page on HR and hurricane response, click here.
Documents used in the preparation of this TrendWatcher include:
Gurchiek, Kathy. “HR Takes Charge of Delivering Aid to Storm-Affected Employees.” HR News, September 15, 2005.
Hays, Kristen. “Job Fairs Help Katrina Victims Find Work.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 7, 2005.
“Wal-Mart Shows the Way in Katrina Relief Measures.” Businessline, September 14, 2005, p. 1.
Warren, Susan. “Employers Struggle to Pick Up the Pieces After Katrina.” Wall Street Journal Online, September 2, 2005.
White, Ben. “Firms Look to Their Workers, Offering Support.” MSNBC.com, September 3, 2005.
Zimmerman, Ann and Valerie Bauerlein. “At Wal-Mart, Emergency Plan Has Big Payoff.” Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2005, p. B1.
In some ways, we all live in the potential path of a dangerous storm. Maybe it’s a terrorist attack, or a deadly global pandemic, or a business crisis, or a personal disaster. But, being mortal, each of us is subject to calamity.
The question is, What do we do with this knowledge? From what I’ve seen, people generally cope with the inevitability of storms in one of four ways. First, we live in denial or with fatalism, ignoring storms until they’re right on top of us. Second, we dig bunkers and reduce risks at all costs. Third, we prepare for the inevitable storm as best we can and react to it as effectively and humanely as possible. Fourth, we panic outright.
My experience is that people who have been through big storms before usually try to take the third option. They realize that denial and panic are deadly, that reducing all risks is impossible, and that preparation – including a timely evacuation if necessary – is an act of empowerment. When a storm hits, those who focus on preparation may still suffer but will tend to be in better positions than they otherwise would have been.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, one company that seems to have prepared and responded particularly well is Wal-Mart. In recent years, the company’s image has been tarnished by allegations of sex discrimination and accusations that it underpays workers. But its quick and coordinated actions in the aftermath of Katrina earned it respect even among critics.
Wal-Mart’s preparation was methodical, but its execution was dazzlingly quick. The company’s director of business continuity, Jason Jackson, started encamping at the company’s emergency command center on August 24. By the time Katrina hit Florida, the command center included a wide range of managers and experts.
“On Sunday, before the storm made landfall on the Gulf Coast,” reports the Wall Street Journal, “Mr. Jackson ordered Wal-Mart warehouses to deliver a variety of emergency supplies, from generators to dry ice to bottled water, to designated staging areas so that company stores would be able to reopen quickly if disaster struck.” And strike it did. Yet, out of 126 stores that had been closed in the face of the hurricane, only 15 failed to reopen by September 9th. In the end, Wal-Mart often outperformed the Federal Emergency Management Agency in terms of its speed at trucking in emergency supplies to hurricane victims and relief workers (Zimmerman & Bauerlein, 2005).
Serving as a fast-reacting community lifeline wasn’t Wal-Mart’s only course of action. The organization also used the Katrina disaster to demonstrate its charity and social awareness. As one of the largest contributors to relief efforts, it has given $38 million, including donations from the founders of the chain.
Especially important, from the viewpoint of its workers, was that Wal-Mart offered them some help if their homes were harmed in the storm and reportedly offered displaced workers jobs in other Wal-Mart stores across the U.S. (“Wal-Mart,” 2005). Using a special fund, the company donated up to $1,000 to each employee whose home had been destroyed. In some cases, Wal-Mart managers even took evacuees into their own homes.
The Katrina disaster made it clear that companies need to take personnel issues into strong consideration when drawing up business continuity plans. Just being able to locate workers became a major challenge after Katrina. BellSouth is an example of a company that used technology to good advantage, giving key employees satellite phones before the storm (Warren, 2005).
Afterward, BellSouth, Chevron and other companies set up tents to give displaced employees somewhere to eat, sleep, and shelter families (White, 2005). BellSouth called on retiree volunteers to help man these employee shelters.
“Not having a place to work or a paycheck to count on is a devastating blow, and compounds the trauma the victims of Katrina are experiencing,” said Christine Nyirjesy Bragale, speaking for Goodwill Industries International (Hays, 2005). Some companies went to great lengths to avoid this. Hospital Corporation of America employees, for example, not only received company transportation to temporary shelter locations but “received a three-page memo prepared by John Steele, HCA’s senior vice president of HR, on salary continuation, interim employment and other programs designed to help them” (Gurchiek, 2005).
As this TrendWatcher goes to press, another major storm approaches landfall in the U.S. People and organizations – many still weary and battered from Katrina – are being forced to contend with Hurricane Rita. In most cases, they’ve already made what preparations they could and now await the storm itself. Our hearts and thoughts are with them in the face of this storm. May they suffer as few losses as possible, and may many rally to their aid in the aftermath.
For an article on how various human resource departments took charge after Katrina, click here.
For an article on how Wal-Mart’s emergency plans paid off, click here.
For a story on how Wal-Mart served as a lifeline in the aftermath of Katrina, click here.
For an article on Wal-Mart’s contributions, click here.
For an article on how employers struggled to respond in the aftermath of Katrina, click here.
For an article on how the U.S. might be better able to manage future crises, click here.
For a link to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, click here.
For the Society of Human Resource Management’s page on HR and hurricane response, click here.
Documents used in the preparation of this TrendWatcher include:
Gurchiek, Kathy. “HR Takes Charge of Delivering Aid to Storm-Affected Employees.” HR News, September 15, 2005.
Hays, Kristen. “Job Fairs Help Katrina Victims Find Work.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 7, 2005.
“Wal-Mart Shows the Way in Katrina Relief Measures.” Businessline, September 14, 2005, p. 1.
Warren, Susan. “Employers Struggle to Pick Up the Pieces After Katrina.” Wall Street Journal Online, September 2, 2005.
White, Ben. “Firms Look to Their Workers, Offering Support.” MSNBC.com, September 3, 2005.
Zimmerman, Ann and Valerie Bauerlein. “At Wal-Mart, Emergency Plan Has Big Payoff.” Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2005, p. B1.