Ensuring Workforce Continuity During A Pandemic

Communications Best Practices

As most of us witnessed over the past several years, when a major natural event occurs the government is limited in the degree of assistance it can offer. Warnings of a global influenza pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) underscore the need for organizations to engage in their own loss mitigation activities. Examination of contingency plans drawn up by state and local authorities only serves to highlight this need.

In the event of a pandemic influenza outbreak, the government has encouraged "social distancing" as the primary preventative course of action. Under those circumstances, effective communication will be of paramount importance. People are "social animals" and derive much of their sense of safety from the social groups to which they be long - work being a very importantone. This sense of safety is invariably shaken with radical changes such as the proposed "distancing" or isolation. The uncertainty of a chaotic and unpredictable situation highlights the need for "knowing" what is happening around us. Thus the first goal of an effective communication strategy is to create a community, or "social context" for dealing with the unfolding situation.