With postal strikes leaving us unsure about when we should expect to recieve our mail, it could cause problems in terms of people receiving letters from their GP surgeries about when and where they need to be vaccinated, leading to appointment chaos and many people missing their slot.

The alternative is to ring around every person to let them know when they need to be vaccinated. This is clearly a very time consuming job and may not always be effective in reaching the intended recipient. If GP surgeries were able to send out a tailored recorded message to individuals, SMS text or email, or indeed a combination of all three, they are far more likely to be able to reach each person and it would be less time consuming for an already over stretched Health Service…

What message this sends me is that we cannot underestimate what this virus can do to us, our children and our colleagues. If disruption to our routines and work is worse than we are expecting then we could see a slow down in economic activity over the winter months as key employees, customer service staff, sales staff etc. are confined to their beds or looking after sick relatives for a week or more. I don’t necessarily see that the UK will come to a stand still but I just think that everything we do will take a lot longer, meaning that contract deadlines could be missed, deliveries could be delayed and the entire supply chain system could experience a slow down, causing any number of problems.

This disruption could be minimised by taking the right precautions as I have alluded to in previous blogs, and feedback I am getting from the market is that people are starting to take pandemic planning more seriously which is a good sign. I will keep you posted with any further developments I come across…

This is is of particular concern as I have just read in the Daily Telegraph that more than 80% of young children hospitalised with the virus were also previously healthy…
If the media are reducing their reporting of the number or nature of swine flu cases that are happening in the UK it could be all too easy to presume that the pandemic is not as bad as it was previously thought it could be, and I personally think that this a dangerous point of view to take.

There is a fine line I believe between not panicking and being prepared. Our everyday actions should still include good personal hygiene measures such as using antibacterial gel where provided, watching our children carefully for any increase in temperatures and being watchful of friends, family and colleagues who may be showing symptoms. This virus is still a potential killer and certainly has the power to disable a large proportion of the UK workforce.

Backed up by research from the BCI (Business continuity Institute) confirming that over half of organisations they surveyed had weak or no pandemic contingency plans, the CIPD warns that senior managers will ignore the second wave threat of increased swine flu cases and will be hit by substantial staff absences, a great threat to businesses and the recovery of the recession.

Warning companies to not underestimate the potential threat posed by a second wave of swine flu does not seem to be making any difference. There are many factors that contribute to a sense of apathy, but the key obstacle is overcoming the feeling that it will never be as bad as the media would have us believe. As humans we tend to be naturally optimistic, playing down any negative possibility. Indeed I fell victim of this myself recently in a car park…as I went to the machine to put in my card to pay my money the man before me told me it wasn’t working and that it had swallowed his money. Being in a rush and ever the optimist, I thought that maybe it would work for me. You can guess what happened!

So the lesson to be learnt from the information given to us, is that organisations should be factoring ‘optimism bias’ into their contingency plans and planning for the worst case scenario. This is much less work and effort than some managers tend to think, as you can simply and seamlessly re-route incoming calls to employee homes and allow secure access to corporate networks. After all not all staff absences will be due to illness, so why not make better use of their time away and give them the tools to continue working?

I personally think this is good news and is indicating that even if the media is down playing the fact that the virus is not disappearing, at least the government is again being pro-active in finding ways to minimise the risk of pandemic disruption, in the same way that they were quick off the mark to order enough vaccine for the UK population.

What encourages me also is that included in the research projects is one adressing school closure effectiveness in preventing spread of the virus, enabling local decisions on if and when school closures would be appropriate.

Perhaps I was a little quick in my earlier blog to dismiss the government’s decision making process…or should I heed the cynical voice in my head that suggests that they are looking for justification and evidence to back up their argument that schools should not be closing. What do you think?

Follow my thoughts on Twitter or read the full article on Continuity Central.

However firmly back on terra firma it is clear that swine flu is still prevalent in the news and media, suggesting that this virus is not being killed off by the warmer weather and fuelling suggestions that a re-surgence of cases is likely this autumn. Indeed there are 263 people in hospital with swine flu and 30 people in intensive care, as reported by the BBC last Friday. As children prepare to go back to school during the first week of Spetember, it is from then that experts are saying that the number of cases are likely to increase, based on past pandemics. The test will be whether the promised vaccine will be administered before the virus can undertake too much damage.

The government’s decision not to close schools during September could in fact give the swine flu virus the advantage, despite the fact the scientists have claimed that closing them could cut cases by 45%.

But if that is the decision then we have no choice but to prepare for what may happen. Are organisations resting on their laurels or are they preparing for a worst case scenario? I would personally side with the scientists rather than the politicians in this issue and I have ensured that I can continue to work from home if my children are off sick from school. By choosing not to limit public gatherings ministers think that they are reducing social and economic disruption, but from what I have read and heard, I have a niggling feeling that the exact opposite is likely to occur.

Follow my daily thoughts on twitter as the pandemic moves on.

Well yes and no. I think that this type of news is good in making us wake up and smell the coffee! The effects that this virus will have upon the UK population and economy are happening now, and will touch everyone in some way or another whether through family members or work colleagues. But a sense of perspective is also required. The majority of sufferers will only experience mild symptoms and should recover relatively quickly albeit at home in a quarantined environment.

The big question for UK organisations is ‘what is your flu pandemic strategy’? I have heard of one company where an entire department has been told to stay at home for ten days because of one case of swine flu in the office. Some may feel that this is an extreme measure, some may say that it is sensible. Personally I think that this is the right move to take. In times of recession when people fear losing their jobs, you will find that people will come into the office even when they are ill, fearing unemployment more than fearing spreading the virus.

It is management’s responsibility to protect its employees and to re-assure them that time taken off for swine flu will not be held against them. Organisations should be firmly in survival mode at this point in time, both financially and physically. The mere ability of enabling employees to answer their calls from home while recovering or caring for relatives, empowers management to show trust in their employees and consideration for its workforce. According to Flu Pandemic Guidelines For Business published by a former business continuity organisation called Survive, “As an employer you have a duty of care to provide your employees with a safe working environment…and you will instil confidence that the organisation has taken steps to protect their wellbeing” (p.31) The up-side for the organisation is that it can continue to operate seamlessly when the office is half empty.

Look out for a future blog which will outline the top ten tips for employing effective home working strategies to survive the swine flu pandemic.

Author: Karen Jones

Clearly if this were to be implemented, there is room for abuse by employees who may have just a cold, or who really aren’t suffering that badly. Employers would be placing a lot of trust on their employees not to abuse the policy, and may find it difficult to put in place any measures to counter any abuse. When the swine flu was first announced in the media, there was an increase in the number of UK employees calling in sick. As the country with the 3rd highest number of swine flu cases, something needs to be done to protect our businesses and fragile economy from mass absenteeism.

Some organisations are now preparing appropriately for ensuring business continuity with a vastly reduced workforce. A former colleague at BT told me that internally they are preparing for a third of the workforce to be absent at any one time. One of their key strategies is to employ flexible working where possible.

Where several companies are now allowing employees to access their emails securely from home, few companies understand how they can provide seamless working through incoming call re-routing, and rely on employees to use mobile phones to communicate with suppliers, customers etc. There are several disadvantages with this strategy including; batteries running out, extended use of mobile phones without headsets possibly causing headaches, lack of mobile signal in several parts of the UK and in many cases higher call charges for callers. By seamlessly re-routing individual DDI numbers, the caller has no idea that you are not situated at your office desk and the customer experience remains consistent, fuelling positive brand perception.

Deploying a robust and flexible telecoms resilience strategy during this heigthened swine flu pandemic, I believe gives employers the power to say to employees, ‘ok, take time to recover at home, but here are the tools you need should you feel well enought o carry on working.’ Or for the employee who is forced to stay at home to look after sick relatives, flexible working should allow them the opportunity to work around their caring responsibilities.

I believe that the employer has the capability of managing those employees from a distance through flexible working while not pre-judging those who may or may not have swine flu, so that everybody wins.

Author: Karen Jones

The leading authorities have been proven right in stating that the only certaintly about swine flu is uncertainty. One week the press reports that the symptoms are mild and there really is nothing to worry about, another week there are cases of seamingly healthy individuals being killed. Who knows how it would affect you or I?

I also found out today that swine flu is now present in the immediate area within which I live, as reported by my daughter’s nursery. This information, coupled with what we are hearing today has started getting me really worried. My immediate reaction is one of wanting to keep my family close to me and away from potential infection.

It really is time that we started closing ranks and finding ways of working flexibly to stop this flu pandemic being the killer that it has the potential to be. There is no reason why this pandemic could not be as lethal as that of 1918, if the virus mutates faster than a vaccine can be made. We have to protect ourselves as well as our colleagues and businesses. Working from home or an isolated location appears to me to be the best solution all round, and I for one will be doing so to protect my family, as I did last Christmas to spare family and friends from the seasonal flu we all suffered.

These cases I think will become more and more common, particularly in the winter months. So how can organisations minimise their decrease in productivity? In a white paper I published recently on our GemaTech website titled ‘The adoption of flexible working is the key to your business surviving the current swine flu pandemic’, I stated that even the Health and Safety Executive as well as the Department of Health have issued advice to employers which include considering home-working and tele-conferencing to reduce face-to-face contact.

When mass absenteesim starts affecting customer service and the key systems and processes which an organisation relies upon, enabling people to work from home will go a long way to protecting brand and organisational reputation.

Author: Karen Jones