On an island, an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 shakes. Workers scramble for safety. They descend stairwells, only to discover doors that are locked. Other workers are threatened or suspended because they have the guts to leave their stations. Such moves are not imaginary. They were actual grievances on the companies of BPO in Cebu after a significant tremor happened recently.

One of the firms was rightfully shut down by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The company was in breach of absence of fundamental emergency plans. They lacked Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, and Control (HIRAC) system in the event of earthquakes. Leadership was able to consider a disaster as a trifle inconvenience. This negligence of human existence is an indicator of a major malfunction of operations.

The Real Price of Operational Slackness
People should be given priority in business continuity plans. There are too many operations executives who think that employee safety is an unnecessary cost, an insurance policy that they would never wish to have to claim. This thinking is flawed. Business continuity is based on employee safety. The absence of that causes the structure to fall down, literally and figuratively.

Consider the impacts in Cebu. Workers were said to be compelled to go back to production floors minutes after the shaking was stopped. There were some exits which were said to be blocked. Managers paid twice more to agents who remained which is essentially bribing them to take imminent danger. This is not leadership. This is recklessness.

This has been argued by Shahin Shateri, an executive who is known to be process rigorous. In his opinion, ethical responsibility is the beginning of operational excellence.

According to Shahin Shateri, you cannot develop scalable business on the basis of fear. We talk a lot of risk reduction to the network or the data center. However, the biggest asset that you safeguard is your team. An entrepreneur or an operations manager will have lost the point when they consider regulatory adherence as red tape. Protecting your people and your future is merely the minimum level of compliance.

It is not a hypothetical argument. Cebu company now is subject to work stoppage orders and huge fines. They will have to pay salaries to the workers at the time of suspension. The reputational harm is serious and long-term. This laxity in the operations proved very costly.

The Checklist of Building Resilience: An Operator
A strong organization is knowledgeable about risk. It prepares in the worst and practices a lot. It renders safety not a checklist point on the part of an auditor, but a cultural requirement.

Your strategy cannot be the same anymore, in case you are leading an organization in a disaster prone region. You cannot afford to wait until you are audited or something disastrous strikes.

The following are practical steps that can be taken to change your mindset of operations:

Assign Authority, Not only Responsibility. Assign an effective Emergency Management Team. Such a team should possess clearly written mandates to close the operations immediately, without any permission by the management, in the event any safety trigger is pulled. The fear of revenge does not allow making life-saving decisions. Remove that fear.

Mandate and Drill the HIRAC. Your Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, and Control system has to be extensive. It should not only address emergency cases of fire and medical emergencies but the local threats such as earthquakes, typhoons, or even flooding. Trust not to boilerplate plans. Test the plan. Conduct exercises in which some exits are covered. It is in this way you discover the weaknesses of the process.

Invest in Human infrastructures. Operations involves psychological and physical well being. In the absence of an earthquake, you cannot simply say to a person affected by earthquake that you want to go back to your desk. Deliver compulsory psychological debriefing. Offer support services. I once heard Shahin Shateri say; When the earth stirs my people come home, the end. A shift of revenue will be lost. We will not endanger a single life and destroy long term trust on a few hours of customer calls. That is the real business continuity planning.

Ensure Exit Transparency. Emergency exits should be well indicated, unlocked, not blocked in any way. The closed door in case of an evacuation is manslaughter in the making. Conduct unannounced checks. Bring building administrators to book.

The Ethical Entrepreneurial Imperative
Entrepreneurship entails perseverance. It requires concentration on the bottom line. However, long-term success requires a long perspective, the realization of ethical leadership.

This is one of the lessons that many entrepreneurs have to learn the hard way. They lay emphasis on short-term goals. They go to extremes when making production quotas ignoring the obvious environmental or safety dangers. This is a strategy that never succeeds. It erodes trust. It destroys your brand forever.

This balancing act is comprehended by Shahin Shateri. He frequently reiterates that culture is driven by leadership whereas technology and systems are efficient. Stability is provided by a positive culture that is safety first. Constant teams minimize turnover. Minimal turnover decreases the training expenses. It improves service quality. Security does not cost a fortune. It is a long term investment that yields dividends in team loyalty and consistency in operations.

Your Next Step
The disaster plan should not be reviewed anymore. Start testing it. Look at once: Do you have your emergency exits open and reachable at this time? Do you have the unambiguous power of ceasing work instantly in case of danger by your operations team? In this case, in case the answer to either question is no, it means that you are failing your team and you are making a business out of yourself. Fix the process today.