Staff Considerations in Risk Management

When considering your staff in your risk management plan, the first thing to recognize is that there might be a considerable difference between your expectations and your employees’ sense of responsibility in the event of a disaster or your sudden death or disability. 

You might believe that in your absence, your employees will at least attempt to continue to serve your clients and run the business. However, your employees might not have the ability or the desire to do so. If you have been responsible for all the client relationship activities, your employees probably won’t know who to contact or how to handle important conversations and decisions. Furthermore, if your staff doesn’t feel that they have any responsibility to the firm, their reaction might be to start applying for new jobs rather than worry about maintaining the firm’s daily operations.

As a result, it’s a good idea to assess your employees’ skills and what they would be capable of doing should you not be there to guide them. Furthermore, you might want to discuss with them their sense of ownership and duty to the business. Do you have any senior employees who could step up to act in your place? If so, have you discussed your expectations with them? If not, you need to start developing your plan.