Managing a crisis is serious business for firms in New England and the northeast.

So say the results of a new survey by the Northeast Human Resources Association (NEHRA). Over half of all firms queried (54%) said they have a crisis management plan in place, but nearly 4 in 10 (38%) reported they did not. The survey by NEHRA, the leading HR trade group in the northeast with nearly 4,000 members, was conducted to determine how well local organizations are prepared should they face a crisis of one kind or another.

"Given the impact that potential crises can have on a business or organization's operations, it is imperative that some kind of crisis management plan be in place," advises Dan Henry, President-Elect of NEHRA. "In the face of a serious crisis, critical decisions need to be made quickly and effectively."

"Having the decisions made ahead of time through a crisis management plan and making sure every member of the organization is aware of it is imperative to the success of the organization and safety of its employees," Henry continued. "We hope by conducting this survey we started the process for many of the organizations out there that do not have any plans in place."

Environmental, natural disaster plans top the list

Over 87% of respondents reported having an established environmental events action plan (e.g. utilities outage, hazardous materials spill) in place, the highest response rate of all the plans offered. Following was a natural events action plan (flood, fire, earthquake, etc.) which over 79% reported having in place. Next was a criminal or terrorist act action plan, with over 57% of firms reporting having one in place. Finally, only 21% of respondents reported having a PR crisis plan to address such crises as product recalls or immigration issues.

When asked what type of crisis would be most detrimental to their business, however, respondents reported a pandemic (30%) to be the one crisis they most fear. Natural disaster and a terrorist acts were tied for the majority of the other respondents (20% each).

Of the organizations that reported having a plan in place, human resources, senior-level executives, operations and security staff were the biggest contributors to the plans.

Malden Mills was the one company that was cited repeatedly when respondents were asked what business or organization came to mind that they believed handled a crisis in a professional manner. Other companies cited included Johnson & Johnson (Tylenol) and the TJX Companies.

Over 54% of responding firms reported that they did have an organization-wide policy in place to handle document retention, storage and retrieval in the event of a crisis. While an overwhelming majority (73%) reported having back-up computer servers and phone systems in place, a surprising 10% of respondents do not.

When asked whether a succession plan designed to re-establish a chain of command in a crisis was in place, 46% responded yes. When asked if the crisis plan included a process for maintaining an income stream for employees, only 25% reported yes while over 43% reported not having one in place.

Finally, the survey revealed that well under half of all businesses (39%) share their crisis management plans company-wide. The remaining 36% share their plan with senior level and middle management only and 24% share their plan only with senior level employees.

About NEHRA and the survey

NEHRA members are comprised of HR professionals representing large and small companies in all industries within the region. A total of 230 NEHRA members and nonmembers responded to the survey, which was conducted online from March 19-30, 2007. The majority of the e-survey's respondents had between 100-499 employees in their organization.

For full survey results, visit the NEHRA website. (Note: Some percentages do not total 100% as multiple responses were allowed.)