With so much going on in the world right now, I find a quiet satisfaction in knowing that I work with an organization that is making a positive difference. As an operations specialist with FEI’s crisis management team, I assist our customers by integrating our crisis support services into their business continuity planning.
Preventing a crisis is always best but not always possible. COVID-19 is the perfect example. Our crisis management team serves as an extension of our customer’s staff by helping them maintain consistent operations when their resources become overwhelmed or unavailable.
Because of COVID-19, our crisis management team has been providing additional consultation and support over the past several months. These include:
Emergency notifications
FEI maintains a notification line that is accessible 24/7/365. Our customers utilize this line to inform FEI of situations that are impacting their operations. We, in turn, notify their designated stakeholders using email, text messaging and phone calls. We also establish conference call lines to maintain an open line of communication. This line connects our customers’ emergency response teams and the FEI crisis management team so all involved can receive the latest information on the response and coordinate additional support as needed.
Business continuity
During the pandemic, we have provided support to our customers’ business continuity and emergency response teams by assessing the current situation and providing consultation on how best to utilize our support services. Many of our customers have used our emergency call center to provide information and updates to their staff as well as identify additional resources that might be needed as the crisis unfolds. The call center triages incoming calls and provides the current information / resources that are available or directs the more complex ones to identified sources within the organization. Additionally, we provide daily reports and after-action reports for the customers to continue enhancing their business continuity plans.
Academic Institutions
Throughout this pandemic, FEI has supported international organizations and higher education. Initially, our customers had to quickly move employees, students, faculty, and staff off-site for health and safety concerns. The uncertainty and unknowns involved with COVID-19 resulted with most organizations lacking the critical information needed to communicate to their stakeholders. When information is not being communicated, concerned individuals go looking for answers…they call all the numbers associated with the organization in an attempt to get information.
Our university customers were especially impacted by this. Families had to quickly make arrangements for their students to return home as well as maneuver through the intricacies of remote learning. When students, parents, faculty, and staff all have questions at the same time, information lines can get overwhelmed. Our staff has been helping to answer calls and respond to emails. We have been providing information as it evolves and communicate identified issues back to the university which allows their leadership team to focus on identifying resources and solutions.
For the past several months, FEI has provided our crisis management customers with support regarding crisis communication, contact tracing; health and safety guidelines; and academic transitional support. We have done all this while taking special note of the pandemic’s ever-changing nature.
As we continue to work with our crisis management customers, our goal is to help them overcome today’s challenges while maintaining resilience within their organization and a positive reputation with their stakeholders, including their community.
For more information on our services please visit the Crisis Management page on our website.