This week's discussion topic is as follows:

Getting People Back to Work Once the organization has called employees back to work following a crisis, whether at the primary site or an alternate location, it is helpful for the executive management to brief all employees again, either directly or through managers and supervisors. Employees will be starved for information, and without the facts, the rumor mill will run rampant. Providing employees with the facts, management's response, impact on the organization, and plans to recover will ease the employees' concern about the security of their jobs and their coworkers' welfare. In addition, it will assist in providing closure to the crisis.

The inclusion of timetables for recovery further alleviates anxiety. Some organizations routinely use internal counseling sessions, both individual and group, to allow employees to vent their feelings about the crisis. In years past, this came in the form of organizations holding "critical incident stress debriefing" (CISD) sessions, in which employees were asked to recount what they had experienced. Ongoing research regarding PTSD has found that, even with the best of intentions and the full engagement of those affected, the debriefing process itself may exacerbate the problems experienced following a stressful event. While no direct linkage can be shown that debriefing can cause a higher rate of PTSD diagnoses, there is also no conclusive evidence that debriefing helps reduce the level of stress, nor has it proven to shorten the period it takes to recover from the stress.

What is relatively well understood is that this is not a role for amateurs. Most organizations that commit to following recommended practices will use skilled crisis-management professionals to monitor and follow up on the affected workforce as it returns to normal operations. When needed, additional support services can be deployed to manage recovery. Because there seem to be mixed opinions about the value and outcome of debriefing activities, each organization has to develop policies and practices that work within its own organizational culture. Dealing with Loss One unfortunate consequence of a crisis is the loss of coworkers, supervisors, and subordinates.

Whether as a result of death or severe injury or only an unwillingness to return to the workplace, the crisis occurred in, some employees may leave the organization. As a result, vital skills and organizational knowledge may be lost. If organizations are not prepared for the inevitable loss of these critical assets, they may find themselves suffering from the crisis's additional effects. How can organizations prepare for the loss of skills and knowledge? Many techniques, including cross-training, job, task rotation, and redundancy, are discussed in the following sections. When attrition in the chain of command occurs, succession planning can shorten the time it takes to return the organization to effective operation. That topic is discussed later in this chapter.

What type of procedure would you put in place for your employees to return to work? Describe your process and technique to reinstate everyone after a disaster or an emergency.

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