Pandemics and SMEs

There has been much talk about closing schools to help in the reduction of H1N1 influenza cases this fall in North America. How will this impact on SME's has not really been discussed.

For a large company, having staff stay home when they are sick can usually be compensated for by moving someone else into that position on a temporary basis or hiring a temporary worker from an agency. This is not an option for SMEs. They do not have the extra resources to move people around and hiring a temporary worker just is not in the budget.

Now add into the mix that if schools close, then some employees, even though they are not sick, must now stay home to look after their children. This places additional burdens on the employer.

Closing the schools has not been properly thought out by governments and school boards. When publishing these ideas, they do not take into consideration the SME owners and the impact that such decisions have on these companies.

Most SMEs do not have a pandemic response plan or a Business Continuity Plan so they will try to develop their capabilities on the fly. This will only lead to compounding the disaster. There is the real possibility that these companies could go out of business, not because of a their employees getting sick, but because of a decision to close schools that did not consider all of the possibilities that such a decision would have on the SME environment.

SMEs can reduce some of the risk of going out of business, by developing contingency and pandemic plans now while there is still time. During a disaster or pandemic, it is to late.