Disaster Recovery Journal- Volume 19, Issue 1 - Winter 2006 Issue -Recovering More Than Just a Business

Recovering More Than Just a Business

By SUSAN DeSANTIS

When businesses begin their disaster recovery planning, they often think first of the “corporate” side of the recovery primarily data and voice systems making sure there is no disruption to corporate operations or impact on their customers. Businesses need to ensure they have the resources and key employees to manage their business in the event there is a disruption to their primary infrastructure.
Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Whitney National Bank quickly recognized the “human factor” is also important to an organization’s disaster recovery plan. A number of Whitney Bank branches in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, including the bank’s headquarters located in the heart of New Orleans, were impacted by the storms, thereby displacing many bank employees.
With more than 140 branches in the five-state Gulf Coast area and their corporate headquarters in hard-hit New Orleans, Whitney had much to coordinate to continue normal business operations. David Lott, contingency planning manager for Whitney Bank, had more to deal with than just getting servers and computers in place. In addition to helping to restore business operations, he was also faced with the need to manage employee work placement and relocation of more than 400 employees and their families to a remote facility outside the destruction of Katrina.
“We have a very sound disaster recovery plan,” said Lott. “However, the number of employees affected by Katrina was substantial. We didn’t anticipate that we would be out of our corporate headquarters for several months.
Where do you put employees and their families? Where do you house them and how do you accommodate their incidental needs?”
The bank’s recovery site, at a Whitney location in Houston, had the IT and corporate infrastructure in place. It had been tested successfully several times in the past for an event such as this.

The Workspace Situation Called For Creative Solutions
What wasn’t tested was the placement of such a large number of employees in a remote location and dealing with the enormity of the “human factor” in the face of the devastation wrought by Katrina. The workspace arrangements made at Whitney’s recovery location are truly creative. Imagine the addition of more than 400 additional workstations and IT equipment in an existing facility already fully staffed with executive, sales, administrative, and customer service employees.
“It’s a tight fit,” said Lott, “but we are making it work, and work quite well.”
As you walk through the workspaces created for the relocated business units, you see people side-by-side at their temporary desks, operating much as they did at their original office locations. Those who were temporarily relocated now occupy practically every available space. Several people share makeshift desks and workspaces that once had only a few employees occupying the space. Employees, who previously had a private office, now share a space with multiple people.
“It’s truly amazing how people come together at a time like this,” said Lott.

Step by Step, Recovery Begins
Getting the “business” side of operations in place and employees at their workstations was the first step. The next step was formidable what does a company do with more than 400 employees and their families when they have no place to go? They needed a place to live, a place for their families and a “new home” for an extended period of time.
The task would have been easier if the disaster was localized to just the business facilities. Unfortunately, Katrina destroyed both businesses and housing, not just in New Orleans, but also in a vast area of the entire Gulf Coast.
Finding available housing was a monumental task for everyone affected, Whitney Bank employees included.
For Whitney Bank, the “human factor” of the devastation became an obvious reality. Employees’ families were an integral and necessary part of their recovery. Employees had their jobs and a workstation to operate from, yet they didn’t have the basics: homes to go to, transportation to and from work, schools or daycare for their children, or even a place for their pets to live.

The Houston Team Goes Into Action
Whitney Senior Vice President Pam Magee and her team of five were assigned the daunting task of orchestrating housing for more than 400 employees and family members in order to maintain business operations and provide a means for employees to be able to come to work.
As part of the initial recovery plan, Lott had secured about 100 rooms at a local hotel close to the bank’s recovery site. With the scope of employee relocations, those rooms went fast and more were needed.
“I never imagined we would need all 100 of those rooms,” said Lott, “but we needed even more. Pam and her team did a remarkable job arranging accommodations and placing everyone.”
The initial housing in hotels turned into a long-term proposition, both in hotels and corporate apartments. For a short time, Whitney’s recovery site became not just a business recovery center, but also a “family recovery center” and temporary location for overseeing and managing family members and daycare operations so employees could continue to work while additional long-term housing was arranged.
Magee’s team took charge and set up a temporary onsite daycare operation to help care for the children while their parents were at work. Her team took turns entertaining the kids who were also displaced by the disaster.
Trips to the movies and other local activities as well as a classroom-style area in the recovery facility provided educational activities to keep the children busy.
At the end of the day, Whitney had employees in 345 corporate apartments and eight different hotels throughout Houston.
“Whitney Bank took care of everything including arranging housing, utilities, cell phones and basic living essentials,” said Lott. “Twenty-five percent of our employees have no home to go back to and the bank is committed to helping them recover as well.”

Much Has Been Accomplished, But There Is Still Much To Do
Whitney Bank’s recovery was a success. They had a solid, successful and well-tested business recovery plan in place, which kept their employees working, their business operational and their customers well cared for. They handled the human side of a regional devastation as large as Katrina providing support for both their employees’ and their families’ needs.
Right now, Lott and his team have started the process of moving people and operations back to their original locations. “We are currently doing mock tests to move everything back,” said Lott. “Everything will have to be moved back in phases.”
With everything Whitney National Bank did to plan for their recovery from the devastation of the storms, they had one added essential element on their side the overwhelming support of their employees. It can be seen on the signs on the walls as one walks through the many recovery areas. The signs read, “Go Over, Go Under, Go Around, Or Go Through, But Never Give Up.”

Susan DeSantis is the marketing manager for Rentsys Recovery Services, Inc. She can be reached at (979) 595-2700 or e-mail at susan.desantis@rentsys.com.

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