LR 5: Business Unit (BU) BCM Coordinator

Profile of Business Unit (BU) BCM Coordinator

The key responsibility of the BU BCM Coordinator is to assist the Organisation BCM Coordinator. He or she will represent their respective business units. They are appointed by the Head of BU of the various business units within an organization.

Business Unit

A business unit is typically a department or division specializing in a given function such as human resources and finance. How a particular business unit is defined is decided by the organization’s management and is highly dependent on its organizational hierarchy and size.

For example, in some organizations, human resources and finance may be grouped under a Corporate Services department.

In such cases, the Corporate Service department may be represented by two BU BCM Coordinators as the human resource BU representative may not be able to provide the inputs for finance BU and vice versa.

A manufacturing company may choose to group all manufacturing functions into a single business unit while others may elect to separate them into smaller groups differentiated by their respective product lines.

Roles and Responsibilities

The full range of roles and responsibilities of a BU BCM Coordinator are shown in the table below:

Has detailed knowledge of the business unit’s operations and critical functions;
Integrates the business unit is BC concerns with its business processes;
Implements and manages BC Plans within the business unit; and
Reviews and conducts tests and exercises involving staff within the business unit.

The BU BCM Coordinators assist the Organisation BCM Coordinator by bridging the gap between specific technical knowledge and the organization’s overall BC Plans. As a result of their direct involvement in daily operations, they are better at adapting BC-related procedures to their respective business units. BU BCM Coordinators should be aware of any special equipment or software essential to the BU functions. Also, by having greater interactions with the rest of the business unit’s staff, they can coordinate and organize department-wide BC activities.

The BU BCM Coordinator will be in charge of monitoring and reviewing the BC Plans within the business unit. By working with the Organisation BCM Coordinator, the BU BCM Coordinator needs to ensure that the response and recovery procedures are in line with the organization’s BC policy.

These procedures should be streamlined to achieve any one of the following; minimize costs, increase efficiency, lower impacts and likelihoods, and where possible, avoid the risk of a threat altogether.

This outcome can be achieved by scrutiny of the business unit’s operations. Any findings should then be submitted to the management for approval and subsequent implementation.

Know Do

The BU BCM Coordinator may be required to collaborate with the Organisation BCM Coordinator to ensure that any BC activities conducted will be able to test the robustness of the business unit's BC Plan or as part of the organization BC Plan in its entirety sufficiently.

Know Do Manage Blocks

The requisite knowledge of the BU BCM Coordinator reflects a less

demanding role compared to the Organisation BCM Coordinator. The competency level is “Know” and “Do. “ Its primary knowledge requirement is to “Know” and understand the entire BCM planning process and be able to contribute their BU-level inputs to the organization-level BCM program. Hence, the need for the BU BCM coordinator to attain the “Do” competency.

For a BCM professional to acquire the above categories of knowledge, it is suggested that BU BCM Coordinators consider the following list of courses and certification programs shown in Figure "Types of Certification and Competency-based courses for BU BCM Coordinators."

Year	Subject Matter	Certification Courses	Competency-based Courses
1	BCM	ISO 22301 BCMS Implementer (Course Code: BCM-300)	Assessing Risk and Business Impact Requirements (Course Code: BCM-310) Developing BC Strategies and Plans (Course Code: BCM-320) Testing and Exercising BC Plans (Course Code: BCM-330)
2	Advanced BCM	ISO 22301 BCMS Manager (Course Code: BCM-400)	Developing the Incident Management Plan Initiating BCM Project Implementing BCM Manual
2	Crisis Manage-ment (CM)	Crisis Management Implementer (Course Code: CM-300)	Implement a CM plan (Course Code: BCM-360)
3	Crisis Communication (CC)	Crisis Communication Implementer (Course Code: CC-300)	Implement a CC plan (Course Code: BCM-350)
3	Disaster Recovery (DR)	Disaster Recovery Implementer (Course Code: DRP-300)	· Not applicable

Types of Certification and Competency-based courses for BU BCM Coordinators

Between the certification programs and courses, it is advised for newly BU-level appointment holders to attend the competency-based courses while the experienced staff to the latter. Certification programs for BU BCM Coordinators are typically held over two days and will cover all essential skills and BC tools that one would need to perform one’s role.

These courses are for more experienced personnel and only need refresher classes with a greater focus on case studies and tailored strategies to one’s industry and organization’s business practices.

However, this does not imply that only experienced BC personnel should attend the certification programs. This is because certification courses offer comprehensive coverage of BCM practices and will patch any possible gaps in knowledge.

BCM Institute had added certification opportunity as a bonus of granting the holder the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) recognized credential as sufficient prior training to attain the necessary certification and also as a pre-requisite to advanced level courses.

With a plethora of certification programs and courses, it may be difficult to make an appropriate choice. To address this, see Figure "Detailed 3-year training roadmap (Year 1)" as a suggested guide is provided for consideration.

Recommendations for BU BCM Coordinators

Know Do Dependent on the availability or requirement of the BU BCM

Coordinators may opt to either attend 1 or 2-day competency-based courses offered or obtain their globally recognized certificates via the certification route.

To assist the Learning and Development or Human Resource managers in mapping the BU BCM Coordinators training program, a sample three-year training roadmap is appended.

Certification Courses

Know Do The BU BCM Coordinator requires sufficient fundamental BC knowledge and the ability to identify and assess risks from a business unit perspective.

To be sufficiently equipped to do so, it is recommended that the BU BCM Coordinator attend the ISO 22301 BCMS Implementer (Course Code: BCM-300) course.

This course would allow them to obtain the skills needed to assist the Organisation BCM Coordinator especially in the updating of their individual BU Plan templates.

Participants completing this 2-day course, passing the 2 and 1/2 hour examination and the necessary pre-requisite would be allowed to apply for the globally recognized Business Continuity Certified Specialist (BCCS) certification.

Competency-based Courses

To assist BU BCM Coordinators in their BU-level BC Plan update responsibilities, they may alternatively, like to consider the competency-based courses listed in Figure below.

LR_Figure 5-2 BCM

Detailed 3-year training roadmap (Year 1) of Certification and Competency-based courses for BU BCM Coordinators

These 1 to 2 Day (or Module 1 and 2 for Blended Learning) courses would delve straight into the intricacies of each step of BC planning such as assessing risk and reviewing these risks (Assessing Risk and Business Impact Requirements) and how BC strategies and BC Plans (Developing BC Strategies and Plans) are formulated.

They will be exposed to generic BC templates on risk analysis and review, BC strategies and plans, and learn how to obtain the relevant information needed for these BC steps. It is essential to understand that attending training courses does not have the same outcome as engaging a BCM consultancy in implementing the BC plans.

Training Roadmap Year 2_BU BCM Coordinator

Certification Courses

Know Do In the following year, with greater exposure to BCM, the BU BCM Coordinator’s focus is on upgrading their knowledge skills to include managing their BU-level BC effort.

The recommended course to attend would then be the ISO 22301 BCMS Manager (Course Code: BCM-400) course. This course will give them the skills to manage their BC program and have a limited understanding of crisis management. It would also expose them to the skills needed to set up a command center. The course ((See Figure "Detailed 3-year training roadmap (Year 2)") will give them insights on how to maintain these plans and the various tests they can consider once their plans have matured.

This 2.5 days course would also allow participants who complete and pass the Qualifying Business Continuity Certified Expert (BCCE) examination.

LR_Figure 5-3 BCM

Detailed 3-year training roadmap (Year 2) of Certification and Competency-based courses for BU BCM Coordinator

There is no competency-based training course is equivalent to the ISO 22301 BCMS Manager (Course Code: BCM-400). It is recommended that the BU BCM Coordinators proceed to attend the certification course.

As they enter their second year of managing their BU-level BC plans, we recommend they upgrade their BC knowledge on the various tests they could consider depending on their organization's resources, size, and capabilities.

It is also recommended that they upgrade their incident management capabilities. These courses will allow the participants to develop the skill sets needed to manage resources and external stakeholders in times of crisis.

Training Roadmap Year 3_BU BCM Coordinator

Certification Courses

As they would already have gained a holistic view of how to implement, manage and Know Do maintain their BC Plans in the first two years of their training, we recommend they learn more about crisis management and Crisis Communication.

The Crisis Management Implementer (Course Code: CM-300) course would be able to provide them with the fundamental knowledge of managing a crisis as well as expose them to the relevant templates and skills set needed to formulate a crisis management plan.

This two days course (See Figure "Detailed 3-year training roadmap (Year 3)") with a 2.5-hour examination would allow participants to qualify for the globally recognized Crisis Management Certified Specialist (CMCS) certification.

LR_Figure 5-4 CM
Detailed 3-year training roadmap (Year 3) of Certification and Competency-based courses for BU BCM Coordinators

The Crisis Communication Implementer (Course Code: CC-300) course would be able to provide the BU BCM Coordinator with the fundamental knowledge of communicating during a crisis. The content of the course includes exposing them to the relevant templates used by the organization's corporate communication or public relations team.

The BU BCM Coordinator will also be equipped with the skill set needed to establish a crisis communication plan. This two days course with a 2.5-hour examination would allow participants to qualify for the globally recognized Crisis Communication Certified Specialist (CCCS) certification.

LR_Figure 5-4 CM

Detailed 3-year training roadmap (Year 3) of Certification and Competency-based courses for BU BCM Coordinators

Reference

Goh, M. H. (2021). A Manager's Guide to Implement Your BCM Training and Learning Roadmap. Business Continuity Management Manager's Guide Series (3rd ed.). Singapore: GMH Pte Ltd.

Extracted from "Chapter 5: Business Unit (BU) BCM Coordinator"

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