Step 9: Obtain Commitment and Approval

Get Executive Management to Buy-In

If it is going to be effective, a BC plan needs support and buy-in from many stakeholders, namely the CEO, CFO, COO, and CIO. They should want to support the BC planning effort; failure to do so could leave them and the organization exposed.

However, while the Executive Management should be aware of the need for BC planning, this is one of those issues that people tend to avoid or overlook.

Some of the reasons for this are misconceptions about potential threats, planning costs, and manpower. There are several effective methods that can help you gain support for organization-wide BCP.

Relate Recent Disasters

For instance, pick up any newspaper and you will find a list of natural and man-made disasters. Relate these disaster stories to your own situation. As an Organization BCM Coordinator, you know that a major disaster can mean a loss of vital corporate assets, market share, corporate reputation, and business momentum. The description of such serious disasters is guaranteed to get the attention of your Executive Management.

The current COVID-19 outbreak is a good example to illustrate that management will pay attention to a recent disaster or ongoing pandemic.

Develop Business Case

Solicit Executive Management support by developing a business statement of the importance of having a BC plan. Sometimes, this is where the Business Impact Analysis (BIA) process comes in. It quantifies disasters with metrics such as the hourly cost of an outage or intangible impact which are easily understood by management.

With Executive Management buy-in, the BC plan can be revisited frequently to take into account changes in the business process. When you are presenting the case for a BC plan, avoid putting all your emphasis on the negative effects of an emergency. Instead, emphasize the positive aspects. This includes telling the Executive Management that a plan:

•  Helps organizations fulfil their moral responsibility to protect employees, shareholders, the community, and the environment
• Helps organizations meet regulations
• Enhances ability to recover from financial losses, fines, loss of market share, damage to equipment or products, and business interruptions
• Reduces exposure to civil or criminal liability
• Enhances image and credibility with employees, customers, suppliers, and the community
• Avoids and mitigates controllable risks
• May reduce insurance premiums

Understand Business Concerns

When you present your BCP project proposal, make sure you address the business issues that the Executive Management is always concerned with:

• Why do I need a BC plan?
  
  • It protects the organization's assets and reputation
  • It reduces corporate and personal liability from losses
  • It provides a way to resume critical business functions in the shortest possible time
  • It protects your customers and supply chain
    
    
•  How much is it going to cost?
  • Cost of doing it
  • The cost of not doing it can be bottomless
    
    
• What contingencies do we have to plan for?
  
  • Disasters: Widespread, multi-day disruptions of business including loss of facility
  • Outages: Confined, short-duration loss of IT system and resources
    
    

Often organizations spend many workdays away from their office to plan for their short-term and long-term strategic plans. They gather their staff members at annual business retreats to plan for strategies to improve their bottom line.

The key is to convince the Executive Management that BCP is none other than another strategy for the organization to minimize financial loss and loss of reputation in the event of a disaster.

Obtain Full Support from Executive Management

It is unrealistic to attempt any organization-wide BCP project without the full approval and support of the Executive Management. A BCP will only be as good as the resources allocated to it when it is being prepared - only the Executive Management can authorize this. Without authorizations, you will have little mandate to proceed with the implementation. Be prepared to get some fairly high-ranking people who may be against the effort.

Only the Executive Management can enforce the resource requirements and release the necessary funds for upgrading your operations. Get them on your side before you start and make sure they stay there.

Present the Business Case to Heads of Business Unit

As important as the Executive Management's commitment is, it is even more important to have the full support of the Heads of Business Unit. These are the individuals in middle management whose support or the lack of it, can make or break the BCP project. Get them on board early by presenting a solid business case for the BCP project, in terms that they can relate to. 

Obtain Formal Project Approval

Insist upon formal approval for the BCP project. Prepare a written BCP project proposal, including estimated costs and staffing requirements, and request that it be signed by the Executive Management in all affected areas. The Organization BCM Coordinator should not rely on verbal approval alone as the BCP project proposal must be formally approved.

Gain Commitment Incrementally

Breaking a BCP project into phases, in addition to helping keep the project manageable, provides an opportunity to gain Executive Management commitment incrementally. Besides reporting on the successful completion of deliverables at the end of each phase, recommendations can be issued on how to proceed with the next phase.

Since the ability to produce results will already have been demonstrated, the Executive Management should be predisposed to endorse the recommendations. As each phase builds upon another, the Executive Management's comfort level in making BCP project commitments will increase.

The next two chapters will summarize the in-depth process to obtain buy-in and to share the tips on presentation to the Executive Management.