This emotional recovery will have it’s own timeline – different for each individual – and will impact on wellbeing and performance. Drive too hard towards BAU and normally stress-resilient staff may crack. Businesses don’t need a lecture on this, but they do need clear steps to help them plan forward and take into account the human element.

Much can be learnt from the September 2010 earthquake. Eight weeks after this first big event (in November), I worked with one group of managers in Christchurch specifically on how they were coping since their building had been damaged. They were engaged in a return to BAU strategy with set timeframes. Whilst the logic was sound and resourcing had increased, the stress around delivery was incredibly high.

From this workshop, the message to company centres outside of Christchurch was clear: the city is not only recovering from a significant earthquake, but is experiencing an ongoing series of earthquakes, each of which is, for some, compounding stress and anxiety – it’s not over, so please be patient.

This particular organization was proactive and innovative in supporting the needs of its people in Christchurch, as it is right now since the February 2011 quake.

What to consider

From this work, here are some clear and useful considerations to keep in mind

• The earthquake is a game-changer, what was BAU for many businesses and organisations is now extinct, and will need re-visioning
• Given the ongoing situation, keep the focus on ‘adaptability’ as that is more likely to be the ‘head-space’ your people are in as opposed to a ‘BAU’ space.
• Amongst a number of factors, business recovery is intrinsically linked to emotional recovery
• Some people will strive for normality – great, do what you can to give people the work they want, but keep the door open for people to ‘ease-off’ when they need to.

So what can businesses and organizations do to support the wellbeing of their people whilst bringing their businesses back online? Here are some strategies learned for the September earthquake which are pliable now and to any major crisis situation.

• Know how to spot symptoms of stress and trauma
• Maintain a focus on adaptability, and use language that is about resilience
• Create scope for staff to deal with personal issues during work time
• Inform staff of all internal and external support services
• Push-out time-frames, lighten workloads where possible
• Be holistic and cater for people’s lives outside of work
• Make available in-house meditation/relaxation sessions to help staff
• Shorten the working day for those people who need it
• Treat people as human beings, not resources
• Match uncertainty with a flow of information
• Create forums for people’s concerns and issues, and address them proactively
• Don’t assume who is ‘OK’ and who isn’t, bring in external facilitators to ask via 1-2-1 sessions.
• Brief/debrief daily, celebrate early wins
• Acknowledge your people
• If you have centres outside of Christchurch, ensure they know both the business situation and the human situation

The emotional toll on Cantabrians will vary from person to person, but will filter through to many aspects of Christchurch’s ability to recovery, both in human terms and economic. So having a focus on both of these aspects is essential.

Refreshingly, as we are seeing in the media, New Zealanders are resilient and adept at taking both a strategic and compassionate approach in times of crisis.