Today, major corporations must put plans into place that take direct action in cases involving employee security, health, political emergencies and natural disasters. We look at how.

Imagine this scenario:  An expat executive, his spouse and two small children are posted to Rome. Their hometown is Seattle. The corporate headquarters is in Amsterdam. The exec goes to Karachi on business. The night he arrives, there is an earthquake in Pakistan; communications are difficult, if not impossible. After only six months in Italy, family in Rome is anxious and alone, away from the support of relatives back home, unable to speak the local language, too new to have close friends to call on. The exec answers to a boss in another country, who happens to be attending a convention in Hong Kong.  What is the role of HR in this situation?

In a circumstance like this, HR should be the thread that connects the various elements, in what has now become an everyday challenge.  Hand-in-hand with globalisation a new reality has come:  disaster is no longer something only seen on television.

Expat assignments involve business duties in ever more far-flung locations, often with team players operating from different home bases. Today, the challenges of worldwide marketing go beyond simply selling products or services and extend to management of disaster preparedness and emergency evacuation plans on a greater scale than before. 
 

In an emergency HR should be ready to act as the central communications centre.

Never has this reality been brought to home more fully than in the fledging 21st century, when natural disasters, along with terrorist attacks, have put so many people at risk. It is no longer possible to rely entirely on government to provide security, evacuations and communications.  And, while it's important that every expat register with the embassy or consulate of his or his own country, it's foolhardy to expect that these institutions can provide every necessary service in event of emergency.

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