When a storm hits, businesses need a reliable ally who can immediately design and execute a hurricane recovery plan that reduces downtime for their organization. As your trusted partner, Cotton is committed to being that for you and we do not take this responsibility lightly.

To ensure our teams are in sync 24/7 and can deliver exceptional quality throughout the hurricane season and beyond, leaders from every division get together each year to discuss their responsibilities and learn from others. We’ve outlined a few of our key topics in hopes that this will help you during your emergency planning sessions.

KEY AFTER ACTION REVIEW

While we were able to help many companies restore their operations last year, our team was aware that there was still room for improvement. By gathering every department in one room, we successfully identified what we did well and what we could improve to help our clients better. This then opened up the conversation about roles, responsibilities, and goals.

TEAM OF TEAMS

At Cotton, every role matters and every team has responsibilities that must be honored for our operations to succeed. During the Hurricane Forum, we hear from every division, including leadership, IT, accounting, marketing, safety, operations, and HR. They detail their team’s goals and responsibilities during a catastrophic event, and together, we identify how we can help each other for the greater good. Some of the questions we answer are:

• When does forward command set up operations in the expected impact area?

• How and when will IT equip our teams with the technology they need to make mission remotely?

• In what ways will the Business Intelligence Center support Business Development before landfall, during impact, and throughout the recovery process?

• What and when is marketing communicating to clients, partners, and stakeholders 72 hours prior to landfall? How about six months after impact?

• What are the talent acquisition team’s Standard Operating Procedures when scaling the workforce becomes necessary?

• Prior to landfall, how many assets do Cotton Logistics and Cotton Culinary need to procure for an effective response?

• How is every division ensuring that our day-to-day tasks are still being met, while also supporting our forward command?

• Who is responsible for securing housing and food for our teams stationed in disaster zones?

A PLAN FOR EVERY SITUATION

Taking it a step further, we then discuss each team’s procedures for every scenario.

• How does the response vary between a tropical storm and a Category 5 hurricane?

• What if the storm all of a sudden shifts West? How will we pivot to deliver solutions in the new impact area as soon as possible?

• If resources are scarce or obsolete in the impact area, what type of reinforcements will we need?

Listed above are just some of the many questions we ask ourselves during the day-long forum. By really picking apart our procedures and challenging ourselves to think of the worst-case scenario, we are able to create stronger plans that set us up for success.

Now, we’re as ready as ever to support your business through any disaster this year. No storm we can’t weather, together.