Blindsided: A Manager's Guide to Catastrophic Incidents in the Workplace

Disaster recovery planning is traditionally focused on finding an alternative worksite, getting the necessary computer systems back up and running and giving employees the equipment they need to get back to work. Unfortunately, the employees themselves have often been overlooked or treated like any other resource necessary to get the job done. It generally takes an actual crisis to expose this falicy and point out to management and disaster recovery planners how very different the human element really is. This book is by far the best "How To Do It" book to come out in years on this most important of issues in disaster recovery planning and crisis management. It is laid out in a logical and progressive manner and leaves no stone unturned in addressing the most important issues of how do we get the people back to work. No tricks here, no management prospective, just genuine concern for the physical, mental, and emotional well- being of our fellow human beings. This is a must-read if you're serious about doing a complete job in the area of disaster recovery planning and crisis management.

In our current times of economic, social and political uncertainty, being prepared to respond to the "human side" of a crisis can only be a win-win solution for a business as well as its employees. Mr. Blythe's book is a excellent resource for executing a crisis response in the workplace as well as a guide to developing a crisis preparedness plan. The book isn't cluttered with theory that needs to be "wadded through" in order to get to practical information. The manner in which the book is organized provides managers with a step-by-step process for both crisis response and crisis preparedness. The insights he provides from his experiences in the corporate world were very helpful. Many other books only examine crisis response, in Blindsided, Mr. Blythe not only gives the nuances of how to respond after a crisis, but provides useful information and challenging questions in designing a preparedness plan. His message of being proactive rather than reactive rings true for any business that truly doesn't want to be blindsided.

This is the first book that I've read that contains the most comprehensive and clear set of guidelines for implementing both a preparedness plan and a response plan for dealing with your most important asset... your people! The Quick Use Guides at the end of each chapter are amazingly helpful. This book is one that I will definitely keep in my office to reference again and again!

In the past it seems companies have built crisis plans around tangible assets of the company and how to deal with the media while failing to tend to the very heart of the company- its employees. Bruce Blythe's book carefully prepares managers how to deal with their employees when the unthinkable happens. Blindsided also serves as an excellect reference to guide managers through the stages necessary to prepare for crisis situations. Every manager owes it to thier employees to read this book and be able to respond when a crisis strikes.

Every manager everywhere in the world should read this book. It provides necessary information for every employee and how to handle every possible situation.