Staffing During Sandy - Walrath Recruiting, Inc.

Staffing During Sandy - Walrath Recruiting, Inc. This past Monday, many area businesses opted to play by the better safe that sorry rule and dismissed  staff early, while others were forced to close due to power outages and other Superstorm Sandy-related issues. Many mothers and fathers checked out of the office early as local schools dismissed around noon, while others scurried to make arrangements with relatives, friends and neighbors to pick kids up, provide lunch and/or dinner, and ensure the kids safety during the storm. At the office, we treated Sandy as a touch-and-go situation by keeping tabs on weather forecasts as we plugged along, business as per sort-of usual.  As the trees swayed and clouds loomed over head, we pieced together our emergency plan should Sandy decide churn to her hearts content in Albany during the evening and nighttime hours.  After learning that our building does not have a backup generator, and that our 3rd floor windows may possibly leak due to wind and rain direction, we proceeded to move PCs and other important items from the floor to tables and desks.  We agreed on a flexible plan of, if you can make it safely and the power is still on, report to the office and if not, work from home. Our backup plan included forwarding all office calls to our cell phones, conducting phone interviews in place of in-person interviews, and monitoring email as needed.  We locked up the office Monday night, our arms full of paperwork, not knowing what to expect for the next business day.  Thankfully, the area was spared for the most part.  We were able to report to the office this morning as per usual, and thankfully, our applicants safely arrived for their scheduled appointments. How did your business or place of employment prepare for the hurricane, and what were some emergency steps you followed (or planned to follow) during the event?