Many organizations hit by disruptions have had the bitter experience of seeing their elaborate business continuity (BC) plans nullified by the staff’s inability to use them. In today’s post, we’ll explore the importance of employee training and awareness, share tips for succeeding in this area, and lay out how MHA Consulting’s training and awareness program can help organizations ensure their staff is truly capable of implementing their recovery plans.
[Related: When Front-Line Workers Are Excluded from BCM Training]
For my money, the smartest approach a company can take to ensuring it can bounce back quickly from disruptions is to go light on recovery plans and heavy on training and awareness. Unfortunately, many organizations take the opposite approach. They load up on documentation: BIAs, policies, and recovery plans, but show minimal interest in making sure the people who would need to utilize that material are aware of its existence and what it asks them to do.
We see this all the time with our consulting clients. Many companies that invest handsomely in plans and strategies balk at scheduling time for their staff to learn about them and be trained in how to use them.
To me, this is like buying someone a car without teaching them to drive.
The costs of skimping on training and awareness could hardly be more straightforward. When there’s a disruption, an untrained staff simply doesn’t know what to do. The employees don’t know where to go, who to call, and what actions to take and avoid. They don’t know how to access the recovery plan. They might not be aware of its existence. Confusion reigns, delays mount, and issues spiral.
Looked at more broadly, staff’s lack of knowledge about recovery plans commonly translates to longer outages, higher employee stress, greater impacts, and higher costs—in revenue, reputation, customer loyalty, regulatory penalties, you name it.
The irony is, the company already got the ball to within a few yards of the goal line by creating the BC program. Their failure to train their staff amounts to a fumble that can cost them dearly.
None of this is to say that doing training and awareness right is easy. People who do undertake to train staff about the company’s business continuity plans have their work cut out for them. Here are a few of the reasons why:
Staff at companies that have not recently experienced a disruption tend to dismiss the possibility that something could happen to them. Ditto for people in sedate industries or quiet parts of the world. Such organizations are hit by outages every day of the week, but getting the folks who work at them to take an interest in what they should do in an emergency is an uphill battle.
Teaching a live audience about what they would be expected to do during an event is challenging enough. Conveying this information to people sitting in their home offices adds another degree of difficulty.
Teaching well is hard. Standing in front of a group and droning through a slide deck is easy, but that’s not real teaching. Quality teaching is when you engage with the students, getting them to take an interest and participate, so they make the material their own. Unfortunately, most BC training is of the lecture variety, and the results are generally dismal.
Different approaches are needed to communicate effectively with front-line staff versus senior management. Different information is important for each potential audience. It’s rare for BC trainers to have the imagination and empathy needed to make these adjustments.
Unless these challenges are met, you risk having plans that look good in a binder but collapse under pressure.
You know who’s good at training? The U.S. military. They don’t rely on big binders or one-off briefings. They build readiness through regular, realistic, hands-on practice. They know from experience that when the pressure’s on, preparation is what carries you through.
The same principles can be applied in any organization. And when they are, the results are faster response, less confusion, and greater confidence when disruptions hit.
Here are six key practices that can help turn your training program from a formality into real preparedness:
When senior management and the executives demonstrate that training and awareness are priorities, it sends a powerful message to the entire organization. Leadership involvement boosts engagement, accountability, and the overall culture of preparedness.
Once a year isn’t enough. Organizations that excel in continuity training establish a consistent cadence that aligns with the risks they face and the different roles their staff play. Regular refreshers and practice drills keep knowledge fresh and responses sharp.
Generic, one-size-fits-all presentations quickly lose attention. Tailoring training to the realities of each audience—whether it’s frontline employees, IT teams, or executives—ensures that the material resonates. Skilled trainers adjust their delivery and content to match the audience’s knowledge, concerns, and decision-making responsibilities.
The most effective training invites dialogue rather than simply lecturing. Encourage questions, use scenarios, and foster discussions that get people thinking actively about how they would respond. Engagement drives retention.
Instead of drowning your audience in details, highlight the critical three to five things they must remember, how they’ll be notified in an event, where they should go, and the key actions they need to take or avoid. Clear, concise guidance beats information overload every time.
Consider using quizzes or similar devices to encourage engagement and get employees’ mental gears turning. These tools can also demonstrate the training’s effectiveness to management, or show where the trainers need to raise their game.
One final tip: less is more. Lengthy, dense training sessions drain attention and motivation. A focused, well-paced 60-minute session will consistently outperform marathon four-hour lectures, leaving participants energized and ready to act.
With the right structure, support, and internal champions, organizations can manage their business continuity training and awareness programs in-house with great success.
But bringing in outside help can also be worthwhile, especially for teams that are stretched thin or looking to level up quickly. An experienced partner can ease the burden, offer a fresh perspective, and ensure the training actually sticks.
For organizations exploring that option, here’s a brief overview of how MHA Consulting approaches training and awareness.
Over the quarter-century we’ve been in business, we’ve worked with hundreds of companies across industries and maturity levels. We understand the real-world challenges that come with building an effective training program. Our trainers are mindful of the obstacles we discussed earlier and follow the tips as a matter of course.
Our approach is flexible, scalable, and built around a five core ideas:
At the end of the day, our focus stays the same: training that drives execution. Because when something goes wrong, it’s not the binder that responds—it’s your people.
If you’d like to learn more about how MHA Consulting can support your training and awareness efforts, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d be happy to discuss your training needs and goals.
A well-written continuity plan is important, but without training and awareness, it won’t deliver when it matters most. Real preparedness comes from people who know what to do, where to go, and how to respond under pressure.
With the right mindset and approach, any organization can build a training culture that sticks. Whether you lead the charge internally or bring in expert help, the goal is the same: turn static plans into confident action.
What’s the biggest risk of underinvesting in BC training?
Untrained staff can cause longer outages, higher stress levels, customer dissatisfaction, compliance failures, and costly mistakes during disruptions.
Why does typical business continuity training fall short?
Most training is generic, lecture-heavy, and fails to engage different types of employees. Trainers often don’t adjust their material for various roles or levels, leading to low retention and participation.
What are some key barriers to effective business continuity training?
How should business continuity training be delivered for real impact?
Training should be hands-on, interactive, and recurring. It should focus on essential actions, include audience-specific content, and encourage active participation, like scenario discussions and quizzes.
What makes MHA Consulting’s training and awareness program effective?
MHA Consulting customizes sessions to each client’s needs and staff roles. They keep content simple, relevant, and interactive, typically in 60–90-minute formats. Their trainers understand real-world challenges and measure effectiveness through feedback tools and quizzes.