How can you measure the effectiveness of your critical incident policy?

1 Define your objectives

Before you can measure the effectiveness of your critical incident policy, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with it. What are the specific outcomes and benefits that you expect from implementing the policy? For instance, you may want to provide timely and adequate support and resources to employees affected by a critical incident, prevent or minimize the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health issues among employees, maintain or restore the normal functioning and performance of the organization, demonstrate your commitment and care for your employees and stakeholders, or comply with legal and ethical obligations and standards. These objectives can be used as a foundation for developing indicators and criteria that will help you measure the effectiveness of your policy.

2 Collect and analyze data

The next step is to collect and analyze data that will show you how well your critical incident policy is working. You can use surveys, feedback forms, interviews, focus groups, reports, records, statistics, and metrics from the critical incident response team, the human resources department, the health and safety committee, as well as absenteeism, turnover, productivity, performance, and customer satisfaction data to source your data. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques can then be used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your policy, as well as the gaps and challenges that need to be addressed.

3 Compare and benchmark

To assess the effectiveness of your critical incident policy, you can compare and benchmark it with other policies and best practices in your industry or sector. Research literature, guidelines from professional associations, case studies from other organizations, and feedback from experts can all be used to evaluate how your policy aligns with the current knowledge and expectations in your domain. Additionally, these sources can provide invaluable insights into the successes and failures of others.

4 Review and update

The final step is to review and update your critical incident policy based on the data and feedback you have collected and analyzed. Implementing a cycle of continuous improvement, such as the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model, can help you implement changes and monitor their effects. Additionally, using a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) framework to set goals and action plans for improving your policy can be beneficial. Examples of possible changes and actions include revising and clarifying the roles of the response team and other stakeholders, enhancing and diversifying the support available to employees affected by an incident, increasing communication among levels/units of the organization, providing more training/education on critical incident management/stress management to employees/managers, and conducting regular audits/evaluations of the policy. By following these steps, you can measure the effectiveness of your critical incident policy and ensure that it meets the needs of your employees and organization.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?