Protect Your Profits: Mitigating Meetings Risk in Life Science Companies, a report released by American Express Meetings & Events earlier this year, investigates the risk mitigation policies in place at growing pharmaceutical, biotechnology and health care equipment companies, which are growing and rely heavily on meetings and events. According to the report, 70.1 percent of respondents said their company had a formal meeting policy; however, crisis preparations guidelines only existed 60 percent of the time, and almost 25 percent of those surveyed did not know whether such crisis preparations guidelines existed for their company at all.
“Companies should not be comfortable with even 90 percent of respondents agreeing risk is being mitigated properly,” says Issa Jouaneh, senior vice president and general manager, American Express Meetings & Events. “The stakes and penalties around non-compliance to industry regulations are very high. At American Express Meetings & Events, we help customers think about how to build a culture where meeting process diligence and regular review is paramount, particularly in many of the life science industries where there are additional complexities and requirements in play.”
If you don’t have a risk mitigation program in place, start by addressing safety and security at your next event. Here are five safety/security policies to consider from Strategic Meetings Management Consulting:
- Develop processes to find, contact and evacuate meeting attendees in emergencies.
- Ensure the pass through of contact information and location of attendee data to your security services provider.
- Develop policies regarding alcohol consumption at company events as well as late-night driving.
- Include room safe requirements in venue RFPs and hotel addenda.
- Include fire system requirements in venue RFPs and hotel addenda.
It’s easy to put off creating risk mitigation guidelines, especially when business is going well and there’s less external pressure. However, it’s important to take action before business grows to ensure meetings and events are on par with the company’s brand and corporate values.
