For Dwellworks Corporate Housing team, it’s an essential part of our job to be vigilant in our support for our clients, supplier networks, and transferees during their entire stay -- especially in the event that a natural disaster occurs. Over the last couple of years, our Operations and Supply Chain teams have implemented a process that allows us to keep track of transferees during times of crisis so we can ensure their safety and inform our clients of their status.
Our Duty of Care procedure takes the upmost priority for our teams globally. During the recent earthquakes in Mexico City and Puerto Rico, the main focus of our operation was to find out the status of all of our transferees. Here is what our three-step process looks like in the event of a natural disaster:
1. We make sure that everyone in our offices are safe. Once everyone has been accounted for, we establish a group chat in order to communicate more fluidly. Our local staff assists our team in the deployment of these measures.
2. We establish impact and non-impact zones based on local reports. We then print a list of our occupants and break it into levels: 1 – areas where the disaster impacted, 2 – areas close to the impact zone, and 3 – areas completely out of the zone. This list gives us the ability to prioritize our initial efforts while keeping in mind that the people we are reaching out to for updates are experiencing the disaster themselves. For example, during the 2017 earthquake in Mexico City, we identified the areas of Condesa, Del Valle, and Tlalpan as level one zones and responded accordingly to those directly affected.
3. We document the transferees' status and add it to our report. Once we’ve contacted all the transferees located in level 1 and level 2 areas, we send a status report to our clients. Our clients will then respond with their own Duty of Care plans, but we continue to offer updates and assistance until everyone is accounted for. We implement this process immediately, regardless of what time it happens, so that we can give our clients peace of mind as soon as possible.
The Team Comes Together
In some cases, our own employees will go to an affected area and offer their assistance or personally verify that our transferees, colleagues, and Corporate Housing units are safe and secure. I’ve always enjoyed working in the corporate housing industry, but it’s in moments like this where I’m proud of the fact that everyone comes together so willingly to ensure that people are safe and our clients are well-informed.
To learn more about our Corporate Housing solutions,