Subject Area 7: Awareness and Training
What you must understand
A plan nobody knows is not a capability. This domain covers awareness (everyone understands BC basics and their role), training (role-specific skills for recovery teams, CMT, coordinators), and competence verification. Know the difference between awareness (broad, general) and training (targeted, skill-based). Understand onboarding for new staff, refresher cadence, and the role of exercises in reinforcing training (exercises test; training builds). Recognize that training must cover alternates and successors, not just primary role holders, and that documentation of training supports audit and continuous improvement.
Traps in questions
- Treating awareness as training or vice versa; they have different audiences and depth.
- Training only primary staff, leaving no coverage for absence.
- Assuming an exercise substitutes for training; exercise validates, training prepares.
- Skipping refreshers after plan changes - training must follow updates.
Worked example / rule of thumb
After a plan revision changes activation authority, the program runs a briefing for all staff (awareness) and a workshop for CMT members on the new decision process (training), then validates in an exercise. Rule of thumb: Change the plan → retrain the affected roles → exercise to confirm. If a question asks how to ensure staff know their roles, the answer is targeted training plus awareness, not a memo alone.