Building a resilient business is a lot like building a resilient sports team, one that moves quickly when it's time for action.
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June 25, 2024 INSIDE THIS ARTICLE, YOU'LL FIND: |
Resilient people can respond and adapt to changing circumstances and disruptions, and continue to not only survive but thrive. Resilient businesses and organizations are no different. Whether it’s changing market conditions, logistical snafus, or security threats, resiliency is what allows a business to withstand a challenge without upending operations altogether.
Resiliency isn’t just about mindset, however. As individuals, we may think that being resilient comes from our background, or our fortitude and mental strength. In reality, resiliency comes from having the resources and planning in place to respond effectively in a coordinated fashion.
Concepts such as business continuity planning and tabletop exercises help your business become and stay resilient, but there is more your organization can do to practice resiliency. Here, we explain the tenets of resiliency and discuss five strategies for making your team more resilient.
What Is Business Resilience?
Business resilience is the capability of an organization to adapt, withstand, and recover from disruptions, whether they be economic downturns, natural disasters, cyberattacks, or unexpected market shifts. It goes beyond mere survival to encompass the ability to thrive in the face of adversity, ensuring continuity of operations and protection of stakeholders' interests. At its core, business resilience involves proactive planning, robust risk management strategies, and a culture that values flexibility and innovation.
Disruptions are inevitable in today's dynamic landscape. By integrating resilience into their core strategies, businesses not only safeguard their operations but also enhance their ability to maintain trust and confidence among customers, employees, and partners alike.
How Do Organizations Practice Resilience?
Businesses employ various tools and exercises to enhance their resilience and maintain it over time. Some key approaches include:
- Risk assessments and scenario planning: Conduct comprehensive risk assessments and simulate crisis situations to develop response strategies and understand impacts.
- Business Continuity Plans (BCPs): Outline procedures to ensure essential functions continue during disruptions, including data backup, alternative communications, and personnel relocation.
- Crisis management teams and protocols: Establish dedicated teams with predefined roles for swift decision-making and coordinated responses, supported by regular training and simulations.
- Supplier and vendor relationships: Maintain strong relationships with suppliers and develop contingency plans to minimize supply chain disruptions.
- Technology and cybersecurity measures: Implement robust cybersecurity measures like data encryption and intrusion detection to protect against cyber threats.
- Employee training and engagement: Educate employees on emergency procedures to foster preparedness and adaptability.
By integrating these tools and exercises into their operations, businesses can build a resilient framework that not only safeguards against disruptions but also enhances their ability to thrive in a volatile business environment.
Five Strategies For Building Business Resilience
While every organization can employ the above tactics and exercises to stay resilient, true business resiliency is about building an ethos and mindset that prioritizes the concept. Here are five strategies for creating a more adaptable and effective organization that prizes resiliency:
1. Create a culture of all-in on resilience
When fostering and building resilience, it starts from the top, from the C-suite to the HR director and the company’s general counsel as well. Leadership needs to be visibly committed to resilience — this commitment trickles down and influences every level of the organization.
There are key reasons for this. The first is that, in today’s age, very rarely does any one issue, challenge, or crisis fall squarely and only on one person. Whether you are dealing with a cyber security threat, a medical evacuation, or a kidnapping and ransom situation, it’s guaranteed that leadership and decision-making will be necessary across departments. Nothing can be siloed.
That leads to the second important reason to make resiliency a priority for everyone: engaging employees at all levels means everyone understands their role and is prepared to act. Active involvement in resilience efforts fosters ownership and a shared responsibility among employees.
To create this culture, commit to regular communication about resilience goals and progress. Recognize and reward the work that goes into keeping the organization resilient, and encourage teams to think about how their work ladders up to these goals. This ongoing dialogue reinforces the importance of resilience and ensures alignment.
2. Write A resiliency Plan People Want to Read
Crafting a resiliency plan that not only informs but resonates with employees and stakeholders is crucial for its effectiveness. Many organizations invest significant resources into elaborate, multi-hundred-page resilience plans, often developed with the assistance of top-tier consultants. However, these plans may fail to serve their intended purpose during actual crises — they become cumbersome documents that sit on shelves, passed from one executive to another without meaningful updates or reviews.
When a plan is not accessible because few people will take the time to truly understand it, there is a lack of usability and practicality in these extensive documents. Instead, a comprehensive resilience plan should also be condensed into a streamlined document of about five to 25 pages. This format serves as a quick-reference guide that outlines key crisis scenarios and their corresponding response frameworks. By simplifying complex contingency plans into straightforward templates and decision matrices, organizations empower new executives and team members to grasp their responsibilities swiftly and effectively upon joining the team.
This approach not only enhances operational readiness but also ensures continuity across leadership transitions and evolving organizational landscapes. The true value of a resilience plan lies not in its sheer volume or complexity but in its clarity, accessibility, and adaptability. By adhering to these principles, organizations can cultivate resilience as a living, actionable strategy rather than a static document confined to theoretical scenarios.
This streamlined approach enables teams to swiftly grasp the situation, allocate resources, and make informed decisions—all within a condensed timeframe.
3. Review your planning and adjust it for the situation
Once you have your playbook, don’t let it go out of date, style, or usefulness. Regularly reviewing and adjusting your resilience planning is akin to refining a strategic playbook in sports.
Initially, organizations establish a foundational playbook — a concise framework outlining roles and responses across various crisis scenarios. This baseline ensures everyone understands their responsibilities when the proverbial "ball is hiked." But like an NFL coach adjusting at halftime based on opponent strategies, resilience planning involves overlaying real-world specifics onto this baseline. Whether it's adjusting for different geographical terrains, varying team sizes, or the nature of the crisis — be it cyber, medical, or physical — these adaptations refine the playbook for maximum effectiveness.
In addition, it’s crucial to keep your plans updated with evolving trends, personnel changes, and emerging threats. Updating the playbook with the latest technological advancements, regulatory requirements, and lessons learned from past incidents enhances its applicability and readiness to tackle contemporary challenges.
In essence, reviewing and adjusting resilience plans regularly isn't just about staying prepared — it's about staying ahead.
4. Identify gaps in crisis responsibilities
In planning for a crisis or other issue that will upend operations, organizations often run up against a common issue: They realize that there is a gap in how they will respond. This often comes up when running tabletop exercises. While a gap is simpler to fix when the breakdown is internal, things can get more complicated when it involves the use of vendors or insurance coverage.
To effectively identify gaps in crisis responsibilities, organizations must adopt a meticulous approach that encompasses both insurance coverage and vendor partnerships. Understanding the limitations of standard insurance policies — which often exclude scenarios like war zones, terrorism, and natural disasters — will inform how you address your gaps, for example through specialized insurance options that address these specific risks.
Establishing robust relationships with vendors capable of filling these gaps becomes paramount, as it ensures trust and familiarity. Equally important is identifying and vetting vendors based on their ability to operate effectively under challenging circumstances.
For instance, choosing a qualified security vendor opens up a robust network of resources, with local intelligence and capabilities that an organization might not already have access to, such as pre-travel intel reports, medical evacuation services, and kidnap, ransom, and extortion response.
5. Favor speed over perfect information in decision-making
Speed in decision-making during crises is paramount for organizational resilience and effectiveness. The ability to act swiftly, even in the face of imperfect information, can significantly mitigate the impact of disruptions. When organizations prioritize speed over the pursuit of perfect but elusive information, they empower their leaders to make decisions that keep operations running.
Real-world examples underscore the importance of rapid responses. For instance, in cyberattack scenarios, companies that delay decisions often incur prolonged downtime and substantial financial losses. In contrast, those that act decisively often swiftly recover and minimize disruptions. This contrast highlights how hesitation can exacerbate the impact of crises, while timely action enables organizations to maintain continuity and protect their stakeholders' interests.
Prioritizing speed acknowledges the inevitability of uncertainty. Waiting for perfect information can lead to paralysis, hindering the ability to seize opportunities or mitigate risks promptly.
Being able to move with speed is a result of our other strategies. Whether you’re a great athlete, coach, or leader of an organization, the capacity to “play” quickly comes from hours of practice and training. When it’s time to decide what to do – like a great hitter deciding to swing at a pitch – you’ll be ready to react, rather than overthink. Otherwise, the pitch will be well past you.
Ultimately, the emphasis on speed in decision-making isn't about rushing into uninformed choices but rather about leveraging available information to make the best possible decisions under the circumstances. It's about maintaining momentum, preserving operational integrity, and safeguarding long-term resilience. By embracing a culture where decisive action is valued, organizations position themselves to overcome challenges swiftly and emerge stronger from adversity.
Like a good coach invests in his team season after season – adding new plays, refining existing gameplans, and staying informed of trends that impact the game – to keep his players competing at the highest level, businesses must continuously refine their resilience strategies to “practice” for when the game becomes real. By staying vigilant, training their personnel, and leveraging the right tools, organizations can ensure they’re prepared to tackle whatever comes their way.
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