Uncertainty is an understatement in the face of 2020. While people are struggling to find their own personal resiliency, business owners are also struggling to become more resilient. Over the last several months, many businesses were forced to adapt to a digital-first model. Business owners had to reimagine their customer experiences while simultaneously prioritizing their employees health and safety. 2020 is far from over and we’ve faced a wide variety of challenges ranging from a global pandemic to murder hornets, civil rights protests and even a toilet paper shortage. Hopefully everyone has enough toilet paper now and we can move past that ugly chapter.
So, how can you prepare for what may come next?
To dig down into the roots of business resilience, let’s first look at the business resilience definition. Business resilience is the ability of an organization/business to quickly adapt to various circumstances (COVID-19 for instance) while maintaining operations, safeguarding people and brand equity while simultaneously avoiding any disruptions.
Now there may be a few of you out there that are left wondering “why is business resilience important?” Well, great question.
Let’s look back to our COVID-19 example. Regardless of industry, businesses were forced to become resilient as a result of the pandemic. While I don’t think many (it at all) were prepared for a global pandemic (and the impact it had on businesses), some were further ahead than others in adapting to the new environment. Business owners were left wondering: How do you continue operations while also keeping your employees, customers and assets safe during the pandemic (or any other challenge)?
It doesn’t just end with the pandemic. As the economy continually changes, so too will consumer behavior. Business resiliency is important because if you can’t maintain operations through challenging times, you could end up going under. In fact, many businesses have closed their doors forever under COVID’s impact.
Without business resilience planning, there’s a lot at risk: people’s livelihoods, careers and safety are some of the main things at risk.
1. Natural disasters are not the only cause of business disruptions. While naturally occurring and weather-related events are not something to push to the side, there are other forms of disaster that your business should plan for. Some of those include a cyber-attack, data breach, unplanned IT outage, acts of terrorism, security incident, etc.
2. An emergency response plan is not enough. Work your way through the business resilience framework and make sure that you have a plan for each of those icons in the image below. This can help you prepare for all types of emergencies - including a pandemic.
3. You don’t have to break the bank with business resilience planning. There are many resources out there that are available for free or a minimal charge. Without effective business resilience planning, a business interruption could occur, and that business interruption can be costly.
4. Preserve your company’s capital and remain agile. A pandemic has ravished our country. The stock market crash in 2008 also ravaged our economy. Both of those were in vastly different ways. However, the agility and quick thinking of business owners helped them remain afloat during the challenging times. It’s about adapting and overcoming while also preserving your capital.
5. Be socially aware and take action. What we mean by this is kind of two-fold here. First, take care of your employees. Allow the opportunity to have input and to voice their concerns. Secondly, take note of what’s happening around you. Simply posting a photo of someone shaking hands during the pandemic could be enough for some negative attention. Be cognizant and if something isn’t right, take action.
Have a look at this business resilience framework put together by The International Consortium of Organizational Resilience. Check out each icon on the business resilience framework graphic below to review some of the essential elements your business should have a contingency plan for.
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