To round off a fantastic BCAW, Consultant Chloe Mclaughlin, explores the topic of organisational resilience.

Organisational resilience is vital in today’s rapidly changing and uncertain world. By identifying potential risks, developing plans to mitigate those risk and establishing effective crisis management protocols, organisations can minimise disruption, ensure business continuity and enhance their reputation. Organisations can follow best practices for developing and implementing an adequate resilience strategy, this will help build a strong foundation for long-term success. In this blog I will discuss the importance of organisational resilience, what I think are the key components and some best practices for developing and implementing an appropriate resilience strategy.

Organisational resilience comes with a wide range of benefits, if implemented correctly. By having a resilient organisation, companies will be successful in many aspects. Resilient organisations will be able to respond to and recover from disruptions in a timely manner thereby minimising the impact on operations, customers and employees. They will also be better equipped to maintain business continuity and stay operational during incidents, which in turn help to avoid significant financial losses. Furthermore, organisations that demonstrate a strong ability to respond to disruptions can build trust and credibility with their clients, employees and stakeholders – which is crucial in today’s world.

There are several key components which are crucial for building and maintaining a resilient organisation.However, I will discuss what I think are the top four key components and their importance. Firstly, effective risk management which I believe is the foundation of organisational resilience. Organisations should have a comprehensive risk management plan in place to identify and assess potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate or manage those risks. Another key component is effective Business Continuity Planning, resilient organisations should be strong in identifying critical business functions, developing plans to maintain those functions during disruptions. Regular testing of their Business Continuity Plans should also be conducted, this may be through scenario exercising to ensure those critical business functions can continue to operate in the event of an incident and that the plans are appropriate and realistic for the organisation to use in a real-life incident. Crisis Management is another key component to building a resilient organisation, this involves responding to disruptions in timely and effective manner and includes establishing communication protocols, mobilising resources, and coordinating response efforts. Last but certainly not least, and one of if not the most important key component to building a resilient organisation is maintaining strong leadership. Leaders of an organisation should be confident enough to be able to make informed decisions, communicate effectively both internally with their staff and other stakeholders and anticipate potential risks within their organisation during disruption.

There are many best practices organisations can follow to build resilience and better prepare for unexpected disruptions, below is list I have created detailing some best practices organisations may follow, this list is not exhaustive:

1. Identify potential risks to your organisation and asses their likelihood and potential impact.

2. Identify critical business functions and develop plans to mitigate those functions during disruptions.

3. Establish a team responsible for managing disruptions and ensure that they have necessary resources and training.

4. Build strong relationships with stakeholders, including customers, suppliers and employees, establishing this relationship sooner rather than later will allow for a coordinated response during disruptions.

5. Regularly test and review business continuity and crisis management plans to ensure they remain effective and up to date.

6. Create a culture of resilience throughout your organisation! Encourage employees to proactively plan and improve within themselves will help build the overall organisational resilience.