Many organisations are experiencing the effects of disruption
Almost every day there are news reports of organisations suffering serious disruption to their operations. This is partly due to the increasing complexity of the risk landscape. In recent times, many organisations have already suffered the consequences of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, extreme rainfall, hailstorms and forest fires. What is relatively new is the confluence and piling up of an already existing crisis. In addition to the previously mentioned climate changes, we are seeing geopolitical tensions, a new wave of cyber threaths fuelled by new applications of artificial intelligence, the ongoing war for talent, and macroeconomic developments like the looming recession. Barely recovered from the COVID pandemic , we are witnessing an accumulation of events that are all interacting to create a kind of multiplier effect of disruptions and damages.
It is the supply chain that is having the greatest impact. It is already characterised by its complexity and limited visibility. Due to these events, disruptions and vulnerabilities continue to increase.,. Infrastructures are being damaged, raw materials are becoming scarcer, costs are rising, there are energy shortages, and so on.
So it's not a question of if, but rather when your organisation will be faced with an incident resulting in a severe business interruption The challenge for organisations is to anticipate and bounce back – embracing the concept of resilience.
The focus is often on risk management within organisations to prevent risks from occurring in the first place. However, the reality is resistant due to the complexity of the risk landscape. As an organisation, you need to be prepared for unexpected situations where risks arise and have an undesirable impact on your organisation. This is difficult to predict in advance, but you can think about how you will react (respond?). By working with what-if scenarios, you can get an idea of the impact and set the right priorities for recovery. Not everything is equally important from a continuity point of view, and continuity management helps you to make the right choices!
Business Continuity Management (BCM) provides a comprehensive solution for assessing, identifying and analysing continuity risks, as well as a framework for building organisational resilience. By thinking ahead about the consequences of a failure of critical assets and processes, developing preparedness plans in the form of continuity plans and setting the right priorities, you'll save valuable time during a crisis and retain your customers' trust. After all, the greatest danger after a severe disruption is the loss of customers.
Finally, it is increasingly important to demonstrate that you are investing in continuity management in order to be accountable to your stakeholders. More and more stakeholders are demanding business continuity. Think about insurers who include continuity plans as a requirement, , customers demanding continuity in their supplies , banks and accountants seeking transparency , and so on.
WTW has extensive experience in supporting organisations across many sectors to deliver high quality BCM solutions. Our experts are familiar with the latest developments and trends, which they translate into 'best practice' in accordance with the widely used ISO standard (ISO 22301).
