Global Resilience Survey 2020: Findings Report
Global Resilience Survey 2020: Findings Report
Most companies believe they have responded well to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that does not mean they should be complacent
The survey showed that “resilience” still does not have one common definition, nor is there consensus on how, or if, it should be used. 30% of respondents answered that their organisation does not use the term “resilience”. Of those that do use the term, 65% of businesses describe resilience as “a proactive function detecting risk and disruption early” and use this information to make critical decisions followed by actions, 26% apply it as a “reactive function for responding to disruptions and incidents”.
“ Respondent testimonials COVID-19 “tested our abilities… but we successfully achieved the new normal almost immediately” “The COVID-19 response program and our transparency have proven to be very effective” “We came together as a team and solidified the importance of ‘the team’’ “You do not need to explain anymore why we have Crisis Management in our company”.
Whilst most businesses acknowledge a challenging start to the crisis, 70% feel their ability to manage disruptions and adapt to change after dealing with COVID-19 has improved. For example, more than 90% of companies are confident in their ability to work away from the traditional office setting. Much of that confidence is attributed to the all-hands-on-deck, “people first, business second” approach most companies took to the crisis. But a company’s specific response is not the only factor that attributed to this perceived positivity – the global psyche and sense of unity in crisis also played a critical role. The COVID-19 crisis is unique in many ways, one of them being that nearly every person and business globally was somehow impacted. The idea of “facing a common enemy” breeds goodwill that companies took as positive perception of their crisis response. Even amid record delays and lapses in service, consumers were lenient -- the blame lay on the
pandemic or generic government restrictions, not on individual businesses. However, it is not likely that the next crisis your organisation faces will impact the entire globe, so you should not expect that the same leniency and goodwill will be there next time . Whilst 93% of businesses were somehow financially impacted, only 5% of companies said their reputation was impacted or heavily impacted. A separate but related point: 78% of respondents identified reputational damage as a top general concern for their business compared to 58% for the risk of reduced revenue. This juxtaposition highlights the idea that financial impact is to be expected in a crisis whereas reputational damage is to be avoided at all costs; as long as that goal is met, companies can consider their crisis response a success.
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Fig.4
There is no unified understanding of what “resilience” is
Which of the following best describes your organisations’ understanding of Resilience? Resilience...
27%
“At Control Risks, our position is that a resilient organisation is one that understands its operating environment in the broadest sense, grasps the inherent risks and opportunities, appropriately manages its risks and, if things go wrong, are able to respond and adapt effectively to emerge stronger.”
42%
Is an organisation’s ability to recognise risks and to put in
place means to recover from disruptive events
Provides sufficient adaptive capacity to respond successfully to events both near and long term
We still haven’t found a stable definition for ‘resilience’. “ ”
0%
Should focus on maximising competitive advantage following disruption
8%
23%
Is an overarching term for a range of existing management functions
Ensures continuity of operations in the event of a disruption
Jacqueline Day Partner, Control Risks
Source: Control Risks
3. Finally, a siloed approach to Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is not enough to deal with today’s rapidly shifting risk landscape . Business functions that contribute to organisational resilience need to work seamlessly together with business operations to provide high quality risk intelligence and respond dynamically and effectively to both ongoing and emerging risks.
The survey highlighted three key themes, which reflect on resilience practices and challenges the shape and scope of resilience strategies moving forward. 1. First, most companies believe they have responded well to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that does not mean they should be complacent . Now is the time to build upon successes and to maintain focus
on mitigating the ongoing challenges of a new operating environment. 2. Second, resilience professionals are playing a broader, more strategic role – and it’s working. The view that resilience professionals, such as CSO’s are the operational protectors relegated to the back benches is antiquated and many companies are widening the scope and depth of their responsibility.
Overall, there is a sense that “we didn’t cripple as an organisation, therefore we succeeded.” While COVID-19 may have lowered the bar on the definition of success, we would caution against this line of thinking. Complacency runs counter to the mindset of continuous improvement that truly resilience businesses must embrace and maintain.
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