Seven Steps to Building Business Resilience

In many parts of the world, we’re now past the first stage of the Coronavirus epidemic. As a result, some businesses have had to shut operations for a long time, while others have shifted to remote working. Now, we’re in the process of transforming to the new normal and in the process emphasizing business resilience.

The way the world is going to do business in the medium term will be different. In this article, we outline seven steps businesses should take to build resilience through the medium term and adapt to the long-term changes in the business environment.

1. Don’t Assume A Return to Normal

It’s fair to say that some businesses are affected more by the COVID-19 outbreak than others. But for most companies, the Coronavirus pandemic significantly changed facts on the ground. As a result, social distancing measures are in the process of being relaxed, but the fact remains that demand will be lower than usual and that supply chain disruption will continue.

Your business will be able to operate closer to normal than it used to during the epicenter of the crisis, but don’t assume that a lifting of lockdown restrictions will be a complete return to normal. To ensure that your business is resilient through the new normal, you need to plan for reduced demand, interrupted operations, and higher costs.

Read: Your Guide to the Digital Workplace

2. Plan for A Relaunch

Indeed, planning is central to business resilience throughout the new normal. Many readers will already be in the process of relaunching their businesses – and in most cases, it will be a gradual relaunch.

It’s worth thinking through the changed circumstances of your customers, including changes in their needs and spending habits. Also, consider regulation changes. Finally, adjust your product offering, services, and customer interactions to reflect a changing environment. It requires a degree of forward-thinking and planning – but doing so will be worthwhile as you reduce the risk that your business is caught flat-footed during a relaunch.

Read: How COVID-19 is Changing CIO Priorities

3. Reimagine as You Return to Business

Businesses are not looking so much at a return to normal – as a return to a new normal. Therefore, you must reimagine your business as you adjust to the new normal. In some sectors, the needed changes will be obvious – a shift to takeaway and contactless, for example.

In others, boards and their colleagues will need to more deeply re-imagine their business. For example, cutting offerings that are no longer relevant and pushing products and services that serve the new market demands. In some cases, it may require entirely restructuring a business.

Read: What Boards Need to Know About IT Resilience

4. Restore Trust for Customers and Employees

Boards will know how critical trust is. A lack of trust does not always hit the bottom line with immediacy, but trust supports the bottom line in the long run. Understandably, COVID-19 has damaged trust in several areas, and all evidence points to a hit to trust that may last several years.

Trust is key to business resiliency too. Customers that trust your business will carry it through thick and thin. Likewise, when it comes to employees: trust in management hugely benefits business resilience. So, in returning to the new normal, work to reassure your customers that your product and services are safe to purchase – and reassure your employees that their workplace is safe.

5. Work Towards Agility

Agility has always supported business resilience. After all, a business that responds quickly to changing circumstances is a business that is more likely to survive in the long run. However, in 2020, business agility is more important than ever.

An agile business is a resilient business. So, when adjusting your operations, do so to allow maximum room for movement, flexibility, and the ability to respond to change rapidly. For some companies, agility may come naturally. However, where it does not come naturally, boards should encourage the necessary changes. The coronavirus crisis is set to bring further unpredictable business circumstances, and responsiveness is key to resilience.

6. Review Your Business Partners

Over the decades, businesses have come to rely on an increasingly complex mix of partners. Supply chains are a case in point. Some goods cross borders several times before becoming a finished product. In 2020, complex supply chains experienced a high-pressure level as borders closed and transport options were reduced.

It highlighted how there is a flipside to relying on the efficiency and cost reduction of a complex mix of partners for many companies. In times of crisis, any single business partner that fails to deliver can cause significant problems. So, review who you partner with – and take a second look at the complexity of your partner networks.

7. Accelerate Your Digital Transformation

In broad strokes, digital-first businesses have coped better with the pandemic. Think remote working, online ordering, etc. However, it is sensible to argue that companies that are further along the digital transformation road are better positioned to cope with social distancing.

Digital businesses are by definition more enterprise agile and more capable of adapting to changing circumstances. Boards should accelerate digital transformation initiatives already underway and kick-start transformation if necessary. These boards should already consider using digital technology such as secure productivity and governance software like a board portal.

Resilience for the long run

Adjusting to the new normal is critical, but companies should also consider which changes will remain in place in the long run. Change is the only constant in business, and any resilience attained today should be retained for the future.

Resilient businesses will remain in business for longer and perform better than their competitors.