If there’s one thing that’s for certain in business, it’s change. Shifting market trends, evolving purchasing behavior, and unexpected societal events, such as the pandemic, can all occur suddenly and without much warning –rendering continual growth and evolution the cornerstone of success. Since business resilience refers to a company’s capacity to adapt and strongly navigate change, it’s a key characteristic tied to competitive advantage that your organization should strive to achieve.
As the new year kicks into full swing, it’s even more pressing to ensure that your team is equipped to handle unexpected changes as the months begin to unfold. In this article, we’ll dive into just how truly important resilience has become for businesses while outlining a few tips to help you get started.
Business resilience 101: What it is and why it’s important
In a nutshell, business resilience outlines a company’s ability to respond to and adapt to unplanned changes –whether within or outside of the organization. This means going beyond long-term planning and instead ensuring the ability to react successfully to unpredictable events by having the proper resources in place beforehand.
As the new year kicks into full swing, it’s vital to review your annual marketing and business execution plans to ensure you have the proper implementation strategies in place for the year ahead. Building a resilience plan should include the following considerations:
- Collection and analysis of data for businesses after crisis or disastrous situations, such as the pandemic
- Investment into cybersecurity to safeguard against threats
- Plan your response to prospective problems in advance
- Ensure strong and organized management and leadership
A failure to prepare with foresight or anticipation in mind can leave your company vulnerable to threats and weaknesses in your overarching performance. However, a company built with business resilience at the forefront can quickly adapt to change and thrive even when undesirable or unexpected circumstances arise.
Why business resilience is key in the new year
The beginning of the year signifies a key time for organizations to plan for the months ahead. When curating a business plan, resilience is an important element that must be taken into consideration. Below, we’ll outline four reasons why.
- Remain one step ahead
Many business owners never foresaw the impact something as severe as the Covid-19 pandemic would have on society. However, it’s always important to expect the unexpected and remain one step ahead. Weaving corporate resilience into your business governance is necessary for fostering success within your organization by planning for future risks or incidents that may occur.
- Gain a competitive advantage
With society trending towards digitization, it’s necessary to incorporate resilience into your business by means of a strong digital infrastructure. Because a resilient business strategy and success go hand-in-hand, companies that do not adapt often fail to remain competitive in their industry.
- Mitigate risks with ease
It’s easier to prepare for risks proactively rather than it is to address them after they occur. Having a readiness plan for events such as cyber-attacks, natural disasters, and general societal disruptions can help you easily mitigate these prospective risks both quickly and seamlessly.
- Ensure regulatory compliance
Ensuring regulatory compliance is a necessary industry standard across the board. Meeting legal obligations is not only crucial, but it helps build trust in your brand on behalf of your customers. Build a business resilience plan to safeguard your company and ensure it quickly gets back on track with regulatory requirements in the case of cyber-attacks or other unfortunate circumstances.
How data management fosters business resilience
Accurate data that is fit for a purpose is the hallmark of any successful business strategy. So, it should come as no surprise that reliable data is vital for any business looking to achieve growth during unprecedented changes and challenges. In the aftermath of the pandemic, companies quickly learned one important lesson: change is inevitable, and a company’s preparedness will determine its ongoing success—or in some instances, failure.
Our global data management research found that 77% of those surveyed believed investing in data management today will help them more successfully navigate future crisis situations. Since data and business readiness go together, prioritizing your data is a key way to proactively safeguard your company from any incidents that may arise.
Connect with a data quality expert today
As mentioned, data management and business resilience work in unison. Whether you’re just beginning to lay the framework for your resilience strategy or are looking for a way to foster higher-quality data, our team is here to help.
