Exercising builds organizational resilience

(Note: This is an entry for the Business Continuity Awareness Week 2015 flashblog.)

In today’s changing business environment, organizational resilience must be seen as a strategic, top level priority as it enables firms to maintain continuity and viability.

In today’s changing business environment, organizational resilience must be seen as a strategic, top level priority as it enables firms to maintain continuity and viability.

Exercising BC plans, viewed from this strategic lens, is an opportunity to gauge resilience.

Business continuity (BC), as a key discipline within the resilience framework, must articulate this message. Exercising BC plans, viewed from this strategic lens, is an opportunity to gauge resilience. It is fitting therefore that this year’s Business Continuity Awareness Week focuses on the role of exercises in building organizational resilience.

Regular exercising is a chance to see ‘resilience in action’, an opportunity to assess whether plans pass muster.

One of the challenges of organizational resilience is identifying ‘what resilience looks like’ for a given firm. Regular exercising is a chance to see ‘resilience in action’, an opportunity to assess whether plans pass muster. Deployed within an agile BCM Lifecycle that takes into account known and emerging risks, exercising is a valuable tool that guides corporate governance.

[Exercising] demonstrates how resilience is built ‘from the boardroom to the storeroom’.

Exercising is a ‘business enabler’. It demonstrates how resilience is built ‘from the boardroom to the storeroom’. It shows top management, as well as the rank and file, how BC impacts a firm’s performance during times of increased stress. When planned in concert with other protective disciplines, exercising becomes a powerful instruction tool that furthers business performance.

As with any other tool, exercising must be used in an appropriate way. The BCI Guide on Exercising Your BC Plan, published today, offers suggestions on deciding which exercise may be recommended for certain situations. This is hoped to be a useful reference for BC professionals, and help in framing exercises as a way to build resilience within an organization.

By framing it within a firm’s strategic priorities, BC professionals can promote buy in and leverage insights from exercising as a key component of governance.

To conclude, it is important to realise how exercising builds organizational resilience. By framing it within a firm’s strategic priorities, BC professionals can promote buy in and leverage insights from exercising as a key component of governance.