Constant analysis and improvement

To ensure that organisations have the right tools in place to combat these challenges, Table 1 sets out a basic list of behaviours, practices and strategies that an organisation should consider. However, simply having these things is not enough. The key is to constantly measure the effectiveness of whether these approaches actually make a difference and contribute to the organisations resilience. The programs and initiatives in Table 1 are by no means exhaustive. But they are a sensible basis to start moving the organisation in the right direction. Conversely, not embarking on a cultural change program or starting a dialogue to enhance business resilience may have a long term detrimental effect on strategic direction, business success, customer satisfaction, staff retention, protability and performance. Grant Whitehorn can be contacted on 0401 168 123 or by email at ceo@ riskmanagementinnovations.com. Notes
1 For an exploration of personal and professional resilience, see Morris R, 2011, Resilience reducing professional risk and personal crisis, Keeping good companies, Vol 63 No 6, pp 372375 2 Hamel G and Vlikangas L, 2003, The Quest for Resilience, Harvard Business Review, Vol 81 No 9, pp 5263 3 Torrens Resilience Institute, 2010, Draft Organisational Resilience Standard, 29 January 4 Seville E, Brundson D, Dantas A, Le Masurier J, Wilkinson S and Vargo J, 2006, Building Organisational Resilience: A summary of key research ndings, Resilient Organisations, Research Report 2006/04, p 4 5 See www.iso.org [6 July 2011] 6 Saville E, 2007, A framework for evaluating and improving organisational resilience, December 7 See www.tisn.gov.au/www/tisn/content.nsf/ Page/Resilience [6 July 2011] 8 Butler Y, 2010, Moving from compliance to strategic risk management, Risk Management, Issue 79, pp 1415

Table 1: Key traits of resilient organisations and the pathways to engender them Behaviour
Agility

Strategy
Encourage open learning and discussion about failures; do not apportion blame Break down hierarchy and evolve to a loosely coupled atter organisational structure; remove the silos Encourage ideas from all parts of the organisation, not just the privileged Capitalise on incidents and seek opportunity from adversity

Integration

Align all organisational risk management functions Evolve to a strongly aligned governance structure Encourage tightly coupled communications across all functions Balance silo-based incentive schemes with whole of business performance incentives

Interdependency

Remove the hierarchy and key man dependencies and devolve the decisionmaking Invest in mutual understanding and build strong bipartisan relationships with all interdependent parties Factor the interdependencies into risk plans Encourage support within and across the business and reduce the internal competitiveness

Leadership

Organisations leaders are recognised for clear objectives, goals and direction Dene the vision, purpose and values of the organisation Leaders seen to walk the talk Encourage partnerships rather than bureaucracy Encourage mentoring relationships Leadership development programs become entrenched within the organisation

Awareness

Drive the organisation to become fully aware and engaged with the internal and external environment Drive the organisation to become fully engaged with the local community Fully understand the supply chain and conduct exercises with partners to test resilience Develop the ability to anticipate unexpected threats

Change

Embrace change as an opportunity to grow the organisation and achieve strategic advantage Manage change with diligence and change within the organisation if it is ineffective

Communications

Encourage open and collaborative communication within the organisation and with external partners Break down the silos Develop effective communications systems that enable a consistent and clear message Identify the stakeholders and their interests and develop strategies for communication

Culture and values

Focus on value, not cost Develop a strong unity of purpose Make the organisations value simple and easy to relate to Give incentives for and reward actions that align with the organisations values

Adapted from Brouggy P, 2008, Resilience Maturity Model Quick Assessment Tool

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