The past year put many businesses into a position they had not been in before and it revealed just how resilient a business had become. Planning to be resilient did not have a proven previous guideline for business leaders and owners but 2020 has provided a deeper understanding of what they need. Overall, your business will need the following preparation to ensure you are building resiliency for the next wave of trouble.
The word resiliency refers to being able to bend with the blows without breaking. It involves being prepared and flexible so that recovery occurs quickly. It also refers to being tough and elastic – not being crushed or destroyed by adverse situations.
Consider the Behavior of Your Customers
You likely saw changes in the types of purchases your customers made during the worst parts of the pandemic. You can be sure that it is not over yet and it is likely that the worst is yet to come.
Past tendencies of your customers may occur again and you need to be ready for it. Know what products they focused on and think about what products they needed and were looking to buy. This requires that your preparation for the market demand is adaptable and that you can secure suppliers of those products.
A Strong Culture Endures Problems
When employees feel that their work is valuable and that they have a sense of purpose, it will help them to be willing to endure problems. They also will be more willing to stick with you if you can show that you know what to do. Your employees’ sense of purpose will also enable your company’s values to remain intact and act when guidance is necessary.
Planning for Resilience
Now that your company has had a strong taste of what can happen. Apply that information to multiple potentially destructive scenarios. Test it against problems such as multiple employees testing positive and having to quarantine, supplier problems, lockdowns, and closures of many businesses. Also, consider what could happen if the majority of your customers decide to only buy online.
Develop Redundancy
Your company needs to have a degree of redundancy built into it. Although it may temporarily create something of a slowdown in the rate of production for a time, it will also enable your business to continue functioning if one area shuts down for any reason. Disruptions can occur unexpectedly but they should not stop your business from continuing.
Ensure Leaders’ Competence in Emergencies
Quality leadership in a difficult situation can only come from leaders who are trustworthy. When trust fails, people will not energetically follow into questionable practices if they are not sure of the results. Leaders need to have solid ideas as to where the company is going and know how to get there.
Preparing leaders for crisis events requires them to stay informed about how other companies have met a similar crisis and how they planned to cope with future problems. The ideas gained from ongoing reading and training ensures that leaders can cope well during a crisis.
Communication is very important during a crisis. Senior leadership should be encouraged to communicate with employees, which can provide a calming effect showing care for the average person.
Use Software to Test Current Resilience
Several software companies have recently produced software that you can use to test the resiliency of your organization. Running your company through it will reveal some weak areas and show you where you need to improve.
