Key takeaways from the Great Pandemic in this Business World

“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative”. That was the unpleasant scenario foisted upon several companies during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic – a verdict that also served as a wake-up call for business continuity processes and their real-world application. 

There is no doubt that the pandemic unveiled myriad process inadequacies. While the efforts of some companies to maintain their business operations could survive the catastrophe, others were less fortunate, as their processes were not up to scratch and consequently incapable of incorporating into the pandemic-generated ‘new normal’. 

Executive vice president of business strategy at Citrix, Tim Minahan said “COVID-19 turned business continuity planning on its head, as it forced enterprises around the world to reconsider their operations and, in several cases, embrace completely new models for business projects. While many had begun moving toward cloud and working remotely as part of their business continuity plans, few were prepared to do so at the speed and scale the pandemic required.” 

According to Agility Recovery’s ‘Business Continuity Lessons Learned from COVID-19’ report, the crucial challenges faced by the companies during the pandemic were supporting the health and safety of their employees, and maintaining productivity and rationale. For example, during the onset of the pandemic, many companies were reluctant to grant work from home to their employees but now more than 80% of companies are in either hybrid or remote mode. Post pandemic companies are redoing their risk profiles, where they recognize working from home as a viable option.

For more than two years, the main challenges businesses had to face were delivering business as usual and keeping up with the accelerating pace of change. The impact of the pandemic created huge uncertainty in markets and business leaders had to find ways of working around the challenge and ensure that employees were kept safe, and jobs safeguarded wherever possible.

Lessons Learnt

 As we start to surpass the most severe ravages of the pandemic, companies need to validate their ability to execute a range of business continuity strategies to prove that they have learned from the bitter lessons that COVID-19 has taught them. While the pandemic has indeed instigated a great deal of organizational change, there are 10 key business continuity lessons that companies have particularly learned off the back of the pandemic. 

•  Businesses need to be prepared for unexpected situations. When employees are allowed to work from home, they need to be given the privilege of high-speed internet and videoconferencing tools. If the companies don’t manage risks associated with a new setting, an interruption in business activities becomes inevitable. 
• When the business setting is changed, it is not possible to comply with all traditional processes. So, companies must focus on protecting those that are most important and skip others. 
• Before migrating to a new setting, a thorough risk analysis and considering probability and impacts are essential. A low probability with a huge impact adds up to a big risk. The pandemic has taught businesses to ponder over the difficulties that may arise. 
• Only recovery plans are not sufficient; companies need to define what procedures they will use to secure alternate supplies and train their employees to wear several hats in times of difficulty. 
• Business plans need to be updated once a year. After the initial risk analysis is reviewed at the beginning of the year, companies can decide on changing or rewriting the whole plan. 
• Recovery and continuity plans need to be religiously practiced every year. Often, these plans are left somewhere in a filing cabinet. Every employee should be aware of these plans and should know what the announcement of the plan means for them. 
• Continuity management is a continuous process, and the companies need to manage it in compliance with guidelines and policies. To add to that, issues and mistakes should be recorded and learned from, with plans adjusted accordingly. 
• Organizations often incorporate continuity management under operations, whereas, businesses should be responsible for protecting key activities like continuity management. Companies must keep continuity management separate and make sure that it is not adapted to the needs of operations. 
• Businesses need to coordinate with their suppliers to protect their important activities. Suppliers need to be aligned with the business plan and in case of any failure, other suppliers must be on standby to fulfill the gap. Essential materials and parts also should be stocked for tougher times.
• A crisis never comes alone. Amidst multiple crises, companies must have a team ready that will coordinate and prioritize solutions to all problems. They can even contract backup capacities with partners prior, helping them out before they manage to restore processes.

 

Renaissance in business

As we are recovering from a two-year-long pandemic, forward-thinking companies’ strategy will be to create and review easily accessible business continuity plans. Inviting a renaissance to the thought process of business leaders, these plans will increase their resilience and allow them to shape their operations to adapt to a steadily evolving landscape. 

Along with the pandemic, there are other pressures that are bringing changes in behavior, such as lesser airline travel, climate change and sustainability, and the drive to carbon neutrality. So, while the COVID-19 pandemic has been an accelerant of change, there are other game-changers that are arising into the scenario, and these will also impact business continuity over time.