A crisis response plan is the key to success in 2021, said PwC recently when releasing the results of a survey.
More than 70% of respondents participating in the company's Global Crisis Survey 2021 said their business was negatively impacted by the pandemic and 20% indicated that the crisis had a positive impact overall on their organisation, PwC noted.
According to the company, more than 2,800 business leaders shared data and insights in the 2021 version of the survey, representing organisations of all sizes, in 29 industries and across 73 countries.
The first version, published in 2019, revealed that 95% of respondents expected a crisis within the next two years though they didn’t expect a pandemic, said Kristin Rivera, (Global Crisis Leader, PwC US)
“The past year has underscored that the challenge of crisis management is not about predicting the future, but dealing with the unpredictable,” Rivera noted. “Businesses must focus on building a foundation of resilience to weather whatever comes next.”
Technology and healthcare organisations were more likely to be positively impacted, while travel and hospitality sectors suffered the most negative effects, PwC pointed out.
Do you have a crisis response plan?
Organisations that fared well were more likely to rely on a dedicated crisis team to drive their response to the crisis, the firm said.
PwC's survey reveals that, even with a well-defined crisis team, organisations need an agile crisis management program that can adapt to address the various types of disruption, PwC added.
However, only 35% of organisations had a crisis response plan that was 'very relevant,' which means the majority of organisations didn't design their plans to be 'crisis-agnostic' — a hallmark of a resilient organisation, PwC noted.
Based on the findings from the survey, PwC has collated three ways companies can better prepare for crisis:
- Design a strategic crisis response plan to mobilise swiftly, stabilise business operations and respond effectively to the shockwaves of disruption.
- Break down silos. An integrated program is essential to executing a successful crisis response and to building resilience during 'peacetime.'
- Prioritise and build organisational resilience — not just to succeed, but to survive.
Organisations in a better place today were significantly more likely to say they'd already given substantial attention to organisational resilience and planned how to respond to significant business disruption, PwC said, adding that seven out of 10 organisations are planning to increase their investment in building resilience.
Among risk leaders, that number is as high as nine in 10, according to survey results.
