The importance of being resilient

Resilience is defined by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) as “the ability to absorb and adapt in a changing environment”. This definition applies for an individual, an organisation, or a community of any size.

The more resilient you are, the more likely you are to think what 'being resilient' means to you. You will adopt a mind-set of ‘what if’? And ‘what next’? Not just the next risk, but the next opportunity. You will have a broad view of resilience, understanding what it means for you and what it means for you customers, suppliers, employees, and contribution to their communities and wider society. You will challenge conventional approaches and wisdoms, adapt business models, and look for competitive advantage.

How we can support you?

To help companies to analyse the reality of their situation, their risks, and to see opportunities in dark times, Deloitte has developed an immersive and collaborative Resilience Reimagined Lab for you, no matter the industry you come from.

Resilience is not just about risk management and a healthy culture; your organisation must be financially viable and provide a product/service.

Our approach addresses the tangible outcomes required as well as the cultural mindset and governance necessary to maintain stability. It is designed to improve resourcefulness and adaptability.

Delivering tangible outcomes for your organisation:

• Financial resilience: A strong balance sheet and clear contingency funding options for shocks and adverse events.
• Operational resilience: Sufficient diversity, redundancy, and resourcefulness, alongside a proven capability to respond and adapt to adverse events and changes in market conditions.
• Reputational resilience: Established reputation indicators based on consumer and societal expectations.
• Human Resource resilience: Organisational resilience is strengthened when organisations hire personnel with leadership qualities, leaders who foster a resilience culture, and leaders who can adapt to changing circumstances.

By addressing the main pillars of resilience – financial, operational, reputational, human resource – you will make your organisation more resilient to future uncertainties. Establishing resilience indicators for each of the pillars enables you to measure and maintain resilience for the long term, improving transparency and governance over what keeps you resilient.

Of course, all organisations are unique and therefore the way organisational resilience is implemented in your organisation will also be unique.

The Resilience Reimagined Lab aims at taking organisations outside their everyday environment. It is designed to disrupt conventional thinking and spur creativity for constructing resilience within an organisation. In addition, it aims to help you to transform and thrive before, during, and after adversity, including improved risk identification and mitigation to enhance resilience.

Our methodology

The lab consists of six core sessions, each including a briefing from an expert on the subject matter of the key themes and facilitated discussions.

1. Discover the meaning of resilience in your organisation by understanding what makes your organisation more, or less, resilient today. Learn from what has gone well in the past and what has not;
2. Understand your vulnerabilities by identifying those that make your organisation less resilient today, and to find the opportunities and the characteristics that will make it more resilient in the future;
3. Imagine the resilient future of your organisation;
4. Draw your journey towards resilience;
5. Reflect on the plan and adapt it;
6. Construct your future, take the baton, and shine light upon the journey as if you were a lighthouse in the midst of a storm.

Through this integrated method, we help create a new framework for resilience that faces uncomfortable truths, values resilience properly, tests for vulnerabilities and drives adaptation before it is too late.

Find out more on our methodology