After COVID, more future gazing required

Just half of attendees at a recent conference have re-identified their risks post Covid-19. Other findings include:

• Despite 70% of respondents saying they carry out scenario planning, two-thirds of respondents believe that their decision-making abilities would still be affected during a crisis.
• Almost 80% of respondents plan for the unexpected in their own roles. However, less than half of respondents have a company-wide information collection and sharing policy or plan, and
• Respondents felt the pandemic positively helped highlight the importance of a better work-life balance, as well as giving businesses a great opportunity to focus on a green recovery and sustainability.

Dean Hughes, head of Risk Advisory and Analytics at Barnett Waddingham, said: “As a business, identifying your risks and planning ahead now will undoubtedly help you in the future. While operating in the shadow of COVID-19 is a huge challenge in itself it cannot be isolated from other risks which may occur. With a shift to the new normal, do you have everything in place to aid with a smooth transition?

“With limited face-to-face interactions, it is more important than ever to share information and embrace transparency to ensure people are not working in silos and that everyone has a voice.

“As a leader, our most valuable resource is our people. However, this is no revelation. The revelation is that we must adapt our approach to decision making. We can remove our biases, remove our egos, disperse complexities and instead of leaders making decisions on their own, we can empower others to help us make better informed decisions.

”We can support our people, train them - and most importantly trust them - to make those decisions. As is it our people that make up the unique fabric of an organisation, they can push the organisation forward more than we can on our own.”