Resilient companies are more successful, but some boards have not got the message.

Some businesses are missing out on the chance to become more competitive because they see resilience as a compliance or box-ticking exercise, Airmic chief executive John Hurrell has said.

Writing in The Times, he said the recent report ‘Roads to Resilience’, written jointly by Cranfield School of Management and Airmic, had demonstrated that it should be seen as the “lifeblood of the organisation”.

“Enterprises become more resilient by being more responsive to their customers and the markets they serve; their staff and suppliers are motivated and loyal; they gain trust by being more dependable; and their reputations benefit. When they do have serious mishaps, they are ready, and their stakeholders are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Quite simply, they are better companies,” he wrote.

He reiterated one of the main themes of the report, that resilience comes from board leadership supported by strong technical risk management, to foster a risk-aware culture across the organisation.

“Invariably, top management provided the oomph, whilst their risk colleagues gave essential technical input,” he wrote.

The report has generated much favourable comment, both within the media and further afield.  Evening Standard City Editor Anthony Hilton said that it took the issues raised in ‘Roads to Ruin’ to the next level. Hurrell, meanwhile, has received several invitations to discuss the findings at seminars and conferences.

“The huge amount of hard work put in by so many people into producing Roads to Resilience has been fully justified,” he said. “The feedback that I’m getting is that it fills an important gap in our understanding of what makes companies successful.”

To read the Times risk supplement, published by Raconteur, click here..

John Hurrell – Resilient companies are better companies

Airmic would like to thank Crawford, Lockton and PwC for sponsoring Roads to Resilience and for their advice during its drafting