Published: 2/2/2024

Introduction:

In the opening chapter of our eight-part series on business continuity, we’re diving into a critical factor that profoundly influences your organization's resilience – your workplace culture.

Your culture is the driving force behind every aspect of your business, shaping the problems you tackle and guiding the day-to-day decisions of your teams. Recognizing and understanding the existing culture is crucial, particularly when developing something as pivotal as a business continuity plan. Neglecting this aspect can lead to significant oversights, creating more risks, not less.

A business continuity plan needs to be dynamic, seamlessly integrating into your daily operations. To accomplish this, it needs to resonate with your team; otherwise, it risks becoming irrelevant and misunderstood – a situation that can have dire consequences.

Typically, business continuity planning starts with a focus on the business itself, detailing policies and identifying key functions. This business-first approach is logical, but the most meticulously crafted plans can fall flat if they don’t resonate with the very people responsible for implementing them.

To be effective, these plans must be meaningful, comprehensible, and applicable to those who will enact them. It’s not just about keeping the business afloat to secure jobs – that's a given. A truly successful plan aligns with your team's values and motivations. If your approach to business continuity is solely about preserving operations without considering your team's engagement, you might find yourself facing an uphill battle.

Culture Allows Your Business Continuity to Thrive, Not Just Survive.

For business continuity to be effective, a specific kind of culture needs to be fostered within the organization. This culture is one where preparedness, adaptability, and resilience are not just buzzwords but ingrained values. It's a culture where every employee, regardless of their role, feels responsible for and is an active participant in the continuity planning process.

The right culture is crucial because it shapes employees' attitudes towards change and challenges. In a culture that values resilience, employees are more likely to respond positively to the implementation of continuity plans. They understand that these plans are in place not just for the business’s survival but for their safety and well-being too.

At the Top is where You Should Start

It's imperative to acknowledge that the shaping of a company's culture begins at the leadership level. Leaders are the primary architects of an organization's culture whether they believe it or not. It's a rare occurrence for the culture to organically develop from the employee ranks on its own. Even if it appears so, it's the leadership that has enabled its emergence and growth. Should there be a disconnect in this leadership accountability, the organization faces more significant challenges that extend beyond business continuity.

Consider a scenario frequently encountered in today's business landscape. When it comes to decision-making, who typically holds the reins? In many cases, this responsibility is confined to managers and those in leadership positions. This practice of restricting regular decision-making to the upper echelons can inadvertently cultivate an internal divide. Over time, such a divide can manifest in various negative outcomes, such as underperformance, high employee turnover, and a diminished quality of work life.

Now, introduce a crisis situation into this equation and imagine the potential ramifications. The already existing chasm in decision-making authority can exacerbate the challenges, impacting the organization's ability to respond effectively during critical times.

Fostering and Nurturing the Right Culture of Continuity

At the core of a continuity culture lies the collective mindset of an organization that elevates preparedness and resilience to the forefront. It’s about cultivating an environment where every individual in the company, from the seasoned executives to the newest team members, genuinely values and understands the criticality of being ever-ready for the unexpected. This culture is rooted in a shared commitment to ensuring that the business remains robust and operational, regardless of the challenges that may arise.

The impact of a positive continuity culture on the success of your business's emergency strategies is profound. When this culture is embraced at all levels, emergency plans naturally become more comprehensive, current, and, most importantly, actionable in real situations. It's about transitioning from a routine, tick-box exercise to ingraining a deep-rooted culture of habitual preparedness.

Drawing on my experiences in the fire service, the resounding message was that complacency can be fatal. This powerful realization fostered a culture of constant alertness and rigorous training, shifting our mindset from “if it happens” to “when it happens, we’re ready.” To eradicate complacency from your business environment, you need to foster its opposite – a culture that constantly seeks to be one step ahead.

In my career across various sectors, I’ve noticed a common inclination to shy away from what's perceived as extra work. The idea of “not reinventing the wheel” is a familiar refrain, suggesting that what's already in place is sufficient. However, when it comes to business continuity, this attitude can be a trap. It's crucial to understand that existing plans and methods should always be open to scrutiny and evolution. Embracing a continuity culture means constantly challenging the status quo, seeking to improve and adapt, ensuring that your emergency strategies are as dynamic and resilient as the business world they're designed to protect.