As we move towards uncertain economic times and the prospect of a hard-hitting recession looms, resilience will soon become a competitive advantage for businesses. 

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By working to cultivate company-wide resilience today, you can prepare your business for the hardships to come. If you want to stand up to the test of time, it pays to build a culture of resilience that permeates every team and department and braces everyone for adversity. 

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In this guide, we’ll explore what we mean by resilience in business, how to foster it with employees monitoring software, and how you can use it to thrive and find opportunities where others might not.

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What is Resiliency in Business?

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Before we get into the ins and outs of resiliency in business, let’s start with a definition:

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Business resiliency is a holistic approach to measuring performance within a company, emphasizing flexibility and long-term success over short-term metrics.

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In recent years, it’s the agile company that has the advantage; the one willing to turn obstacles into advantages and prioritize adaptability over rigidity. 

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The rise of resiliency in the business world is perhaps in part a reaction to the unforeseen pandemic that swept the world in 2020, causing havoc on traditional business models. Those that couldn’t adapt quickly and implement remote work measures, for instance, were swept under the current.

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To adapt to the choppy and changing waters of the market, you need a robust business model that can bend without breaking. 

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How to Recession-Proof your Business with Resiliency

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With a recession likely on the cards in 2023, according to various sources, now’s as good a time as any to focus on fostering resiliency throughout your business.

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How?

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There are several ways you can introduce resiliency into your business, and you can start by taking a look at various aspects of your business model. 

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Cross-functional Collaboration 

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The collaboration of employees from different teams is a pillar of office productivity for many modern businesses. These days it isn’t enough to have a close-knit team; you need a web of connection that stretches between various departments and keeps everyone in close contact.

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Failure to establish strong lines of communication throughout the company can spell disaster when adversity inevitably arises. 

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If you want to survive tough times and build a culture of resiliency, it’s important that everyone stays in the loop and is clear in their role and how they contribute both as an individual and a collective unit.

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Let’s use the example of a colony of ants.

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Each individual ant has a specific job but acts in the interest of the colony as a whole. When you cut off communication between each ant - typically by throwing them off the scent - you disrupt the colony’s ability to work together, and it gradually shrinks in size.

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Unlike ants, we as humans have the ability to overcome obstacles with foresight and preparation.

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You can’t allow communication lines to be cut off by an unanticipated event, so making the effort to bolster communication measures for the long term will stand you in good stead if the worst happens.

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Cybersecurity

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According to the Allianz Risk Barometer as reported by Forbes, cyber-attacks are the number one concern for 44% of business owners. Ranking higher than pandemics, business interruption, and natural disasters, the threat from cyber attacks is perceived to be the most pressing in recent times.

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As cybercriminals discover more ways to cause data leaks and unravel companies’ cybersecurity measures, now is the perfect time to think about creating resiliency to build a strong, long-lasting defense against this growing threat.

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So how can you build resiliency to protect your company against this persistent yet invisible threat?

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Returning to the idea of a holistic approach, your cybersecurity measures should reflect a larger initiative to grow in several areas at once. Back to the ant analogy, you have to make sure everyone is on the same team and moving in the same direction to avoid weak links, which could expose your company to various threats.

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In terms of cybersecurity, this means not only developing a comprehensive response to threats you might face, but also preparing every department to function even in the face of digital disruptions.

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If you can keep everything moving even when you encounter unanticipated adversity, you can survive just about anything. 

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Here are some actions you can take:

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• Build flexible systems that allow employees to continue working offline in the event of an internet outage

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• Consider outsourcing data to avoid storing it all in a data center that could be susceptible to breaches

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• Use computer spyware to monitor every department’s online data use and storage and see how you can strengthen cybersecurity measures

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Systems and Processes

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The way you build and maintain systems and processes will determine how resilient your company can be in difficult moments.

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When things go wrong within your company, employees will fall back on the default - whatever that is in your company.

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If your systems and processes aren’t efficient or sustainable, that will increase the negative impact events have on your business. 

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Say you rely on analog systems for certain aspects of your business, and a pandemic forces you to work remotely. It’ll take a long time to digitize the essential information and processes so that employees can continue working as before, and this unpreparedness can severely disrupt productivity.

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With foresight, you can build the kinds of systems and processes that work just as well in adversity as when everything is smooth sailing. With clear processes, you can then leverage productivity monitoring software to get the most out of your employees week after week.

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How Employee Monitoring Software Supports Resiliency

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Just as project management software can help you create systems, processes, and task automations to build sustainable productivity, software to keep track of employees can help you create a culture of resiliency.

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When you use a performance tracking system such as Insightful, you can start monitoring activities and identify opportunities to make data-driven decisions. By monitoring employee internet use, you can make real-time judgments on what’s working and what isn’t.

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One of the cornerstones of a resilient company is its access to data insights, so by arming yourself with tracking software for employees, you put yourself in a great position to propel your company through hard times.

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