business
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comprehensive communications plan that
keeps external and internal stakeholders
informed and supported is critical.
While financial losses and a damaged
company reputation are often cited as
consequences of poorly handled crises, there is
another impact that gets a bit less attention.
The human cost of downtime
A third area of concern uncovered by
this study is the scale of the challenge
business leaders are facing mentally and
emotionally. It comes hot on the heels of
‘burnout’ becoming a legitimate medical
diagnosis listed in the World Health
Organisation’s handbook.
In the face of technological disruptions,
54% of respondents admitted to suffering
from stress-related illnesses and/or
damage to their mental well-being in the
event of a crisis.
In today’s hyper-connected world, with
the C-suite inextricably tied up with brand
identity, our findings highlight the extent to
which senior executives are linked to their
company’s resilience – or lack thereof.
In the UK, 49% of CEOs have been affected
by stress and mental health issues, rising to
62% among CIOs and CTOs.
Interestingly, with business leaders
more extensively profiled online today, a
contributing factor to their stress and mental
well-being is the abuse these executives
receive across social media platforms from
those who hold them accountable for
technology crises.
Just over half (53%) report abuse online
or verbally and, in some cases, even
physical threats. Moreover, a fifth (20%)
also report this abuse extends to their
family and friends.
The research also revealed the negative
personal impact technology crises can have
on a firm’s leadership abilities.
Some 30% of executives find strategic
decisions more difficult to make, with 24%
finding it harder to provide clear direction for
the business – putting the future of their jobs
into question.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
This revealing insight into the mental state
of the C-suite demonstrates why business
strategy must go beyond ensuring a robust
and agile infrastructure. during and after a business disruption.
The growing digital business ecosystem
will put increased demand on data centre
performance, security and resiliency.
An organisation operating today needs
to also ensure the resiliency of those
responsible for resolving major crises. Any disruption will have even greater impact
on an organisation’s productivity and profits
– putting employees under even greater
pressure when things go wrong.
Accordingly, executives on the front line need
to be armed with the right counsel and support
to navigate disruptions more effectively.
Companies can minimise risk and adapt to
disruptive events by embedding resiliency
into and across their environment.
How organisations can tackle this now
Companies must take steps today to
minimise risk and adapt to disruptive
events by embedding resiliency into their
environment – making their business and IT
operations more available, safe and agile:
• Strike the right balance between data
access and security requirements amidst
evolving threats
• Align the right applications with the right
platforms and use hybrid IT to minimise
complexity, maximise efficiency and
deliver agility
• Understand the priority levels of critical
business applications and plan their
recovery in accordance
• Ensure processes, applications and
infrastructures are recoverable and available
for continuous business operations
• Design a thorough communications
plan addressing internal and
external stakeholders
• Conduct regular testing of recovery plans
to identify gaps and ensure readiness for
a real event
• Provide employees – especially those
most accountable – with guidance to
communicate with family members, and
support staff accordingly through periods
of significant disruption
• Make counselling available for
senior leaders of a business after
significant disruption
An effective resilience framework looks at
how the organisation and IT infrastructure
can be available, safe and agile.
In addition, steps must be taken to support
employees, particularly those in the spotlight,
during and after a significant disruption.
Businesses that can demonstrate this
holistic approach will no doubt gain
credibility among their customers, partners,
employees and investors – in their own
industry and beyond. n
To address all the business imperatives
identified in our research, including the new
‘personal’ resilience imperative, business
strategies today must go beyond ensuring
critical infrastructure is robust and agile.
Boards must take a more holistic approach
to business resilience and consider how they
can train staff to be better prepared before,
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