Business continuity and crisis management is moving from its traditional roots and by-the-book implementation, to a much more disruptive—and much more effective—process. Business continuity planning has become more complex, nonlinear and inclusive of multiple third parties, and the growing ecosystem of cloud and as-a-service providers has moved much of the risk outside of the immediate control of the risk manager. This is all complicated by the inherent difficulty in getting buy-in and participation in what is often a project nobody really wants to be a part of.
It becomes even more complex when planners must prepare for a wider group of possibilities, which includes not only natural disasters, labor disputes and equipment failures, but cyber-disasters which are often not as well defined and even more unpredictable, and are based on environments and actors which have no physical boundaries.
Over the past several years, psychologists, behavioral scientists and academics have helped to advance our understanding of human psychology and, specifically, how humans respond to high-risk and crisis situations. This research has highlighted how a lack of pre-crisis training and preparation may exacerbate risk and cause unnecessary errors during times of stress and uncertainty.
The good news is that these experts can also help us better understand the best ways for businesses to help individuals prepare and train for such situations so they can contribute positively to the risk management and crisis mitigation process.
But while the need for crisis and business continuity planning is clearly recognized by a wide swath of businesses and many endorse and utilize such programs, the degree to which companies and their risk managers have embraced the findings of what some call “the psychology of risk” is sorely lacking.
Lootok Resiliency Summit: The best risk managers don’t do it alone
How can I ensure our internal stakeholders are properly trained on risk management? How can I make sure the quality of plans is consistent within a global organization? How do I get people to care when they’re facing limited resources, budget, and time?
This is what every global risk, crisis, and security leader asks—and they’re disappointed when I tell them there aren’t easy answers. There’s no magic pill that transforms someone into a thoughtful continuity planner or an informed risk management advocate. The fact is, it takes time to educate and train stakeholders on important initiatives, and effort to establish the processes and protocol that facilitate consistency. It also may mean giving people dedicated time (especially if they’re strapped for time already) to devote towards proper training and development.
Lootok: Three must-know lessons from my last business continuity site visit
I often serve as an extension of our client’s risk management team. Recently, I visited a client site to implement a continuity program focused on manufacturing recovery. Approaching new sites can be a challenge, particularly for recently established programs. I’m always reminded that first impressions—of people and of programs—are lasting, and it’s not easy to spark engagement and support from local teams. In my experience, here’s what works in winning them over…
Press Release: ClearView named a leader in Gartner’s 2017 Magic Quadrant
ClearView is proud to announce that it has once more been positioned in the Leaders Quadrant in Gartner’s July 2017 Magic Quadrant for Business Continuity Management Program Solutions, Worldwide.
CEO Charles Boffin comments, ‘We are delighted that we have once more been recognised as a leader in the market as we continue to focus on our core principles of delivering a sophisticated and functionally-rich platform in a way that makes it easy to use and intuitive for all users, irrespective of role in an organisation. We believe our continued placement in the Leaders quadrant demonstrates our ongoing commitment to remain a key player globally in this field.’
Gartner subscribers may download the full report here.
Press release: Lootok Partners with Executive Search Specialist Andersen Steinberg
New partnership between two industry leaders brings a new level of talent to outsourced risk programs
Lootok, a leading crisis management and business continuity consulting and technology company, and Andersen Steinberg, an executive search and recruitment firm specializing in risk and resilience, announced a new strategic partnership today. The new alliance will give Lootok an even deeper level of expertise and global resources.
Creating a fully outsourced crisis and business continuity program often requires a global team of highly specialized professionals, and Lootok’s hiring process has always adhered to the most rigorous standards. That thoughtful process can sometimes be time-consuming, a necessity that must be balanced with a need for rapid scalability. The new partnership allows Lootok to achieve that scalability while maintaining the highest level of quality.
“To meet the demand for fully outsourced crisis and business continuity programs, Lootok needed a model that allowed us to deploy the right resources in record time,” said Sean Murphy, CEO of Lootok. “Recruiting the best minds in the risk and resiliency industry, supporting local languages and bringing in specialized skillsets is all a part of our business model. With a global network and a reputation for attracting the finest risk talent, our alliance with Andersen Steinberg gives us the ability to achieve that rapid scalability while accessing the finest talent, while bringing world-class service to our clients.”
Both firms have kindred corporate philosophies and a deep understanding of the value that quality talent brings to clients, culture, and profits. “What matters to Lootok, also matters to Andersen Steinberg,” said Murphy. “When companies call on Lootok to manage their crisis and business continuity programs, Lootok becomes their global team, and the right resources are critical to the success of the program.
In managing a program, Lootok brings together management of technology, training, awareness, messaging, reporting, rollout, and support. A diverse group of specialists is essential, and team members may need to be fluent in multiple languages, understand a niche area of supply chain risk, or have deep knowledge of a specific technology. Andersen Steinberg specializes in finding talent that meets those unique criteria.
Together, the partnership gives Andersen Steinberg the opportunity to place the next generation of leaders in global risk, while giving Lootok the ability to scale their innovative services that have transformed the industry over the last ten years.
New technology and devices bring employees together in a global market
Businesses are living in the era of global culture, communication and commerce, greatly increasing the need for multilingual capacity. Little wonder that language learning has become a crucial component of corporate learning programs in the past decade.
Research from Technavio indicates that the corporate language learning market is on the cusp of major expansion. The market research firm released its findings in a press release, showing that corporate online language learning in the U.S. is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16% between 2017 and 2021.
Is the corporate language learning industry headed for big changes in the next couple of years? Experts seem to think so.
Why all this attention on language learning in the corporate world?
For starters, businesses no longer operate with geographic limits anymore. The internet has made every industry a global one. Because of this, nearly every working adult will at some point encounter language and cultural barriers that can make things challenging. Emerging technologies will have an impact as well.
“Artificial intelligence is now pushing up against human learning of languages,” said Jeremy Stynes, President of Lootok said, “and with it being so much more accurate now, it’s easy to see how this could become scalable.”
Ignore these trends at your own risk. Stynes shared the story of a former employer that spent a great deal of time and money on localizing the language of corporate training content, only to discover that there were tools (like Google translator) that provided a far better solution.
Read the full article with commentary from Jeremy Stynes on HR Dive.
