Have you considered the strategies you will use to create or adjust your business continuity plan so it is ready for 2025? Several emerging trends may influence relevant decisions and affect your focus during the year ahead.
1. Heightened Awareness of Weather Extremes
More areas of the world are experiencing unusually severe weather. It manifests in numerous ways. Sometimes, storms are more severe or frequent. In other cases, countries or regions regularly see conditions that were relatively rare in the past.
Although today’s executives cannot predict with certainty how extreme weather may affect their businesses, most realize it is essential to plan for the most likely outcomes and mitigate adverse effects. Besides increasing organizational stability and shortening the recovery from incidents, research also suggests extreme weather preparedness raises stakeholder confidence.
A group analyzed five years of data from approximately 2,100 Japanese-listed companies. Businesses with higher greenhouse gas emissions were more likely to experience climate risks, including extreme weather-related ones. Additionally, these entities faced higher costs when borrowing and raising money.
However, executives who transparently offered information about climate risks had lower capital costs. Investors can also make more informed decisions about an organization’s risk profile with those details.
2. Increased Reliance on Artificial Intelligence
Could artificial intelligence help you develop a business continuity plan? Numerous potential applications exist. Your company may have an AI-based tool that can use historical data to predict the likelihood of future operational disruptions. Alternatively, use generative AI prompts to brainstorm potential threats or create a plan outline.
Another possibility is using AI to bounce back faster once something interrupts your normal business operations. One study of small and medium-sized London businesses highlighted why that avenue may be worthwhile. It found that risks linked to the COVID-19 pandemic were 3.1% lower when those companies used AI apps.
The researchers identified 10 specific ways the enterprises applied AI to reduce threats. They ranged from using the technology for predictions to relying on it to find fake reviews.
Another interesting detail was that 26% of small businesses used AI tools, as did more than 70% of medium-sized companies. However, the researchers clarified that risk reduction benefits persisted regardless of an enterprise’s size, founding date or turnover.
3. Supplemented Resources Through Equipment Rentals
The industrial equipment needed to prevent or recover from emergencies can come with high upfront costs. That reality may initially discourage you from analyzing your asset-related gaps while making a business continuity plan.
However, a more practical and increasingly accessible alternative is to partner with service providers that can use their resource networks to source temporary rentals promptly. Those are typically much more cost-effective during urgent situations, enabling your company to efficiently get the required resources at affordable prices.
For example, a power outage occurred at a Florida automotive plant due to a transformer failure. The client initially requested a generator from an equipment service provider. However, a closer investigation from a partner organization revealed a temporary transformer would more sustainably and cost-effectively address the situation.
The service provider and its partner sourced and installed one, along with nearly 300 combined feet of two cables necessary for its operation. That quick, collaborative action reduced the overall disruption to the affected location.
Now is an excellent time to identify and begin relationships with local service providers. Speak to representatives about your needs, and mention that you would like to include the company’s expertise and resources in your business continuity plan.
4. Expanded Work-From-Home Frameworks
Many executives have recently realized that increasing work-from-home opportunities for team members can result in more resilient businesses.
A university business professor and his team analyzed aggregated job listing data to determine companies’ labor demands and how easily businesses could pivot their operations to occur entirely remotely if needed. The initial results concerned entities that displayed that agility during the COVID-19 pandemic. They showed how remote-ready, publicly traded companies performed better during unexpected circumstances, confirmed by several metrics.
The researchers also expanded their scope to compare the effects of natural disasters and extreme weather on companies that could shift to remote operations versus those that could not. Those outcomes confirmed that a company’s ability to function remotely when needed was universally beneficial, regardless of the event affecting it. However, organizations saw better results when their leaders provided the necessities for online working during productive times rather than crises.
Think about how effectively your business could allow people in some or all roles to work online. Which gaps prevent such arrangements from happening soon? Examine how you could tackle them now to improve the likelihood that your workforce could eventually work remotely and stay productive.
Assess Your Business Continuity Plan
The transition from 2024 into 2025 gives you a compelling reason to reflect on what went well this year and what you want to improve during the next. Your business continuity plan is only part of that process, but treat it as a crucial aspect. Enhancing your preparedness now is one of the most effective ways to prevent severe ramifications later.
