Strengthening private company risk resilience

We complete our enterprise risk management (ERM) series with the importance of strengthening risk resilience. For private companies, “resiliency” is more of a mindset than a topic or process. With the right guidance, business resiliency can reach a point where it’s embedded in all enterprise operations. And longer-term, it can build confidence for handling the next evolution of risks—no matter what they may be.

What does it mean to be resilient? One common definition is “to be able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.” For most, it helps to frame resilience as a question planned ahead of time, along the lines of, “What are we going to do if…?” This is the way the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) tends to think about it. The agency launches equipment worth billions of dollars into the depths of space, but never without a complex network of sensors to detect if something is wrong, along with a contingency plan for every error code.

While their stakes may not be quite as high, private companies and family enterprises also have to grapple with a range of "what ifs" every day. Being resilient in the context of running a successful enterprise means not only having a playbook for threats that could impact the business, but also cultivating a culture of resilience so that every meaningful decision is viewed through this lens. This is ultimately the goal of any successful ERM program—to help organizations build the capacity for agility, adaptation, learning, and regeneration to ensure they’re able to deal with more severe events in the future.

Round out your ERM knowledge by checking out the key takeaways below or downloading our full article to learn more.

Thanks for following along

We hope you’ve found this series on enterprise risk management a helpful conversation starter to begin making or advancing improvements within your private or family-owned enterprise. Every organization has room to improve in ERM—especially at a time when threats continue to expand in shape and form. Deloitte Private stands ready to help you and your business boost the reach and effectiveness of your risk monitoring, plan for the possibility of those risks surfacing, and build your organization’s capabilities to not only recover, but thrive.