Press Release
BCI Crisis Management Report 2023
New report shows organizations are battling the complex crisis management landscape with confidence
- Confidence levels in the abilities of the crisis management function remain high, despite facing complex challenges.
- Siloing of information is still all too common: staff are unaware of crisis plans in a third of organizations, increasing the chance of confusion in a crisis event.
- More organizations are centralising their approach to crisis management.
- Crisis management approaches have developed as a result of lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reading (UK) / Munich, 17 October 2023
The BCI has launched its Crisis Management Report 2023, which examines the current status of crisis management capabilities within organizations, as well as the structure of this function and its relationship with other key disciplines in the resilience field. Sponsored by F24, the report uses survey responses and structured interviews with senior resilience professionals to provide an in-depth analysis of this critical area.
The report highlights the complexity of challenges facing organizations in the crisis management field, but reveals proactivity, adaptability, and better use of technology are enabling crisis teams to activate more effective and timely responses.
Nearly two thirds (61.1%) of respondents consider their crisis management function to be excellent (19.5%) or good (41.6%). However, regional data reveals a more mixed picture: while 81.9% of respondents from the Middle East had confidence in their crisis management processes, only 39.1% of those in North America shared this sentiment.
A key challenge identified by the BCI Crisis Management Report 2023 was that of organizational silos. In around a third of organizations (28.9%), employees outside the confines of the resilience and senior management teams are unaware of crisis plans and their contents. This was seen to be the main issue of concern in 2023; and one which has grown substantially since the same report in 2021, where only 19.8% of respondents expressed concern about this area.
Who leads crisis management?
The board or senior management team now takes the lead during crises in nearly three-quarters (74.4%) of organizations as well as being actively involved in the development of crisis plans.
Senior management’s involvement in crisis programmes and activities helps to ensure organizational support and engagement from all employees. Where this is not the case, the crisis team may lack the authority to make quick decisions, confusion with roles may appear, and the organization’s crisis management strategy might not be cascaded through the organization.
As well as being led by senior figures, crisis management is a centralised function in many organizations. 80% of practitioners report some degree of centralisation within their crisis management processes, which helps to provide a better managed and coherent approach. However the most effective crisis responses seem to come from organizations who take a hybrid approach, offering a degree of regional autonomy where required, in addition to centralised management.
Lessons learnt from COVID-19
The report has also shone a light on the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic on crisis management. Among the main lessons learned from the response to the pandemic, respondents noted that having an element of adaptability with crisis plans is significant, as this allows plans to be quickly modified to suit the requirements of any event. In addition organizational reviews of communications systems, subsequent improvements in related protocols, and investments in new tools and resources have all brought improvements.
Rachael Elliott, Responsable Thought Leadership au BCI :
“Although COVID-19 is still very much with us, it is encouraging to see organizations are already adapting their plans and processes as a result of learnings made. As the crisis landscape becomes more complex, organizations are being more proactive in their approach, adopting flexibility within the team and exploiting technology to collaborate, analyse, and react more effectively in a crisis situation. With management now taking more of a leading role within crisis management, we look forward to seeing crisis management capabilities improve even more over time.”
Benjamin Jansen, Senior Vice-président des ventes ENS/CIM chez F24, témoigne sur le rapport 2023 :
“For a growing number of organizations, crisis situations are no longer the exception but the rule. And businesses are recognizing the need for cultivating resilience, to effectively address any situation across all levels in this age of permacrisis. It is especially encouraging to see that a large share of companies are very willing to invest in technology, training and exercising for the next five years”.
Press contact:
F24
Dr. Stefanie Hauer
Senior Vice President Marketing & Communication
presse@f24.com
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About the BCI
Founded in 1994 with the aim of promoting a more resilient world, the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) has established itself as the world’s leading Institute for business continuity and resilience. The BCI has become the membership and certifying organization of choice for business continuity and resilience professionals globally with over 9,000 members in more than 100 countries, working in an estimated 3,000 organizations in the private, public and third sectors.
The vast experience of the Institute’s broad membership and partner network is built into its world class education, continuing professional development and networking activities. Every year, more than 1,500 people choose BCI training, with options ranging from short awareness raising tools to a full academic qualification, available online and in a classroom. The Institute stands for excellence in the business continuity and resilience profession and its globally recognised certified grades provide assurance of technical and professional competency. The BCI offers a wide range of resources for professionals seeking to raise their organization’s level of resilience, and its extensive thought leadership and research programme helps drive the industry forward. With approximately 120 Partners worldwide, the BCI Partnership offers organizations the opportunity to work with the BCI in promoting best practice in business continuity and resilience.
About F24
F24 is Europe’s leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider for resilience. More than 5,500 customers worldwide rely on F24’s digital solutions, which support companies and organisations through all areas of resilience. Solutions cover business messaging and service notification, emergency and mass notification, incident and crisis management, as well as governance, risk and compliance.
F24 supports customers in virtually every sector ranging from energy, healthcare, industry, finance, IT, tourism and aviation to a wide variety of public organisations. Many years of international experience have made F24 experts in improving resilience with digital solutions.