Agility & Adaptability (2021 survey themed report)

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Businesses have shown incredible resilience in adapting to the coronavirus pandemic, with many coming up with inventive ways to stay afloat. Covid was an unprecedented shock to the global economy in 2020/21, but uncertainty isn’t new. Before the pandemic, we were already in the middle of a period of heightened uncertainty and the issues that were driving it have not gone away. We’ve just been driven by something more prolific.

If there is one positive to be had from Covid, it is that Airmic members now consider their organisations to be more agile and adaptable than they were before. This is important as planning and executing in uncertainty is no longer the exception, and operating flexible and adaptable business models is critical to success.

The risk management profession has been under immense pressure in recent times and has responded admirably as the impact of change after change has been laid at its door.

Whether it is the lasting impacts of Covid, the impacts of Brexit, wider geopolitical uncertainty or the responses to climate change, there will continue to be uncertainties that businesses need to consider as we chart the path out of the pandemic. Preparing for shocks is no longer just the preserve of risk managers, but instead needs to be part of board-level debate, with the time spent discussing risks and mitigation strategies commensurate with the potential impact of that risk.