Conclusion

The lessons identified in this note are:

1. We were not adequately prepared for the pandemic 2. Organisations with effective crisis management plans in place are better placed to survive 3. Effective leadership and communication are critical to successfully managing a crisis 4. COVID-19 has driven changes in traditional employee management and work practices 5. Few organisations considered how to manage infection risks within the workplace 6. Digital transformations have played a key role in successfully managing the pandemic 7. Dealing with the pandemic has created new risks and may have increased existing risks 8. There will be other pandemics in the future. Lessons 1 and 8 are perhaps the most important to appreciate. We were not ready for this pandemic and there will be others. It is absolutely critical that organisations prepare for the next pandemic and equally for other high impact low probability risks and whatever ‘Black Swans’ that may be on their way. Organisations need to review their risk management and business continuity planning systems and processes, and aim to develop an holistic approach to improving organisational resilience. This is already in progress in the financial and insurance sectors where the regulatory pressures are driving for operational resilience to be placed on a par with financial resilience. Surveys indicated that the discussions of operational resilience prior to the pandemic were instrumental in helping that sector in successfully managing it so far. It is hardly surprising that having good crisis management plans in place, and exercising effective leadership and communications with stakeholders were found to help organisations manage the crisis. The future challenge is to make sure that those plans and processes will specifically address pandemic risks. It seems likely that the work environment has changed forever for many employees and companies. The transition has been rapid and enabled by digital transformations. The rapidity of the transition may have resulted in inadequate risk assessments being made and, in many cases, the long-term risks may not be fully understood.

As the pandemic subsides and as part of the planning for the next one it is important that the appropriate risk assessments are made and adjustments made where required. The pandemic is not yet over and work will continue in establishing some form of new normality which will include planning for future shocks. It is clear from these that the risk community needs to improve preparedness. Lessons learned 2 through 7 identify key aspects that businesses should address in preparing for future pandemics and will form the basis for support documentation development by the Group.