Crisis Preparedness & Resilience-by-Design are Strategic Priorities for India's CROs: Deloitte & IRM

Deloitte and India affiliate of Institute of Risk Management (IRM India) highlighted an emergent need for an integration between ‘Crisis and Resilience Management, and Risk Management practices’ as an area of priority for risk preparedness in Indian organisations.

This outcome is part of the 2nd edition of ‘The CRO Circle’―India’s unique community of chief risk officers (CROs) across industries, that deliberate on critical business issues, and collaborate with an objective to bring newer avenues of business outcomes.

The criticality of being resilient and crisis preparedness was evident in a recent global survey report published by Deloitte. As high as 70 percent CXOs surveyed in India do not see 2020 as a rare event and believe they are likely to see occasional, or regular, disruptions of this scale going forward. The report confirms that organisations that plan and invest in anticipation of disruptions, either as a result of an isolated cyber-attack, a full-blown health pandemic or due to the impact of climate change are better positioned to respond, recover, and thrive.

Speaking about the initiative, Rohit Mahajan, President, Risk Advisory, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP opines saying, “Today’s environment is not just of heightened risk, but also of prolonged uncertainty. COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call against the downside of maintaining the status quo of managing risks one by one, department by department.

Integrating business-as-usual risk management with crisis management and focus on building ‘resilience-by-design’ in businesses can help enable agility in the face of an uncertain future. As India Inc. battles the complexities to thrive, risk management becomes paramount more than ever and resilient organisations with flexible, adaptable, tech savvy, and innovative mindsets that cultivate risk intelligent cultures, will be better positioned to overcome disruptions and succeed in the times to come.”

Commenting on the second session of The CRO Circle, Hersh Shah, CEO, IRM India said, “The events of the past year have highlighted the necessity of a robust risk management structure across the government and corporate sector. As we move towards a post-COVID economy, the focus must shift towards strengthening India Inc., and building resilience and growth through strategic risk management. As a globally recognised body driving excellence in Enterprise Rist Management (ERM) qualifications across 143 countries, we have seen rising recognition of risk management in corporate India, especially in the rapidly-evolving post-COVID economy. Through this partnership with Deloitte, the leading risk advisory in India, we hope to leverage the experience and expertise of the CRO community in India in promoting the best practices in risk management beyond risk compliance. Through The CRO Circle, we have the opportunity here to build a strong foundation of a resurgent economy, one that is based on strategic risk practices with due vigilance of emerging risks, and tailored to meet the unique challenges of the Indian economy.”

Disruptions in technology have been impacting people, process, and policies during the pandemic, putting the spotlight on CROs and their responsibilities. The leaders are now accountable for imbibing a risk culture that thrives through adversities.