Post by Howden Insurance Brokers Australia

We recently held our first Howden Home Straight Business Breakfast, hosted in the iconic VRC Committee Room at Flemington. Howden clients and partners came together to discuss how their organisations can take a proactive, risk-led approach in building operational resilience. We explored the different strategies that can be employed to prepare, manage and protect businesses in a constantly evolving environment, especially in the early stages of a prolonged disruption. We found that: • Most organisations plan for recovery – but few plan for prolonged disruption • Disruption is no longer driven by single events - it’s the convergence of interconnected failures across increasingly fragile systems • The challenge is finding the right balance between operational efficiency and the resilience needed to thrive The key take-aways included: • Steer clear of operating in silos - shared dependencies are critical operational chokepoints - BCPs must be designed for simultaneous operational disruption • Rethink the balance between efficiency and resilience - review the assumptions underpinning operating models • Effective decision-making during a crisis is a core organisational competency – how can this be strengthened during disruption? Thank you to the Victoria Racing Club for hosting the breakfast, which included a fascinating visit to the stables at Flemington to see how elite trainers manage unpredictability in their day-to-day operations.