Any crisis comes with costs – economic costs, social costs, psychological costs – and long-term implications for your business’ bottom line, reputation, and team morale.
No industry is immune to the threat of a crisis. Some sectors, including finance, face heightened risks due to the uncertainty and unpredictability of external factors such as the state of the economy, the mood of the markets, and the capriciousness of global politics. These beget liquidity strains, increased regulatory or compliance costs, credit losses, internal mismanagement and bad investments, all of which add to the cost of a tarnished reputation and have the potential to compound each other.
I recently had the pleasure of addressing the critical need for finance professionals to engage in crisis preparation at the Association for Finance Professionals Annual Meeting. Joined by an amazing co-presenter, Tralynna Scott, Chief Economist of Cherokee Nation Businesses, we shared war stories, cautionary tales, and tips for shoring up crisis plans.
Crisis planning is essential for finance executives to navigate uncertainty, maintain financial stability, protect stakeholder interests, and ensure that the organization can adapt and thrive, even in the face of disruption.
Here are a few key actions we shared at the AFP conference that the audience – and you – can immediately implement:
- Look ahead and plan for impacts of compounding crises including the financial ones.
- Know what you’d do if you were to face a sudden budget shortfall before it happens.
- Stay on the up and up – don’t throw compliance out the window because there’s a crisis.
- Develop internal controls and plans to protect critical systems for times when no one is physically present.
- Understand what your insurance does and doesn’t cover and supplement as necessary.
To help guide your business in making the initial steps towards being crisis ready, we’ve put together a (free) worksheet that will help you understand what’s most important to your business and its reputation, and will help you start to think about how you can best be ready to protect what you value most.
Remember, you don’t have to go it alone. Kith’s team of experts can assist your efforts to prepare your team for managing and responding to crises, from strategic planning to risk identification to stakeholder analysis to workshops and crisis simulations.
Kith facilitates crisis preparedness workshops that will help your company attain the clarity, trust, and speed you need to respond confidently – no dithering! – to any crisis. We’d be happy to have a conversation about how we can help your company be ready to chart an effective course to reputation protection.
