---
title: "[BCM] [SAESL] [E1] [C4] Chapter 4: Establishing BCM Objectives for Singapore Aero Engine Services Private Limited"
description: How SAESL can turn its BCM goals into measurable ISO 22301 objectives, with owners, targets and compliance checks that reflect CAAS and Singapore requirements.
---

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# [\[BCM\] \[SAESL\] \[E1\] \[C4\] Chapter 4: Establishing BCM Objectives for Singapore Aero Engine Services Private Limited](https://blog.bcm-institute.org/bcm-v2/bcm-saesl-e1-c4-chapter-4-establishing-bcm-objectives-for-singapore-aero-engine-services-private-limited)

 Written by [Moh Heng Goh](https://blog.bcm-institute.org/bcm-v2/author/moh-heng-goh) | Nov 14, 2026, 5:26:19 AM

## Introduction

Goals tell Singapore Aero Engine Services Private Limited (SAESL) where its business continuity programme is heading. Objectives tell it how far it has travelled. Chapter 3 proposed six organisational goals for business continuity management (BCM), from "people first" to "continual improvement". On their own, those goals cannot be tracked, resourced or audited. They need to be turned into specific commitments, each with an owner, a deadline, and a way to show that it has been met.

ISO 22301 makes this a formal requirement. Clause 6.2 asks the organisation to set business continuity objectives and to plan how it will achieve them. This chapter explains what the standard expects, how SAESL can write objectives that are genuinely measurable, how they should reflect Singapore's regulatory setting, and how to keep them on track once they are set.

## What ISO 22301 Requires

Clause 6.2.1 sets out the qualities every business continuity objective must have. Paraphrased, objectives must be consistent with the business continuity policy, measurable where practicable, take account of applicable requirements, be monitored, communicated and updated as needed, and be documented.

Clause 6.2.2 then asks the organisation to decide, for each objective, five things:

1. What will be done
2. What resources will be needed
3. Who will be responsible
4. When it will be completed
5. How the results will be evaluated

These five questions turn an aspiration into a plan. An auditor assessing SAESL's business continuity management system (BCMS) will expect to see each one answered for every objective.

## Two Kinds of Objective

It helps to separate two kinds of objective that are often confused.

**Programme objectives** describe what the BCM programme itself will achieve: completing a business impact analysis (BIA), approving plans, training staff or running exercises. SAESL can set these now, at the start of the programme.

**Recovery objectives** describe how quickly and to what level activities must be restored after a disruption. They include the recovery time objective (RTO), the minimum business continuity objective (MBCO) and, for data, the recovery point objective (RPO). These cannot be set responsibly until the BIA in Chapter 10 has measured the impact of disruption over time.

A common mistake is to fix recovery targets early, based on intuition. For example, SAESL might assume that engine testing must resume within a few days. The BIA may show that customers can tolerate a longer pause if they are kept informed and the work-in-progress is protected, or it may show the opposite. Separating the two kinds of objective avoids committing resources before the evidence is in.

## Considering Singapore's Expectations

SAESL's objectives must reflect the requirements that apply to it in Singapore. Three influences stand out.

### Airworthiness regulation

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) approves SAESL as a maintenance organisation under Singapore Airworthiness Requirements Part 145 (SAR-145). The 12 other authorities that approve SAESL impose their own conditions. No continuity objective can be met by relaxing these conditions. Every objective that touches maintenance work, records or certification should therefore include a compliance check as part of how its results are evaluated.

### The national BCM standard

Singapore adopted ISO 22301 as its national standard after withdrawing SS 540 in 2014. SAESL can use this alignment to frame its objectives in internationally recognised terms, which helps when reporting to customers and shareholders in other countries.

### Workplace safety and data protection

Singapore's workplace safety laws and the Personal Data Protection Act place duties on SAESL that continue during a disruption. Objectives for emergency response, staff accounting and information recovery should reflect these duties.

## Writing SMART Objectives for SAESL

The SMART test (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) is a practical way to meet clause 6.2. The difference between a weak and a strong objective is easy to see in an example.

- **Weak:** "Improve the resilience of engine testing."
- **Strong:** "By the end of the first programme year, complete and document a business continuity strategy for engine testing, approved by the BCM steering committee and validated against SAESL's CAAS approval conditions."

The strong version names the activity, the output, the approver, the deadline and the compliance test. Anyone reviewing it later can say clearly whether it was achieved.

## Illustrative Objectives by Goal

The objectives below show how each of the six goals from Chapter 3 might be broken down. All dates and targets are illustrative and should be confirmed by SAESL's leadership.

- **People first:** run an evacuation and staff accounting drill at every SAESL facility each year, with all staff accounted for within an agreed time.
- **Uncompromised airworthiness:** before any continuity strategy is approved, have the quality function confirm in writing that it meets all approving authorities' requirements.
- **Protected turnaround:** within the first programme year, agree with key airline customers the delay they can tolerate for each work scope, from hospital visits to full refurbishment.
- **Critical capability preserved:** complete a BIA for engine overhaul, the engine test facility and each of the five Centres of Excellence within the first programme year.
- **Trusted communication:** issue the first notification to affected customers within an agreed time in every exercise, and record the time taken.
- **Continual improvement:** run at least one exercise per service line each year and present the results at the management review.

## Assigning Ownership and Resources

An objective without an owner rarely gets done. Each objective should have one accountable owner, normally a senior manager, even where many people contribute. For SAESL, the head of engine overhaul might own the objective covering overhaul continuity, while the quality manager owns the airworthiness compliance check.

Resources should be estimated honestly. The BIA, for example, requires time from department heads and subject matter experts in every service line. If SAESL's workload is high, as it often is in a busy MRO shop, the programme timetable should allow for this rather than assume people are free.

## Recording Objectives

Clause 6.2.1 requires objectives to be documented. A simple objectives register works well. For each objective it records the linked goal, the description, the measure, the owner, the resources needed, the target date and the current status. The BCM coordinator maintains the register and updates it monthly.

Keeping the register in one place also helps SAESL show auditors and customers that its BCMS is managed systematically rather than through scattered emails and spreadsheets.

## Monitoring and Reporting Progress

Objectives must be monitored (clause 6.2.1) and their results evaluated (clause 9.1). A short monthly status report to the BCM steering committee, using a simple red-amber-green rating, keeps attention on objectives at risk of slipping. The full register is then reviewed at the annual management review required by clause 9.3.

When circumstances change, objectives should change too. If SAESL adds a new engine programme, opens a new facility or changes a major supplier, the BCM coordinator should check whether existing objectives still cover the right activities.

## Summary Table

**Table 4: Establishing BCM Objectives for Singapore Aero Engine Services Private Limited**

| **Goal** | **Illustrative objective** | **Measure** | **Suggested owner** | **Target (illustrative)** |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **People first** | **Annual evacuation and staff accounting drill at each facility** | **All staff accounted for within agreed time** | **Head of safety** | **Every year** |
| **Uncompromised airworthiness** | **Compliance check of every continuity strategy** | **Written sign-off by quality function** | **Quality manager** | **Before each strategy is approved** |
| **Protected turnaround** | **Agree tolerable delays with key customers** | **Documented limits per work scope** | **Head of customer support** | **End of programme year 1** |
| **Critical capability preserved** | **BIA for overhaul, testing and Centres of Excellence** | **BIA reports approved** | **BCM coordinator** | **End of programme year 1** |
| **Trusted communication** | **Timely first customer notification** | **Time to notify, measured in exercises** | **Head of communications** | **Each exercise** |
| **Continual improvement** | **Exercise each service line** | **Exercises completed and reviewed** | **BCM coordinator** | **Every year** |

## Conclusion

Clear objectives turn SAESL's BCM goals into work that can be planned, resourced and checked. By separating programme objectives from recovery objectives, applying the SMART test, building in airworthiness compliance checks and keeping a single objectives register, SAESL can meet clause 6.2 of ISO 22301 and give its leadership a reliable view of progress.

Objectives, however, depend on assumptions about the conditions SAESL will face in a disruption. Making those assumptions explicit is the subject of the next chapter.

**Continue reading:** Chapter 5, *Determining BCM Assumptions for Singapore Aero Engine Services Private Limited*, shows how to record and test the premises that SAESL's continuity planning rests on.

 

| Building Resilient Operations: Implementing Business Continuity Management at SAESL |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **eBook 1: Understanding Your Organisation** |  |  |  |  |  |
| **C1** | **C2** | **C3** | **C4** | **C5** | **C6** |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |
| **C7** | **C8** | **C9** | **C10** | **C11** | **C12** |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |

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