[OR] [P3-S3] Implement Training and Awareness in Operational Resilience?

What are Training and Awareness?

Operational Resilience is not a new topic. However, taking a business service-led approach to resilience will be new for many organisations.  This necessitates changing how they think about their business architecture and the outcomes they deliver to their consumers.

Organisations need to develop an operational resilience strategy and framework which utilises existing capabilities and is approved by the board where applicable, aimed at removing organisational silos, promoting cross-functional responsibility and a culture of resilience practices within the organisation's fabric.

Training and Awareness

The evolution to operational resilience requires communications, collaboration and knowledge sharing that transverses and integrates multiple corporate activities. Operational resilience training activities and awareness must evolve.

Who should be trained?

A high-level view of operational resilience of who should be trained.  The figure depicts the corporate functions most likely to interact in achieving operational resilience.  Besides the business units, the teams include:

• Risk Management
• Fraud Management
• Business Continuity
• IT Disaster Recovery
• Crisis Management
• Incident Management
• Emergency Management
• Security
• Facility
• Health and Safety
• IT
• Communication
• Data
• Cybersecurity
• Human Resource
• Financial Management

A well-rounded operational resilience training program should kick off with awareness activities. It is vital to raise awareness, especially on the operational resilience effort.  These are the significant steps to create and sustain awareness of operational resilience efforts:

Develop a Training and Awareness Plan

• Conduct a study to analyse the current level of operational resilience awareness.  
• Use this analysis to develop a project plan to increase awareness within the organization.

Collaborate with Human Resources (HR)

• Create documented policies and procedures for operational resilience training and awareness for internal reference.
• Collaborate with HR and corporate training departments to develop these policies and procedures and set up a schedule of awareness activities.

Involved Board and Senior Management

• Invite board and senior management members to participate in related meetings and ensure they endorse awareness activities.
• Schedule periodic briefings with business unit leaders and senior management on the operational resilience program.

Inform Employees of all Levels

The reach out to employees is the most important and challenging as it is the majority of the organisation's staff members.  These are the tasks to raise awareness levels.  

• Gather employee input on resilience efforts in various areas of the organization.
• Use these comments for outreach messages.
• Use internal email, a company intranet or social media platform to send periodic messages on the operational resilience program and ongoing training activities.
• Schedule periodic briefings and Q&A sessions on the operational resilience program with employees.
• Consider running surveys to gather comments and suggestions from employees not directly involved in the operational resilience program.
• Keep communications on operational resilience brief yet informative.

Additional Explanatory Note 

	Definition	Explanation	Definition
	Training	is a planned and organized activity to impart operational resilience skills, techniques and methodologies to all staff to assist them in establishing and maintaining their respective OR programs.
	Awareness	aim to focus attention and create an understanding of fundamental operational resilience concerns. It is knowing or having knowledge of something through alertness or observing or interpolating what with the primary senses.
	Training and Awareness	focus on how an organization plans, identifies needs, conducts and improves training and awareness to ensure the organization’s operational resilience requirements and goals are known and used.
	Training Vs Awareness	View the write-up on "Training Versus Awareness: What is the difference?"
	Education	is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge on operational resilience, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally preparing oneself or others intellectually as a professional in this field.

"Sustain" Phase of the OR Planning Methodology

Introduce Culture Change	Develop Communication Strategy	Implement Training and Awareness	Provide Self-assessment	Conduct Independent Quality Review

To learn more about the course and schedule, click the buttons below for the OR-3 Blended Learning OR-300 Operational Resilience Implementer course and the OR-5 Blended Learning OR-5000 Operational Resilience Expert Implementer course.

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