Designing the ready-for-anything business  

1.     Boosting reserves and readiness

•  33% of business leaders say they’re saving cash to build flexibility and mitigate future disruptions.
• Think about: Black swan events, like the pandemic, may not be predictable but they are inevitable. Make sure you’re thinking proactively about access to liquidity and cash flow, should a disaster temporarily turn off the taps.

2.     Knowing your cyber enemies

• #1 cybersecurity concern in the year ahead: Malware/ransomware.
•  Employee education and training (27%) and deploying technology (25%) were the two most popular cybersecurity actions taken in 2020.  
• Think about: Your workforce is your greatest defense against cyberattacks. Invest in “peopleware” as much as software. One easy, engaging way to get started is by teaching employees how to spot malware and phishing emails.   

3.     Drawing up contingency plans for the unknowable

• 25% of business leaders plan to identify their businesses’ potential threats and document what they will need to get ahead of them this year.  
• Think about: Break potential threats into categories like natural disasters, human-made, and technological. Then go for volume. Ask employees where they see risks coming from, and prioritize threat responses based on probability. 

4.     Bringing employees back to the office — or not

• 56% of business leaders are considering flexible work-from-home arrangements post-pandemic. 
• 78% of companies have had at least some employees working from home since the start of the pandemic.
• Think about: Whether you’re planning to bring employees back in shifts or all at once, the ability to adopt remote systems without suffering operationally is crucial for weathering whatever the world throws at your business. 

Explore the Chase 2021 Business Leaders Outlook survey

This survey was conducted by Chase Insights from November 11 to 16, 2020, among 1,014 business leaders across professional services, retail, technology, health care and other key industries. The results of this online survey are within statistical parameters for validity, and the error rate is plus or minus 2.5% for the findings at a 95% confidence level.