ISO 22316 - Organizational Resilience

Continuity, Resilience & Recovery

ISO 22316:2017 provides guidance to enhance Organizational Resilience for any size or type of organization. It is not specific to any industry or sector and can be applied throughout the life of an organization.

This ISO Standard does not promote uniformity in approach across all organizations, as specific objectives and initiatives are tailored to suit an individual organization's needs.

ISO 22316:2017 defines organizational resilience as ‘the ability of an organization to absorb and adapt in a changing environment’; and states that an organization to deliver its objectives and to survive and prosper. ‘More resilient organizations can anticipate and respond to threats and opportunities, arising from sudden or gradual changes in their internal and external context’ says the standard.

Organizational resilience ‘is the outcome of good business practice and effectively managing risk’ according to ISO 22316 and an organization’s resilience:

• Is enhanced when behaviour is aligned with a shared vision and purpose;
• Relies upon an up-to-date understanding of an organization’s context;
• Relies upon an ability to absorb, adapt and effectively respond to change;
• Relies upon good governance and management;
• Is supported by a diversity of skills, leadership, knowledge and experience;
• Is enhanced by coordination across management disciplines and contributions from technical and scientific areas of expertise;
• Relies upon effectively managing risk.

Key sections of ISO 22316:2017 are:

• Principles: the foundation upon which a framework and strategy can be developed, implemented and evaluated;
• Attributes for organizational resilience: what a resilience organization will have in place;
• Evaluating the factors that contribute to resilience: the intelligence and management information that will be needed to assess and measure resilience.