Grant Thornton’s Enterprise Resilience survey — which gathered insights from more than 550 cross-functional senior executives across industries — revealed a clear link between resilience and efficiency.
According to the survey results, organizations that build resilience don’t just avoid disruption; they run more efficiently, innovate faster and deliver stronger profits. Among highly efficient organizations, 71% rate their resilience as above average — nearly twice the rate of less-efficient peers (36%). The payoff is clear: resilience isn’t overhead, it’s a competitive edge.
“You have to be well-informed as a management team on where disruption can occur and what your optionality is to address that disruption,” Jonathan Eaton, a partner in the business consulting practice for Grant Thornton Advisors, said. “Efficient, profitable companies treat business continuity as discipline, not paperwork. They plan and act to mitigate risks.”
Workforce Resilience Strengthens Agility
Despite its clear benefits for efficiency and agility, workforce resilience remains a low priority for many organizations.
Only 58% of survey respondents report having formal workforce resilience programs in place, such as cross-training and well-being initiatives. Alarmingly, one in five organizations only address workforce resilience reactively, when faced with turnover or burnout.
However, the contrast is stark when comparing performance tiers: 66% of high-efficiency companies actively run formal workforce resilience programs to boost adaptability and employee well-being, while just 30% of low-efficiency firms offer similar initiatives.
“The speed of technology adoption and AI implementation makes training and workforce resilience programs even more urgent,” Joe Ranzau, a partner in the business consulting practice for Grant Thornton Advisors, said. “In addition to teaching employees to use specific technologies, organizations need to train for a broader resilience skill set that will enable them to evolve with technology changes in general. People need to be prepared to explore new technology and to question technology outputs if they’re going to be the human in the loop.”
Ranzau added, “When you invest in workforce resilience, you upskill people and retain them because they feel supported through disruption and see a chance to advance within the organization which improves performance and lowers costs in the long run.”
Cut Costs Without Weakening Resilience
When reducing costs, leaders must be careful not to compromise their safety net.
According to the survey data, 69% of high-efficiency firms consistently build redundancy and flexibility into their cost-cutting strategies, ensuring resilience during lean periods. In contrast, only 26% of low-efficiency firms take similar precautions when implementing cost-saving measures.
“Cutting costs without protecting backups risks bigger losses later,” Leslie Watson-Stracener, a partner in the risk advisory practice for Grant Thornton Advisors, said. “True efficiency removes waste but preserves resilience.”
While cost reduction is a key driver of automation investments amid rising technology spending, leaders risk undermining resilience if they cut too deeply. Protecting “resilience buffers” — such as cross-trained teams, vendor diversification, inventory safety stock and cyber response capabilities — is essential to maintaining stability under stress.
Eliminating these safeguards may boost short-term margins but increases the risk of failure, earnings volatility and reputational damage. The discipline lies in trimming true inefficiencies while preserving the core capabilities that ensure long-term agility and strength.
Treat Compliance as a Strategic Priority
In today’s rapidly changing regulatory landscape, leading organizations are redefining compliance as a catalyst for strategic growth. This is evident in the survey results, which found 67% of high-efficiency organizations treat compliance as a strategic priority, embedding it into leadership decisions, planning and governance frameworks.
At the same time, just 38% of low-efficiency organizations integrate compliance into their strategic leadership and governance processes.
What’s more, 27% of low-efficiency organizations handle compliance in ad hoc fashion, while just 8% of their high-efficiency peers do the same. Companies that take a proactive approach to compliance have an advantage over their peers that react to rules and regulations only after they are released.
“Compliance and risk management teams increasingly have a seat at the table from the beginning,” Watson-Stracener said. “They don’t want to be handing out parking tickets; they provide more value as strategic partners.”
Eaton added, “You want your risk management leaders involved so you can identify potential pitfalls, understand where you should examine your risks along the way and decide proactively how to lead the response that best serves the organization, its customers and ultimately the shareholders.”
