The “Two Reasons Risk Management Programmes Fail!”
Most risk management programmes fail because people do not engage in the process of understanding what drives a risk management programme’s results.
There are two vital, but simple things that determine whether a Risk Management Programmes succeeds or fails. Do these two things poorly, and you will find yourself involved in an under-performing Risk Management Programme… do these two things well, and you will find yourself wondering why you didn’t do this a whole lot sooner!
Make sure you completely understand this next bit – because it is extremely important! …
In order to have a fantastic, culture-changing, successful Risk Management Programme you need to understand:
1. The importance of engaging your Managers’ and staff’s thinking about risk, and
2. The power of survey-guided feedback in starting an organisation risk management improvement programme that makes a difference!
I cannot emphasise this enough! If you do not engage people in your organisation in a process of thinking about risk, you are going to have a very hard time generating any substantial level of success with your risk management programme.
How do you ensure that the people in your organisation are understanding what needs to be done to improve risk processes and practices?
The answer to this question is not easy. There is no ‘one size fits all’. Every risk management programme is different, just as every business is different. But, I will give you some examples of options that can be used to focus on improvements to those parts of the organisation that need it.
· Ideally, the whole organisation down to ‘team-leader’ level will be surveyed to ‘connect all the dots’ from a top-down and a bottom-up perspective. The leadership team has the opportunity in the debriefing of the survey results at the top level to determine risk management priorities and themes. These then provide a framework for problem-solving and improvement at other levels in the organisation.
· Parts of the organisation may require an ISO 31000 Rx intervention. In such instances, the reasons for only focusing on these parts of the organisation need to be clearly understood and communicated (e.g. particular risk areas have been identified and these need to be dealt with first, or a successful trial of one or two departments / divisions allows for better buy-in later from those who want to be convinced of the results)
· Two areas may be identified for a trial implementation. One part of the organisation may have a risk management ‘champion’ (someone who ‘walks the talk’ in business implementations), another, a manager who only pays lip-service to risk management issues. A trial may provide the opportunity to engage both the champion risk manager and the more reluctant risk manager.
The bottom line is
· … the best way to address the risk management culture, processes and practices in your organisation is to start with the risk management thinking
· Engaging your people in the survey-guided feedback and problem-solving processes following the survey, builds engagement and a commitment to integrate the new risk management awareness with business issues on a daily, weekly and longer-term basis
· Implementing ISO 3100 Rx can be simplified with the help of someone who is able to provide professional advice and assistance
80-20 Options NZ Ltd can help you to start the process of changing and improving your organisation’s risk management culture, processes and practices.
