Demand for ERM Continues to Grow

More companies are beginning to realize the value of Enterprise Risk Management ("ERM") as a discipline that can propel a business forward rather than hold it back. In the recent past, many ERM programs focused primarily on revisiting problems from the past or examining all risks regardless of size. While these types of exercises can keep people busy, they rarely benefit a company that is trying to navigate forward to achieve successful outcomes. However, according to recent comments by a risk expert at the Risk and Insurance Management Society, ERM is evolving into a highly valued business practice. Here is what she had to say in an interview conducted by propertycasualty360.com.

Today, a growing perception that ERM “is a business discipline that can advance an organization’s [big-picture] objectives” is driving higher adoption rates across all types of organizations, says Carol Fox, director of strategic and enterprise-risk practice with the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

While there is also a perception that risk managers are having difficulty getting invited to a seat at the C-suite table, Fox believes that most corporate leaders, with only rare pockets of resistance, are eager for expert input about the strategic risks the organization faces.

“With all the external pressures—whether it’s Dodd-Frank, shareholders or the disclosures required now by the SEC for public companies—there is plenty of demand, visibility and support at the board level and at senior-management level” for ERM, she says.

As more board members and senior executives become acquainted with the usefulness of a well-designed ERM program, the discipline will become a "must have" for companies looking to compete in the new economy.

When Assessing Risk, Don't Forget the People

The Conference Board released a report today about the need for stronger integration of human capital risks into a company's overall enterprise risk management program.  Too often, these risks are left to the human resources department to manage alone with little understanding of the potential impact to a company's entire operation.  After surveying 161 leading companies worldwide, here is what the researchers discovered.

At most companies, human capital accounts for at least half of operating costs and can have a significant impact on business results. However, the study finds that human capital risk (HCR) — which can range from unionization/labor relations to offshoring and outsourcing to staffing in a pandemic — tends to be siloed in human resources departments, away from the companywide assessment and mitigation processes of enterprise risk management (ERM). This arrangement prevents information about HCR from having a role in the comprehensive, aggregate view of risks, root causes, interactions, and impacts through which leaders set priorities and determine overall strategy.

Out of eleven risk categories, executives ranked HCR as having the fourth highest impact on business results, ahead of financial, reputational, supply chain, and IT risks. This high ranking is evidence that HCR should be taken seriously as an enterprise risk.  However, less than one-third (31 percent) of companies believe they effectively assess human capital risk, and 24 percent believe they do an ineffective job.

During an economic crisis such as the one we have experienced, many companies lose sight of what really drives a business - people.  Understanding the risks associated with the primary business driver is certainly a no-brainer.

Now Is Not The Time to Reduce Investment in Risk Management

As we head into the second half of 2011, the economic recovery here in the US and abroad is taking hold much more slowly than most expected. Given the modest recovery, some executives may be looking to slash expenses to boost profitability and achieve their near-term goals. However, while tempting, cutting staff and investment in the wrong areas may prove to be a company’s undoing. For financial services companies, this is particularly true in the area of risk management because they are still mending their practices in the wake of the recent financial crisis.

According to the Financial Times, US regulators are keenly aware of what may be on the minds of bank executives and are issuing warnings to avoid cutting risk management budgets. According to Michael Alix, a senior vice-president at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York who heads the risk-management function within the regulator’s financial-institutions supervision group, the regulators are paying close attention to any plans to lower investment in risk management programs. “We haven’t seen it yet, but we’re vigilant,” says Alix.

Sacrificing the progress made in strengthening risk management programs at this precarious stage of recovery is certainly short-sighted and could lead to even greater problems for companies looking to weather the next storm.