NEW ORLEANS—One of the biggest challenges for risk managers has always been how to engage the rest of the company in risk management activities. Too often, risk managers are considered the show-stoppers, feared by other departments for their tendency to be risk averse and shoot down every idea. So the challenge is to find a way to increase their risk awareness in such a way that they start to view risk as opportunity rather than a deterrent. According to Joachim Ademusi, director of IRMS Ltd., the key to embedding risk management into the culture of an organization lies in story telling—basically finding a way to present risk management in a context that they can relate to and even enjoy.
Speaking at an educational and interactive session at the RIMS 2015 Annual Conference & Exhibition, Ademusi stressed that risk is really a performance improvement tool. So with that in mind, it is important to change any negative perceptions about it. Risk managers should create an environment for creativity that allows all company personnel to take advantage of what risk management can do. This creative engagement requires risk managers to understand the needs and concerns of other departments and find ways to inspire them to consider risk and exchange ideas. This can be accomplished by changing the narrative that risk management is somehow bad. Ademusi recommended creating a contest among all employees to identify the risk management angles in a given scenario, with the winner receiving a gift card or some other monetary award. Or simply meeting with various individuals over lunch in an effort to better understand their concerns.
Ultimately, the idea is to make risk management less intimidating. By using stories, proverbs and parallels that don’t necessarily rely on risk terminology, risk managers can gain the trust of their colleagues and foster the understanding that good risk management will improve performance and benefit the entire organization. And once the organization embraces risk management and proactively seeks out their risk manager’s advice, Ademusi said that your career with truly become something special.