“I want to implement risk management but where do I start?”
Start small! Implementing risk management is like raising a baby anaconda. It’s cute at first but it can grow to strangle you.
Start with an Activity (business or functional unit, process, project) that is high-impact, low-complexity, and can deliver early payback. Reach for the low-hanging fruits first. For one client, this was inventory management; for another, it was credit granting. This way, your organization can grow around the Core Activity, instead of the reverse. You will have time to learn and develop in-house expertise for future expansion.
Remember, it’s not really about installing systems and processes. It’s about training people to understand and respond to risks they manage. We engage your people through one-on-one interviews, as required, and through intense risk and control assessment workshops. This process allows them to dig deep within themselves to comprehend risk and to take ownership individually and as a team for managing risk.
We enter every Core Activity situation knowledgably. We don’t just steer discussion traffic. We bring ideas, challenge ideas and stimulate dynamic interaction. What we produce at the end of a workout session is a directional plan for improving your Core Activity risk management and a fired-up team.
This plan may have implications for policy, organizational structure, responsibility allocation, and accountability. In other words, managing Core Activity risks will be institutionalized from top to bottom.