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IDENTIFYING
AND MAPPING RISKS
Most companies
already have the raw materials to perform valuable risk assessments
of almost all of their activities. What is required is to tap into
the knowledge and awareness of key personnel, using a process demonstrating
appropriate rigour and discipline.
Performing two straightforward steps can quickly reduce the likelihood
that significant risks will be overlooked and later blindside an
organization. These are:
- risk identification,
and
- risk
mapping.
 A
company can make a purposeful start towards reducing the exposure
to unexpected and unwanted risks by initially devoting as little
as one day's time of a suitable participant group drawn from across
the organization.
The results
of this initial session will provide the organization with:
- a risk map
prioritizing the risks identified (such as that shown on the right),
- discussion
notes summarizing where additional steps are required to reduce
exposures, and
- a perspective
on the need, or otherwise, to extend the process to other areas,
or to "drill down" where specific hot spots are identified.
As boards of
directors and management increasingly focus on risk management,
this process and resulting documentation will both reassure them
that appropriate emphases are being applied and will assist them
in reorienting the corporate risk portfolio.
CONDUCTING
RISK & CONTROL SELF-ASSESSMENT
Just because
something may seem patently obvious to one person, it doesn't mean
that it will be embraced by others. Invariably, people have a hard
time accepting what they don't create. This is a serious underlying
impediment to change and, as a result, is a key roadblock to improving
performance.
This roadblock
can be overcome by including the people who will be responsible
for, or affected by, change in the diagnostic process.
We guarantee
that if you give us a small group of people at whatever level in
your organization for less than a day, they'll turn up more opportunities
to improve performance than traditional methods would uncover in
weeks.
We can:
- help you
decide whether you and your company are ready for RCSA,
- conduct pilot
workshops to ensure that you get off to a flying start,
- help you
design your own program,
- train you
in facilitation and the technical aspects of RCSA, and
- help you
present your strategies and plans to senior management and the
Board.
Here's an example
of what one group found out during part of a typical performance
improvement workshop:
 Roadblock:
Although confident in their own objectives, this group quickly
ascertained that their department's objectives were not aligned
with those of a key business partner elsewhere in the organization.
Moreover, they had not been able to resolve these conflicts
to date.
Risk:
They
felt that this lack of coordination put external customer service
in serious jeopardy.
Solution:
They now meet regularly with their internal partner to harmonize
plans and objectives. They also resolved to become more informed
about the company's values and its expectations of them, in
order to enhance their own stake in the company's vision.
©
GUNNS GROUP 2011 l TORONTO, CANADA l 905-893-3316
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