‘Positive’ risk managers play a central role: StrategicRISK survey

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A new survey conducted by StrategicRisk Asia-Pacific and leading risk consultant Gareth Byatt reveals risk managers in Asia are happy with the level of coverage and integration in their business, and believe their organisation actively considers risk in decision-making.

The survey of 200 risk managers in Asia shows the industry is confident it plays a central role in key decisions and business functions. The study also shows the risk profession plans for the future and the adoption of new technology.

In total, 61% of respondents said their risk team’s coverage was “structured and consistent”, “consistent and progressive”, or had “clear access” to every part of their organisation. In contrast, just 16% of risk managers said they had “non-existent”, or “ad-hoc” coverage.

Byatt says risk has become a more integral role in recent years. He said the survey figures were “good to see”, adding: “Having full access to people across their organisation allows [risk teams] to be a partner to their businesses and functions.”

Byatt adds the 16% of risk managers with little-to-no coverage may “not have the capacity to extend across their enterprise”. He adds: “We should recognise that the field of risk management is at different stages of maturity in different sectors, and organisations within these sectors.”

Our survey asked risk managers whether their team was well-integrated in their organisation. Four out of five people said integration was “repeatable and intuitive”, or better. In contrast, just one in five (20%) of respondents said integration was non-existent or happened on an ad-hoc basis.

Byatt adds: “We know that, for risk teams to achieve maximum effectiveness, they need to be integrated with, and plugged into, all the operational teams and functions that exist in their organisation. Hopefully, the fact that the majority of people who responded said they integrate with their fellow functions means that they have an opportunity to leverage off each other.”

Byatt offers the following advice to risk managers: “For risk teams that work in asset-intensive industries, working closely with their health safety team would be a natural fit. In such industries, H&S is quite rightly a big focus. Another example is integration with internal audit. Many internal audit functions take some form of risk-based approach to auditing, and working with the risk team makes sense for this.

“Other examples include helping functions such as HR, sustainability and corporate communications, to ensure they are considering their risks and opportunities in a common and consistent manner,” he adds.