Risk Reporting & Communications

4 Questions for Properly Categorizing Risks

Many, if not all, ERM thought leaders, including myself, agree that risk identification forms an essential foundation of an effective ERM process. Taking a haphazard approach is one of several preventable mistakes companies make with risk identification that can lead to wasted time, resources, and a general loss of credibility in the minds of executives.…

3 Factors to Consider Before Escalating Risk Issues to the Board

After beginning as a requirement for financial firms, active Board oversight of risk management has increasingly become an expectation, even a necessity, for all types of organizations over the last 20 years. The annual State of Risk Oversight report from North Carolina State University corroborates this. According to their survey, a high number of Boards,…

6 Ways to Improve your ERM Program’s Scalability

Regardless of whether it’s an exercise program or business endeavor, there’s a certain energy and excitement when starting something new. We work with great anticipation of the benefits our efforts will bring. But as the old Proverb originally coined in the Robert Burns poem To a Mouse says, “the best laid plans of mice and…

5 Tips to Making Board Risk Reports Meaningful Tools for Decision-Making

The year is flying by as we’re well into the second quarter already. Q1 board risk reports should be done, assuming your company prepares one quarterly, and you are likely getting ready to prepare a midyear update. As I discuss in The Ultimate Primer for Effective Risk Reporting, board risk reports serve a dual purpose……

2 Keys to Effectively Communicating Risks to the Board

It’s getting to be that time of the year when many organizations have major board meetings to finalize plans and budgets for the next year. Considering this year’s unprecedented volatility, many Boards will naturally want to discuss risks facing the enterprise. While the topic of Boards and reporting risks have been peppered in past blog…

3 Ways to Avoid the Check-the-Box Trap in Risk Review

In both my experience and according to a white paper from PwC, a common ERM challenge is how an annual risk review becomes a check-the-box activity. It shouldn’t be this way… Regardless of the reasons, everyone from executives all the way down to entry-level managers and employees have enough “bureaucratic” burdens as it is. An…