Carol Williams - Page 16 of 19

Experimentation and ERM: How ERM is like Manufacturing a Product

September 1, 2017

Many people believe that once you design an ERM program, that is it. No changes. No adaptability. It’s our way or the highway when it comes to risk management. But it shouldn’t be that way. Instead, we should treat ERM as an experiment. Risk management practioners use their knowledge and experiences to design a process…

8 Possible Consequences of Not Being Proactive in Risk Management

August 23, 2017

Rather than discuss the benefits of risk management in this article, I want to take some time to explain what can possibly happen if you do not proactively identify, assess and manage risks in your organization. As I explain elsewhere, risks in the ERM context is more than just potential hazards – it includes any…

Three Ways to Reduce Organizational Change Risk

August 12, 2017

Organizational change is something we experience and hear about all the time. Don’t you get tired of change? Goodness knows, I do! How many times has an organizational change, like a merger, acquisition, internal reorganization, or market expansion, not succeeded? Too many times to count. In fact, a CEB 2016 Workforce Change survey showed that…

Avoiding the Dreaded “Bureaucracy” in your ERM Efforts

August 4, 2017

Bureaucracy – it’s such a dreaded word by all who encounter it. When it comes to an ERM initiative though, many perceive ERM and risk management in general as another layer of bureaucracy to heap onto their to-do pile. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way!! Check out my quick video explaining how you…

Practical Steps for Preparing and Responding to Risk Events

July 27, 2017

Everyone’s afraid of something. Most people seem to be afraid of normal things, like clowns, spiders, or public speaking. But for risk managers, our greatest fear is that all of our hard work will be for nothing. The risks we worked so hard to identify, assess, and report—the known and the unknown, the black swans…

2 Simple Steps to Knowing If Your Organization Needs Enterprise Risk Management

July 19, 2017

You may be shocked to hear me say this… Not every organization needs enterprise risk management (ERM). Of course, before you can know if your organization needs ERM, you have to make sure you understand the differences between ERM and traditional risk management. Then you can start the next step in the process: Step 1:…

ERM Now Formally a Factor in Credit Ratings Issued by Top Agency

July 3, 2017

Credit ratings for banks, insurance companies and publicly-traded companies are issued by one of three agencies: Standard & Poor’s (S&P), Moody’s or Fitch. Together, these firms account for 95% of credit ratings issued in the world. Although each of these firms evaluates a company’s ability to handle risks to the enterprise in one way or…

4 Ways ERM Can Add Value During the Project Lifecycle

June 23, 2017

A Risky Upgrade Sometimes the simple projects are the ones that carry the most risk. A few years ago, a large organization undertook a project to upgrade its HR software. Since the upgrade was to be handled as part of a renewal of an existing contract, the Sponsor and executives considered it a necessary project…

3 Best Practices for Factoring Risk into Your Strategic Planning Process

June 8, 2017

No one enjoys strategic planning exercises. They conjure images of a stuffy room filled with executives in dark suits, stacks of paper strewn across the table, and whiteboards covered in scribble. Even in the most collaborative organizations, each executive represents his own department as he vies for the few dollars set aside for yearly projects.…