Riskology

If you are an enterprise you must know the many challenges that you might face running an organisation with a lot of moving parts. While you ensure that you get the business to run efficiently, you should be leaning on a robust software to manage your risks and communicate with your board, committee and business units.

Organisations need to understand the embedded risks that arise from processes and activities, and by doing so, can reap numerous benefits. That said, your software can only be as successful at managing potential risks as you are at setting controls to ensure compliance, assurance and enhanced decision-making are met. 

Creating a culture of risk awareness 

Managing risks is not just a function of a risk manager. Every person at the organisation must be involved in ensuring that they are able to identify, assess and mitigate potential risks. Creating a culture where risk is spoken about and understood across business units ensures that key steps are taken by everyone so they are able to not only identify but also manage risks as they arise. It's important to never treat ERM as a project, it's a process. And it needs everyone's involvement.

Identifying risks in a well-structured way

Managing risks involves the ability to identify potential risks in the first place. However, as an organisation is large with many moving parts, there are no guidelines around what should be known to everyone to identify a potential risk. A part of using an ERM solution means that you have a well-structured way of identifying risks across multiple departments in the organisation. 

Increasing ability to control or respond to risks

Good risk management software removes friction and helps judicial use of available resources. This means that you will have improved your ability to work with risks as the software helps you use information in a presentable and consumable way helping with decision-making. Using a risk register to also help prioritisation and next steps is something that's key to improving the way your people respond to risks and also comply with legal and regulatory reporting.

"If a business has its doors open, then it is managing risk in some way. However, that does not mean the organisation has an enterprise-wide, holistic and strategic approach to risk management."

- Mark S Beasley, Director, ERM Initiative at North Carolina State University 

Single source for many business units

Using an enterprise risk management software across many business units gives you the ability to permeate the risk awareness culture to turn insights into actions. At the end of the day, the software is helping in identifying and methodically evaluating events that might derail the achievement of strategic objectives and decrease the opportunity to gain a competitive advantage. The risk architecture like a documentation of procedures and protocols, monitoring and reporting on risks can be enhanced with training that can bring together business units to speak the same language. This makes your ERM software key to bringing everyone in the organisation together.

To capture high quality, timely risk data and drive actionable insights, it's important to invest in software that can help not only identify and manage risks, but also unify your enterprise and people to understand risk management as a whole.

For a more thorough understanding of enterprise risk management, read our recent blog post "What is Enterprise Risk Management & Why Is It Important?"

If your organisation is looking to improve its risk management, software like RiskWare's Enterprise Risk Management Module can provide the structure and support your need. Our team always has time for a conversation. Don't hesitate to get in touch!