Those who lead in risk management in their organizations are either ‘very involved’ or ‘somewhat involved’ in strategic decision-making, said 66% of respondents in the latest Airmic Big Question survey. This comes as a recent World Economic Forum (WEF) report on the outlook for Chief Risk Officers said 95% of respondents in a survey for the report stated that an effective risk function provides a competitive organizational edge.
Organizations have realised how essential risk management is in times of crisis. With the current period of extended geopolitical turmoil, organizations need to embed risk management in their strategic decision-making, so as to navigate through the permacrisis.
Julia Graham, CEO of Airmic
Some respondents to the Airmic survey said that there is lingering cynicism as to whether risk management can contribute to strategic opportunities for businesses. This mirrors the sentiments in the WEF report which said 47% of chief risk officers ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that ‘the risk function can block innovations or growth initiatives based on its risk assessment’.
For many of our members’ organisations, risk management is already largely involved in preserving and enabling the organisation to deliver on its strategic goals – but they could be much more involved in the setting that strategy with the board, especially before crisis hits.
Leigh-Anne Slade, Head of Media, Communications and Interest Groups
