Strategic and dynamic – the risk managers of tomorrow

Articles in the edition, available for download here, discussed topics such as net zero, supply chain, sanctions, reputation and data maturity.

Airmic CEO Julia Graham joined Rachael Johnson, Head of Risk Management and Corporate Governance at ACCA, took part in a Q&A to examine how risk management must change and become more strategic as the world becomes more volatile.

“Gone are the days when a board reviewed its principal risks on an annual basis,” Julia Graham said. “Managing risk today must be a dynamic and continuous process - and on every board meeting agenda. It cannot be written up as part of an annual report then put away for the rest of the year.

“Even in a great report, there’s often still too much focus on the short term and the downside of risk, to the exclusion of thinking longer term and about the opportunities risk well-managed can offer.”

Rachael Johnson agreed and said now more than ever, corporations and their boards needed to ensure risk management discussions were taking place across the organisation.

“Over the past few weeks, we have seen once again how the velocity and context of risk can change dramatically within a matter of days, if not hours, and how companies are affected no matter where they are based or what line of business they are in,” she said.

“Recent crises have forced organisations to rethink how they keep up with the speed of risk and they can only do that if they get their risk management framework - the principles, processes and the practices - better aligned.”