A week on since the funeral of Her Majesty the Queen and the ending of the period of National Mourning, we still have much to reflect on. From a corporate governance perspective, Hanif Barma and Peter Neville Lewis have looked back and reflected on the recent events and uncovered a few lessons we could all learn in leading and governing our organisations as board members.
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Making decisions in times of uncertainty (part 3)
Decision making at times of uncertainty will be challenging for any board but their risk committee can play an important role to support them. In the previous two blogs in this series, Hanif Barma drew on a recent Risk Committee Chairs Forum (RCCF) roundtable, hosted by the Risk Coalition, identifying practical steps the risk committee could take. In this third and final blog of the series, he considers his four final learning points. These concern getting the balance of the committee’s focus right, allowing enough time, staying informed outside meetings and - of course - not forgetting the importance of culture.
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Making decisions in times of uncertainty (part 2)
What can a risk committee do to help its board make better decisions, especially in the uncertain times we find ourselves in. Drawing on a recent Risk Committee Chairs Forum (RCCF) roundtable, hosted by the Risk Coalition, the discussion focused on what a risk committee should practically do to support its board. Building on his last blog for the Risk Coalition, Hanif Barma considers three further learning points in this blog. These concern risk spotting, use of scenarios and tne importance of avoiding getting distracted.
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Making decisions in times of uncertainty (part 1)
Making good decisions is difficult at the best of times. In today’s environment more than ever, boards are finding effective decision making with a high level of confidence trickier than ever. Drawing on a recent Risk Committee Chairs Forum (RCCF) roundtable, hosted by the Risk Coalition, the discussion focused on what a risk committee should practically do to support its board. Hanif Barma considers the first three (of ten) learning points in this blog: the role of the risk committee, the importance of purpose, and the need for data and information.
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Effective risk oversight: why culture matters
Risk and culture pervade all aspects of an organisation’s operations and strategy, argues Bryan Foss. In a panel discussion on Transpire Global’s Risk Faculty webinar, he considers the key connections and crossovers between risk and culture which are too often kept in silos. Key considerations in relation to the intersection of risk and culture include recent regulatory developments relating to culture, the need to create a physiologically safe work environment, and the increasing focus on the people and culture dimensions of cyber and technological risk.
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Does culture influence risk?
Often, getting traction behind culture change that supports the management of risk and, in particular, initiatives that encourage people to ‘speak up’ can be difficult. And, with inflation now a real threat to businesses, there is now a risk that culture drops to the bottom of boardroom agendas. Alex Walker, argues that the challenging environment is a great opportunity to bring people together, aligned behind a clear purpose and strategy. She says that there are two crucial elements to ensuring your team are both able to spot potential risks quickly and feel safe enough within the organisation to speak up.
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The Ukraine crisis and the role of risk committees
The Risk Coalition’s Risk Committee Chairs Forum met last week for a roundtable to discuss the implications for risk committees of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and, more broadly, the challenges of governing their organisations in the uncertain times of a global crisis situation. In this blog, Hanif Barma discusses the three key themes emerging from the discussion: rethinking scenario planning, ensuring a continuous conversation with stakeholders and looking beyond short-term time horizons.
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Would risk committees benefit from spending more time focused on emerging risks?
The recent inaugural Risk Committee Chairs Forum (RCCF) hosted by the Risk Coalition saw 17 experienced risk committee chairs participate in a roundtable to discuss some of the challenges their committees face around emerging risks. These issues relate to: (i) ensuring their risk committee has the right focus, (ii) challenging the way things are done by their risk committees and (iii) making sure their risk committee members bring the right approach and mindset. Hanif Barma discusses some of the best practices and practical ideas raised at the RCCF.
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What’s going to keep you up tomorrow night?
When thinking about risk, we often focus on immediate issues rather than longer-term, emerging risks. Drawing on the discussion at the recent webinar held to mark the partnership between the Centre for Governance, Risk and Regulation at the London Institute of Banking and Finance and the Risk Coalition, Hanif Barma explains that it is worth revisiting and reviewing existing risks as today’s uncertain environment means that these may now crystallise at more rapidly, or the impact and exposures of these risks may no longer be what we originally thought them to be.
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