There is a simple question to use when you are identifying risk in your organization.
"What may prevent you from achieving your objectives?".
It is an effective question because it focuses on the risks that are most important to the performance of your company. It also gives your respondent a context to discuss risk. If your head of manufacturing has 4 key objectives this year then you simply ask them this question four times, once for each objective. I also find it very helpful to have a list of risk categories to show someone who is identifying risks to help them consider all the risks related to a given objective.
Remember that risks are events. Therefore as people describe risky situations ask them to clarify what events may occur as these will be your risks.
Taking this approach to risk identification will be very appealing to management and your Board. They will see the direct connection between your risk management efforts and the performance of your company. That's a very good thing.
[Rich]
richard.m.wilson@ca.pwc.com
ERM is powerful when designed as a performance-focused activity. It's not an audit, nor a compliance process. ERM manages the barriers that prevent organizations from achieving their objectives.
Author:
Richard Wilson develops Performance Risk Management capabilities for complex organizations. He has helped the largest companies in North America manage the barriers to their desired performance.
richard.m.wilson@ca.pwc.com | (416) 941-8374
Wilson's Risk Management Blogs
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About The Author

- Richard Wilson
- Richard is a Director in PwC's Risk Advisory practice with clients in both Canada and the United States.
He is an experienced senior executive with 15 years in a CEO or COO role (publically traded and private firms). Richard has been leading risk management implementations for more than a decade incl. 60 C-level risk assessments, and has led online risk assessments for 30,000 people in 25 countries.
He has advised the largest company in the US on risk management, and he has facilitated a risk assessment for the United Nations. Richard has been published in Compliance Week, Canadian Business, and the Globe & Mail and has been a keynote speaker on the topic of risk at many conferences in both Canada and the US since 2004.
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