Business Risk Management
Business risk management is an essential part of organisational governance and should be conducted with rigour, because organisations that do not manage risk appropriately are vulnerable to all manner of threats to their systems, people and processes.
What is Business Risk Management?
Business risk management is a methodology that assesses and controls the organisation’s internal and external risks. Alternatively, risks can also be exploited and could represent a business outcome that is beneficial to the company’s strategic goals.
Generally the key to successfully applying risk management is the calculation of risks and the mitigation to reduce or remove the threat.
Business Risks Identified
Business risk covers several different areas within organisations. Consequently the risks must be evaluated by subject matter experts that have the requisite knowledge and expertise as necessary. This ensuring that the risk mitigation control measures are more likely to be adequate to me legal and regulatory compliance.
We have identified some areas that should be risk assessed as part of a holistic process business risk management.
Workplace hazards that could cause harm to your staff, clients, or other visitors which could include falls from height, COVID-19, manual handling, and vehicle operations. A helpful guide to help you with workplace hazards is provided by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Environmental risk could be anything that could damage your work locations, such as flooding, fire, or power outages, generally these risk types will be covered under Business Continuity Management (BCM). Subsequently we have provided a link that will take you to a handy Business Continuity Management Toolkit courtesy of HM Government.
Operational risk should include hazards that could impact the business’s operations such as cybersecurity, computer server outages, fuel strikes and COVID-19. Again, some of the threats may be covered under the organisation’s BCM strategy.
Employee risks in this example cover when an individual may become compromised, which could cause business harm. Examples could include fraud, drug abuse, or alcohol addiction.
Strategic Business Risk means factors external and internal to the organisation that could stop the attainment of strategic goals. Accordingly there are several tools can be used for strategic planning that can be used to help identify business threats and opportunities in the macro business environment.
Business owners and leaders should take strategic risk very seriously, as the consequences of this type of risk could have drastic circumstances.
Financial risk represents a multitude of things that can hurt your business fiscally, including increased fuel costs for heavy vehicle operations. Aged receivables and clients that go bust or increased operating costs due to inflation or supply chain shortages.
Reputational risk may not be high on the risk planning agenda for business owners; however, it should be because reputational damage can indicate a strategic risk to your business that could turn customers away. Furthermore damage too a business reputation often has a significant impact on the company share price.
A recent example of repetitional damage could be FIFA and the World Cup in Qatar because it is commonly agreed that having the event held in Qatar has compromised the already questionable reputation of FIFA.
For a small business, this could be manifested in bad reviews that will be seen by potential customers or photographs of a poor installation that has been shared on social media.
Risk Management Support
Strategic Goal Management Consulting is expert at identifying, mitigating, and exploiting business risks. Consequently we are here to help business owners and leaders to manage risk proactively and strategically in accordance with risk management best practices.