Why we should be bridging, not breaking, silos

As the virtual Risk-!n 2020 conference gets underway, Risk-!n co-founder Stéphane Martin told StrategicRISK why the theme “Bridge the silos to better manage risks” was chosen and why it is so significant in today’s challenging risk landscape. 

”I have been a risk manager for 17 years including 12 in major international companies,” says Martin, who is also CEO of Smart Risk Consulting. “Whilst trying to implement risk management processes throughout organisations, you realise that most of the processes going across these organisations are only trying to protect their remit work in isolation and do not focus on organisational objectives.

”For a number of years people tried to break silos, which is in fact a very negative way to look at collaboration. At Risk-!n we strive to engage experts which have understood that their role is not just building risk reports, writing continuity plans or establishing security controls, it is about bridging the gap with the neighbouring processes.”

”The rationale is very simple, risks go across the value chain of an organisation. The role of a risk manager is to help managers come together and find combined risk mitigation on the causes and the consequences, and not just to react when it is too late. Risks are still not part of strategic planning, which is a huge flaw in the way organisations are being managed.”

The virtual conference, which takes place between 25 and 27 November, has a wide range of speakers and covers an even broader range of themes, including observations on the current COVID-crisis, how to bridge the gap between business continuity and resilience and the risk manager’s identity challenge. 

”I am looking forward to listening to Arnaud Vaissié, co-founder and CEO International SOS who will take us through how he felt and how he took decisions in the midst of the crisis,” says Martin, “as well as the opening debate between our friends Hans Læssøe from Aktus, Didier Odorico Director, Corporate Risk Management and Global Process Driver ‘GRC’ Tetra Pak and Alexei Sidorenko, CRO Eurochem.”

There is a significant opportunity for ‘industrial’ risk managers and financial industry risk experts to learn from one another, he thinks. “This is also how we bridge silos, so we invited Ariane Chapelle, internationally recognised to deliver the ’risk appetite and key risk indicators’ workshop and a very special session on ’positive risk management’.

”It is rather exceptional to have all these experts in one conference.”