New AIRMIC chairman Alan Fleming launched his year in office with a rallying cry to professionals operating in the risk community, urging them to "get rid of the silo mind-set" by consulting more and sharing their knowledge and experience within the "virtuous circle of risk".
Speaking at the incoming chairman's annual cocktail party, Alan Fleming said: "Risk is everyone's problem and opportunity, but a partnership approach with other professional disciplines can result in a solution that is greater than the sum of the parts when each area is operating independently. I see the management of risk as being like a virtuous circle, a beneficial recurring cycle of cause and effect. This concept of the virtuous circle relates to both the process of risk management and the culture.
"The idea of the circle transcends the traditional model of each professional function 'doing their own thing' in isolation from everyone else. We need to get rid of the silo mind-set and break down the barriers which currently exist in many organisations."
Fleming said that AIRMIC was already improving its links with other professional organisations through seminars and joint initiatives. These include the Association of Corporate Treasurers, Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the other risk management bodies: ALARM (the Association of Local Authority Risk Managers), and IRM (The Institute of Risk Management).
In addition to their traditional role at the heart of organisational risk management, Alan Fleming called upon AIRMIC members, and risk managers to act as facilitators and educators within their organisations, developing a team environment and approach to risk issues. " I envisage a year of dialogue and discussion and a consistent effort to get closer to other professional disciplines to foster a spirit of cooperation and to promote greater understanding of each other's roles," he added.
Fleming was speaking to almost 100 AIRMIC members and guests from the risk management, insurance and interrelated professional sectors at the RAC Club, Pall Mall, London, on 5 July.
