The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) said it has developed a Quality Improvement Process for risk managers to help them examine their own business practices and achieve excellence in their careers.

Janice Ochenkowski, RIMS president and managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., said in a conference call yesterday, that the Quality Improvement Process (QIP), began in 2006, will take a new direction this year.

Where in the past the QIP examined buyer-broker relationships and buyer-insurer relationships, this year the Quality Improvement Forum elected to focus on risk managers and help them make the most of their careers.

“The only place left was to look inward at ourselves to see what we could do,” Ms. Ochenkowski said. “This third year, we focused on looking within for the risk managers.”

The Third Quality Improvement Forum was made up of 30 participants, she said. They included ACORD, for data standards; a risk management recruiter; Ace; American International Group; AJ Gallagher; Aon; FM Global; Integro; Liberty Mutual; Marsh; Travelers and Zurich.

The Forum discussed the role of the risk manager at various stages of a career, she explained, and the challenges and opportunities that exist at those stages. They designed a matrix to help risk managers take advantage of opportunities for growth at different levels of a career, as well as within “the scope of the level they currently operate,” Ms. Ochenkowski said.

She noted that key points discussed by the Forum were the importance of a risk manager “to know the industry in which they work and to thoroughly understand the operations of their business,” she said. “They need to associate much more closely with the business of their business than on the insurance industry.”

Ms. Ochenkowski added that it also is critical for a risk manager to know how and when to engage the corporate officers' suite in risk management issues, “how to get the visibility of the CEO of their organization before the crisis occurs and how to position themselves to be a key advisor to top level management within their organization.”

To operate effectively, risk managers also need to have a global perspective, she said, “whether or not the company has global operations.” The reason, Ms. Ochenkowski said, is because of the importance the global economy has on U.S. economics as well as operations within a specific industry.

Richard Roberts Jr., a member of RIMS board of directors and vice chairman of RIMS Quality Advisory Council, as well as corporate risk manager for Ensign-Bickford Industries, Inc., said the committee developed a matrix directed at four experience levels.

The matrix will describe skill sets needed by risk managers at various points in a career, including technical skills and tools that could be used by the risk manager. It also will include distinguishing features of “people who really rise to the top in their career,” such as presentation skills or communication skills, he said. “The different things that really make you stand out.”

RIMS said full details of the process will be unveiled at the annual conference this spring.

Special Reports /

RIMS Develops RM Quality Improvement Process

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