Being the risk manager of a public entity, I'm told, is a difficult and at times thankless job and many public entities have their risk managers to thank for saving both money and lives. But some of the reports I'm getting here, at the Public Risk Management Association's annual conference in Dallas, from some vendors and third party administrators, is disappointing.

One vendor, who works with a number of public risk managers nationwide, offers a product that has been shown to save money for public entities, often in the millions. But when I observed that the product seemed like a no-brainer for public entities, there was silence. Many public risk managers, I was informed, openly admit they are not interested in saving their entity money, and are only concerned with maintaining the status quo.

For example, I was told, a public school system in the Midwest that was calculated to potentially save $3.5 million—net—declined. The reason given was that "things are fine the way they are, I don't want to rock the boat."

"They rely in a bunker mentality," the vendor said, adding that many public risk managers are not very "educated" about aspects of their job and rely on others, including their brokers, to set up their programs and make many of their insurance, medical and safety decisions.

In fact, another risk manager in the Midwest, the vendor said, noted that his risk management job is a "good gig," adding, "I'm going to ride it out as long as I can." Some others, according to the vendor, admit they are biding their time until retirement. Other individuals I talked to observed that some public risk managers are riding out the financial crisis by "burying their head in the sand, trying to be invisible."

In a seminar I attended earlier in the day, a panelist asked risk managers in the audience—about 25—whether their departments were in danger of layoffs. Surprisingly, only three responded yes. I wonder if there is a false sense of security and whether cuts lie ahead that they don't know about. After all, the private sector is certainly seeing a squeeze and generally the same trends do eventually hit the public sector.

I have heard warning after warning that risk managers—both public and private—need to be visible in their organization and many I have spoken to are. They also are advised to continue to take courses and work toward designations. Staying under the radar, in the long run, will only serve to make others in their organization forget about any contributions they might have made—when it comes time for layoffs. What's more, if the public gets wind that a risk manager is passing up the opportunity to save $$ during these hard times–you can guess the rest.

My question is, are these vendor and TPA observations out in left field, or do you agree with these assessments?

Special Reports /

Are Some PRMs Just Waiting Out Hard Times?

Related Stories

Recommended For You