New RIMS President Looks To Pinpoint Qualities Of Outstanding Risk Managers

Communication is central to Ms. Ochenkowski's work at Jones Lang LaSalle, as well. She said the risk management department is frequently consulted by the company's various businesses to help with planning and assessing new opportunities, as well as issues arising from existing businesses.

"Our department, I believe–and I'm proud to say–is viewed by our firm as a resource," she said. The department currently consists of seven employees in the United States, and has legal and risk management assistance in other regions.

Because of the global aspects of her job, Ms. Ochenkowski's day may comprise of several international conference calls in the morning, late in the afternoon, or even early evening to accommodate international time zones. She meets with her staff daily to touch base on various initiatives, trouble-shoot and provide guidance when needed.

Ms. Ochenkowski also frequently meets with the company's brokers as well as insurers to discuss new trends, business opportunities and products.

Finally, "I try to catch up with the business units to understand what they're thinking about and what they're working on, and that takes me through lunch," she joked.

"It's a broad spectrum, and that's what makes [the job] exciting. There is a wide range of responsibilities, which translates into a wide range of opportunities," she added.

While an important aspect of her job is purchasing insurance for the company, she said knowledge of her particular industry is even more important. Policy information can be provided by the broker and insurance underwriter, but "I am the catalyst within my company, and I need to understand what our business is."

Part of her job, she said, is to understand the problems and challenges facing the business, and to work with the insurance industry, the capital markets industry and "our own internal people to find solutions to problems."

"Everything is not solved by buying an insurance policy," she added.

She noted, too, that this is where the service of a good, professional insurance broker who understands the market "and your industry is absolutely invaluable as a resource."

Another part of the equation, she noted, is an underwriter who also understands the nuances of your industry. "If they understand the problems facing your business and understand the issues you're facing, they're much more likely to assist you in developing solutions to those problems," she said.

An important role for a risk manager, she added, is serving as translator of "the jargon of their industry into the insurance language, and to take the insurance language and translate it back for their business people."

To fulfill this and other companywide communication needs, she said, enterprise risk management can make the difference, noting that communicating with an organization's chief executive officer and chief financial officer "is a focal point of risk managers."

While each company is structured differently in regard to communication, to be successful a risk manager needs to understand the organization's protocols and practices.

"We're back to a risk manager being seen as understanding the industry and being a problem-solver," she said. "In my opinion, if a risk manager is viewed by whomever he or she reports to–and by the external business units–as being that person, then [the risk manager] will be sought within the organization because [he or she] will be an important part of the organization's profitability and success."

Many of the skills a risk manager needs to be successful in today's business environment are available through RIMS, she said, adding that while providing many core services for members, the organization is also "at the cutting edge of many new initiatives."

As the association's officers transition on an annual basis, "we work hard to have continuity of programming," she said. For example, she noted that under Ellen Vinck's presidency, the quality improvement process was formalized.

"We initially focused on the insurance transaction, and under Ellen's term we looked at the role of insurance broker," she said. During the term of Michael Leibowitz–who followed Ms. Vinck and now passes the torch to Ms. Ochenkowski–"we looked at the insurer."

"We're going to finish that initiative under my term by focusing on the risk manager, but we're going to expand… beyond the transaction piece and look at risk management quality," she explained.

To do this, she said various RIMS committees will devote resources to provide tools–such as educational courses, white papers, checklists and guidelines. These tools, she noted, will illustrate "the responsibilities of a good risk manager, the qualities of an excellent risk manager, and then how to move forward along that continuum."

RIMS is also committed to continuing its legislative work. "There are several important pieces of legislation that we're working on now," Ms. Ochenkowski said, adding that "it's important for legislative leaders to know and understand RIMS' position, and [to] continue to view RIMS as the appropriate resource for information on the consumers' view for legislation."

"We believe that we now have that role within the minds of legislative people in Washington, and we're going to work hard to continue that," she added.

The association's annual conference–one of the most important risk management events of the year–is also a priority, she said, noting that this year's conference committee is already working to find the best speakers and the most dynamic presentations for 2008′s meeting, taking place April 27 to May 1, in San Diego.

"We think there are going to be many important sessions offered–not only for new risk managers, but also for experienced risk managers," she said.

Those offerings will go beyond traditional insurance risk management, into areas of enterprise risk "and things that are beyond the scope of what people traditionally expected RIMS to provide," she added.