Risk Managers Are Too Often Invisible

In “Chicago,” while Roxie Hart becomes a celebrity after murdering her lover, no one notices her protective husband, Amos, who laments his lack of visibility in the classic show tune, “Mr. Cellophane.” Unfortunately, too many risk managers are suffering from the same identity problem, as the only time anyone notices them is when something goes wrong.

That's the message I got over and over again today here in Orlando at the Risk and Insurance Management Society's annual conference.

Indeed, listening to thespeech during the opening general session by Carol Fox, senior director of risk management at Convergys Corp.–who received RIMS' highest honor here today, the Harry and Dorothy Goodell Award–I realized that the greatest achievements of risk managers are usually invisible to all but the keenest observers.

In reciting all the good risk managers do for their organizations, Ms. Fox emphasized the workers who aren't injured, the properties that aren't damaged, the lawsuits that aren't filed, and the hits to the balance sheet that don't occur.

It's no secret thatrisk management can often be a thankless job. Over the years, risk managers have complained to me over and over again that the only time they hear fromthe head honchosiswhen disaster strikes, demanding to know why such a catastrophic loss wasn't prevented, and warning that the company had better be insured!

Risk managers have improved their lot in recent years, sometimes even rising to the coveted C-suite. But it's still critical theydo everything they can to call attention to what they do for a living and to document their contribution to the bottom line. They should never take it for granted that their role as corporate guardian will be understood, let alone appreciated.

They also have to make certain that risk management is more than just the name of their department–that it is a core value across the company. Such commitment was clearly lacking at those financial services firmsclaiming to value enterprise risk management, but which tossed the concept out the window in the pursuit of higher returns viadubiousinvestments.

Axel Lehmann, chief risk officer of Zurich's global insurance operations, noted during a press conference here this morning that the reckless credit default swaps decimating many balance sheets demonstrated that not enough firmswalked the walk, rather than just paid lip service to ERM. He observed that at many companies, risk management was a technical function, rather than strategic.

“ERM is not something you can just come up with after setting your strategic growth plan,” he said. “It has to be ingrained in the entire process. Risk management is not something someone else does. It is a discipline everyone must practice,” with the risk manager obviously setting the tone.

This isn't to say that risk managers are innocent victims or free from blame when it comes to their lack of visibility and authority withinmany outfits. A number of speakers here made it clear risk managers must take responsibility for raising their own profiles and power.

“You have to be able to sell your story,” said Scott Beckman, vice president of risk management and insurance at the Advocate Health Care Network, during a session on “Forging A Risk Management Career Path”–which drew a mix of students eager to get into the business, sitting alongside hardened risk management pros.

“Don't be shy about self-promotion. And keep in mind that when we do tell our story, it isn't always fun,” he said, noting thatthere are some hard truths risk managers need to communicate to their peers andsuperiors.

During the career counseling session,Bill Perry, president of Logic Associates–the profession's leading headhunter for more than 40 years–chimed in thatwhile getting anMBA, ARM or CPCU is importantto demonstrate a technical command of the subject matter, “the hardest degree to get is inpersonality.You have to learn how to get out of your ivory tower and develop salesmanship so that you can spread the word about risk management and convinceeveryone to buy into it.”

Bruce Zaccanti, a partner focusing on risk management at Ernst & Young, said risk managers today “must be able to motivate and lead a team of people and an organization. They have to be viewed as part of top management, not a mid-level service department.”

RIMS President Joe Restoule echoed that point during his speech at the Opening General Session. “Perhaps being viewed as a leader is not how you conceived of your career in risk management,” he conceded, while noting that today'srisk managersare being called upon to go beyond technical analysis, insurance purchasing and claims monitoring to become true leaders intheir organizations.

Joe knows what he's talking about, not only because his title is “Leader, Risk Management” at NOVA Chemicals Corp., but because he's been able to rise through the ranks to lead his profession as RIMS president while keeping up with his demanding day job as a fulltime risk manager.

“Do you have the courage to lead?” he concluded, throwing down the gauntlet at the feet of his colleagues.

What's your response? Would you rather be Mr. Cellophane, or Leader, Risk Management?