Introduction
Welcome to the Risk Management Maturity Evaluation. Measuring risk maturity is crucial as it provides organisations with a comprehensive understanding of their current risk management capabilities and identifies areas for improvement. It enables organisations to evolve from reactive approaches to proactive strategies, fostering resilience and ensuring alignment with business objectives amidst an ever-changing risk landscape. This self-assessment is designed to help you evaluate your organisation’s risk maturity, identify areas where you may need to improve, and take proactive steps towards responsible risk management. The evaluation will guide you through various aspects of risk management, from understanding your risk strategy to implementing risk management systems and processes. Take your time to reflect on your practices and consider how you can enhance your organisation’s risk management framework for a more sustainable future.
Why should I care about Risk Management?
It is widely recognised that directors bear the responsibility to stakeholders including investors, shareholders, and the wider public to carry out business operations in a responsible manner, considering the broader impacts of their decisions. For publicly listed companies most countries have regulatory or prudential standards that require impacted organisations to have robust risk management systems in place, for example in Australia the ASX requirements of Principle 7 and Listing Rule 4.10.3 mandates the establishment of an efficient risk management system to ensure effective management of potential business challenges. In the UK and USA there are complex legal frameworks underpinning corporate risk and compliance management. Moreover, compliance encompasses a range of legal and regulatory obligations such as those related to work health and safety, credit, insurance, information technology, etc., emphasising the significance of adopting comprehensive risk management practices to ensure legal and ethical responsibilities are met.
In essence, caring about risk management empowers you to navigate the dynamic and complex landscape of business more effectively, minimising threats while optimising opportunities for growth and success. If we use the analogy of a racing car, it’s not there to stop or slow you down but to provide you with the confidence that you can take more risks than your competitor, and it’s there and working when you go through corners and need to brake quickly. Although it is now accepted that Directors have a legal obligation to ensure there is effective risk management systems in the organisation, experience tells us that few actually know if risk management is truly effective and embedded in the organisation’s management and decision processes. The effectiveness of risk management is evidenced by the enhanced stability, increased profitability, and sustained growth of businesses that prioritise risk mitigation. Making informed decisions based on sound risk analysis aligns with prudent business practices and fosters the attainment of organisational objectives.
Prudent risk management is more than just avoiding problems – it's about embracing uncertainties, understanding potential pitfalls, and taking proactive steps to minimise their impact. Risk management is a crucial component for a company's stability, sustainability, and long-term success. By identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks, an organisation can navigate challenges more effectively and seize opportunities with greater confidence. Taking a forward-thinking approach empowers your organisation to adapt, innovate, and thrive even in the face of challenges, giving it a strategic advantage over peers in a dynamic and often unpredictable business environment.
Two crucial elements are typically absent or inadequately developed across many organisations, irrespective of their size. Addressing these gaps may require concerted efforts from the risk manager to engage in discussions and unearth where changes within entrenched business processes are necessary. Firstly, an active and strategic risk management system must be in place, seamlessly aligned with the company's strategic goals. The Board's explicit directives regarding acceptable and unacceptable risks further define this system. Secondly, tangible proof of these principles being deeply ingrained in the organisation's core functioning should be apparent, essentially forming part of its inherent DNA. Organisations require a robust framework encompassing various aspects of their operational processes. This framework should include strategic evaluations conducted by management, the recording of ideas and market fluctuations, the assignment of responsible parties for implementing actions, and the assurance of sufficient and timely funding for both projects and day-to-day operations.
About the Risk Maturity Assessment
The Risk Management Maturity Evaluation allows organisations of all sizes to assess a suite of statements aligned to globally recognised best practice governance guidance and frameworks including OECD, COSO and ISO, identifying weaknesses in current risk management systems and offering access to pre-emptive advisory services. The assessment includes 20 statements that assess five key dimensions of risk:
- Governance and Strategy;
- Framework and Application;
- Enabling Resources, Systems and Tools;
- People and Culture; and
- Measure, Monitor and Report.
The statements should take no longer than 15-20 minutes to assess and will provide a quick and easy evaluation to help determine if your current risk management arrangements are operating effectively or where there is room for improvement.
You must first register your details in GRCReady in order to complete a questionnaire and view the results of your self-assessment online. GRCReady has partnered with BarnOwl, a leading provider of Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) software, to host the online maturity assessment through its state-of-the-art secure cloud environment. You will be automatically directed to the BarnOwl Cloud environment to complete the questionnaire, following which your responses will be curated into a personalised scorecard with recommended actions to help improve your risk management practices, which can then be downloaded as a report in pdf format free of charge.
We take data security seriously
Both the GRCReady and BarnOwl environments have been designed and built to comply with the Center for Internet Security (CIS) Amazon Web Services Foundations Benchmarks and follow the ‘Secure by Design’ (SBD) principles, ensuring that security controls are implemented within and across each component layer. Rest assured that any personal information you provide by registering to complete this questionnaire, including your response to the statements, will be protected by us in accordance with our privacy policy.
How to maximise value from the questionnaire
There are a number of ways to get the most out of the risk maturity survey, which is one of the most comprehensive assessments available online. If you believe you have an informed perspective of the risk management arrangements in your organisation, you can simply complete your own self-assessment of how the organisation’s risk management program is performing free of charge. Alternatively, you can invest in nominating others in your organisation to undertake the assessment who have greater insight on the risk management subject, such as the Chief Risk Officer or Risk Manager. This will provide a more comprehensive and holistic view of risk management in the organisation.
We believe taking a proactive approach to risk management sets the stage for transformative growth. For a modest fee, we will consolidate the results of all assessments undertaken using interactive dashboards in Power BI and provide you with a detailed report benchmarked against other organisations in our database. By providing deeper insights into your results, we can leverage our expertise to craft a tailored roadmap for advancing your risk maturity, provide access our extensive library of curated best practice templates, help you stay ahead with ongoing benchmarking and trends, and unlock subscription benefits with BarnOwl cloud, not to mention the additional benefits from our thought leadership and technology enablement services. We would welcome the opportunity to partner with your organisation as a trusted GRC advisor for ongoing support and guidance.