Risk managers who are preparing to implement an enterprise risk management process should be ready to mitigate opposition from middle and lower management, experts warn.

To counter resistance, experts recommend risk managers address it before implementing the process. They suggest risk managers demonstrate that ERM is a tool managers can use to improve unit performance and promote their individual worth.

That demonstration is "critically important" to the success of the process, said Laura Taylor, a New York-based managing director at Aon Global Risk Consulting, a unit of Aon Corp.

Risk managers also need a senior manager to co-champion ERM in addition to top management support in general, experts say.

Some experts say a company's culture may promote immediate management acceptance of ERM, but most experts point out that risk managers typically encounter resistance, foot-dragging or fence-sitting from managers who fear ERM threatens their jobs or dilutes their authority.

Unit managers perceive ERM as a spotlight that illuminates losses and potential risks, which "doesn't paint them in a positive light," said James Lam, president of James Lam & Associates Inc. in Wellesley, Mass.

So management resistance is a challenge that risk managers "should expect almost 100% of the time," as Mr. Lam said he has experienced as an ERM consultant and a chief risk officer.

The mistake many risk managers make is ignoring how ERM could help managers and instead focusing either on ERM's role in devising corporate strategy or immediately bogging down managers in the implementation process, experts say.

"I think that's a common mistake," said John Phelps, director of business risk solutions at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida Inc. in Jacksonville and former chairman of the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.'s Enterprise Risk Management Committee.

Mr. Phelps, who implemented an ERM process 10 years ago, said middle management initially resisted it because the process--which he ultimately modified to mitigate opposition--"wasn't personal enough for them."

"Once they understand it's about their success, there is a lot of buy-in," said Carol Fox, director of risk management at Cincinnati-based Convergys Corp., which implemented its ERM process in 2004.

Ways to win support

Experts offered various suggestions to win managers' support.

First, risk managers must ensure that senior management not only genuinely supports ERM but also understands it, said Jim DeLoach, a Houston-based managing director in the governance, risk and compliance solutions practice at Protiviti Inc., a consulting and auditing subsidiary of Robert Half International Inc.

"Very few" companies that implement ERM use it to help senior management take a strategic view of risk, Mr. DeLoach said.

So, the first challenge for many risk managers is positioning themselves to be able to challenge senior management without jeopardizing their positions, he said.

If senior management has the correct understanding of ERM but lower management resists it, the problem is not ERM-centric, said Joan Schmit, the American Family Insurance chair of risk management and insurance and a senior associate dean at University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Instead, management's resistance to ERM and change in general "reflects how people see themselves within the organization" and is a systemic problem organizations have to correct, Ms. Schmit said.

In the meantime, risk managers can convince managers of ERM's value before resistance takes root, several experts say. Many experts suggest taking a multipronged approach.

At SMART Business Advisory & Consulting L.L.C., Howard Stecker, a New York-based senior vp, and John McLaughlin, a Philadelphia-based senior managing director, advised risk managers to explain the process, outline everyone's role and define the "end state," or how the board or chief executive officer envisions the company managing risk.

Messrs. Stecker and McLaughlin also suggest bringing groups of managers together to share information on their units' top risks and to offer their opinions on how others throughout the organization view risk. Few organizations provide managers that kind of sharing experience, they said, which means managers often have no context to understand the risks their organizations face and the resources available to address them.

A robust marketing campaign should come next to ensure ERM is embedded in the company's culture, they said.

Pilot project

Another approach that often promotes management support of ERM is a pilot project, Aon's Ms. Taylor noted.

A risk manager would have to find one manager who embraces ERM from the outset and run a pilot project in the manager's unit. The project's success and the manager's testimony can create buy-in throughout the organization, Ms. Taylor said.

Mr. Lam maintained that risk managers who adopt seven principles will obtain and retain middle- and lower-management support. He said risk managers should:

c Simplify the ERM process, because "people don't do what they don't understand."

c Communicate its purpose.

c Provide training.

c Personalize it to help managers achieve their objectives.

c Demonstrate how it adds value to the managers' business operation.

c Monitor performance.

c Tie performance to compensation.

While "getting it right early in the process is extremely important," companies that didn't and now face management resistance still can generate support for ERM, said attorney John Landis, a partner with Foley & Lardner L.L.P. in Chicago.

Mr. Landis, who often works with brokers on ERM consulting projects, said he has seen new management at companies with ineffective ERM processes win support by investing time in management discussions about how the process could benefit individual managers as well as the company.