Jenny Novoa is senior director of risk management and safety at Gap Inc. in San Francisco and president of the Golden Gate chapter of the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc., which along with the RIMS Silicon Valley chapter is co-hosting the 2022 RIMS conference and exhibition. She recently spoke with Business Insurance Deputy Editor Claire Wilkinson about the annual event’s return to in person and issues facing risk managers in California. Edited excerpts follow.

Q: Tell us about Riskworld 2022. What are the highlights?

A: Coming out of COVID the biggest thing is to be able to meet in person, to take a class or ask a question. We’ve emerged from COVID with new issues that we’re all trying to navigate and some old issues as well. To be at a conference where you have all these resources, classes and sessions, the ability to network and reconnect — that’s what risk managers are most excited about. I’m also excited about showcasing the city. I love San Francisco. I was born and raised here; I raised my daughter here.

Q: What’s top of mind for risk managers in California?

A: COVID and managing the COVID regulations within California has been all-consuming, partly because I’m in retail, which is a customer-facing business. Now that we’re heading out of it, it’s the global impact. For us that’s been supply chain and adjusting to what the new reality is going to be. Cyber is a hot topic for a lot of risk managers and rightfully so because of the challenges. I’m going to be speaking at a session on cyber ransomware.

Q: Are you seeing any relief from the hard insurance market?

A: Yes, I just finished my property/casualty renewals, and the results were better than expected. A lot of that is about where the market is headed. It’s also about how you present your risks to the market, understanding the concerns of underwriters, so when they’re thinking about how to allocate their capital, they’re going to want to allocate it to you as a good risk. I budgeted for a much more difficult market, so I’m happy the results have come back better than expected.

Q: Is the talent shortage affecting risk managers?

A: Partly, yes. The days of old where you had these wonderful training programs within companies — a lot of them are gone, especially on the claims side. Some areas of risk management have lacked the training that’s needed. It really is for us as risk managers to develop that talent. I try to look for the right person. Are they going to have the qualities, the strengths to learn and spend the time to learn risk management? I can teach everybody about insurance or about claims, but do they have the soft skills, the negotiation and people skills?