Pandemic bolsters enterprise risk management: RIMS

Nearly half of organizations increased their reporting of pandemic risks in response to COVID-19, while 34% increased their focus on low-likelihood/high-impact risks, the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. said in a report Monday.

Some 22% saw an increase in resources allocated for enterprise risk management as a result of pandemic challenges, “signaling an increasing appreciation for the contribution of risk management,” the RIMS 2020 Enterprise Risk Management Benchmark survey found.

COVID-19 has changed governance oversight of risk management, according to 20% of respondents, whether via new executive leadership, management level committee oversight or board-level oversight.

“The COVID-19 pandemic triggered both increased scrutiny and visibility of risk management as it highlighted the interdependencies of risk throughout an organization’s ecosystem,” the report said.

More than 50% of ERM programs have shifted their focus to health and safety and business continuity in response to the pandemic, RIMS said.

Some 98% of organizations have a fully or partially integrated ERM, up 26% from 2017, the report said.

In addition, some 76% of senior leadership teams and boards apply ERM insights into business decisions, the survey found.

“Enterprise risk management is now an accepted mainstream business discipline. That said, work still needs to be done to make ERM fully integrated, agile and proactive,” the survey said.

The report comprises responses to two different surveys, collected via a web link from the end of July to mid-September 2020.

Some 288 risk management professionals across more than 14 industries responded to the ERM survey, while 613 risk management professionals responded to the ERM COVID-19 survey.