It is critical to ensure that you understand the various risks your business might face, to ensure that you are prepared to navigate them. This means not just mitigating existing and emerging risks to ensure your business survives, but understanding how managing risk properly can be a business enabler, allowing you to seize opportunity where others step back.
We see risks continuing to increase in diversity and scale over the year ahead:
The global threat picture remains diverse and volatile. Geopolitical assessments remain grim, with escalating conflict in Ukraine, discontent elsewhere in Eastern Europe (such as Moldova), strikes and protests growing (as seen in the UK, France and elsewhere) and increasing US-China tensions be it “spy balloons” over North America or persistent questions over Taiwan and the South China Sea. The energy crisis may return in the Winter, while continued supply chain challenges, accompanied by rising costs and high inflation, mean every business is feeling the pinch. Poor economic conditions also lead to rising crime rates, leaving companies more vulnerable, including from insider threats.
Risk management plans need to be dynamic and flexible.
Our experiences from COVID-19 underline the need for a dynamic and flexible risk management strategy. Before 2019, no risk plans had a properly defined strategy for a global pandemic, and none considered the potential for a global impact on operations. Businesses that coped best with this unparalleled crisis were those where key decision makers were empowered to make critical decisions thanks to clearly understood, flexible governance structures, and a regular flow of on point risk intelligence.
Do not underestimate the complexity and potential impact of insider threats.
Of increasing significance for many businesses in the current climate, the impact of insider risks can be immediate and long term, often attracting significant media attention. Other examples are harder to identify and measure, but are just as corrosive and damaging. As well as the obvious commercial impact, they can deter investors and affect the ability to recruit and retain. A consistent lesson from insider cases are the warning signs which, if recognised and acted upon, might have prevented the damage. Businesses should be addressing this risk now, bringing together HR, ethics, compliance, security and safety programmes to create a trusted environment.
Generic risk advice, while useful, will set an overly cautious course.
But how does a company achieve all this? Relying on generic risk assessments is not enough. Especially in today’s volatile climate, these will necessarily tend to be risk averse. Only by understanding the unique position of your business can tailored advice and ongoing counsel provide you with true assurance to take critical decisions and seize opportunities.
Lower risk opportunities are harder to come by and limiting to business development.
Some businesses seek to operate within an established comfort zone, where risks are known and understood. But with growing volatility, these opportunities are becoming harder to identify. Moreover, it is ever more important to ensure existing risk management processes are current and fit for purpose. An improved risk strategy will open new horizons, and allow your business to pursue more profitable opportunities safely and with assurance.
Tiller can help your business to be risk ready.
For many businesses, accessing this level of counsel may feel like a challenge, but there is help at hand. Tiller takes time to understand your business, and tailors risk advice to your unique circumstances.
We ensure that existing structures and processes accurately identify emerging risks, empowering your people to do their jobs with confidence. We find, assess and deliver the key intelligence you need to make critical decisions. We specialise in working with funds and family offices, building a flexible relationship that understands you may only need specialist risk advice for a few key decision points each year.
