Key to ISO 31000 Success – Theme 1: Support from the Top is a Necessity
To successfully manage risk, an Enterprise Risk Management initiative must be enterprise wide and viewed as an important and strategic effort. Support from the company board is needed to get the right focus, resources and attention for Enterprise Risk Management.
Although it is not the job of the company’s board to manage the Enterprise Risk Management activities, they do need to demonstrate clear support for the Enterprise Risk Management initiative as well as oversee what senior management has designed and implemented to manage top risk exposures. Thus, Enterprise Risk Management must be enterprise wide, and understood and embraced by its personnel, and driven from the top down through clear and consistent communication and messaging from the company’s board to senior management and to the whole organization as a whole.
It is the responsibility of company’s board to set the right tone for Enterprise Risk Management, and ensure that management is devoting the right attention and resources to Enterprise Risk Management.
What’s more, the company board needs to put in place an effective Enterprise Risk Management leader who is widely respected across the organization and who has accepted responsibility for overall Enterprise Risk Management leadership, resources and support to accomplish the effort.
