A grand vision–Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor, an award- winning risk manager with plenty of experience as international companies and risk management associations, will hand over the chair of Airmic at the end of this year’s annual conference in Liverpool this week.

His particular strength in enterprise risk management has seen him focus on the bigger strategic picture during his stint at the helm of the UK insurance and risk management association. His main achievements have been to give the association a long-term strategic focus, that should see the organisation better serve its members and seek professional status, a goal that Mr Taylor sees as essential if risk managers are to drive the risk management agenda in years to come.

“Airmic’s chief executive John Hurrell runs an excellent ship and leads a very professional team serving the association,” said Mr Taylor, who is also Director of Risk and Insurance at Morgan Crucible plc. “So this has allowed me as chairman to take a more strategic view and push in areas where I think that there is room for change, rather than get involved in the day-to-day running.”

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Unencumbered by the daily management of the association, Mr Taylor was able to focus his energies and experience on the bigger picture, namely the future development of the association.

“Airmic has been good at addressing current issues and planning for the one- to two-year horizon,” said Mr Taylor. “But I wanted us to have a 10-year vision, a strategic objective or road map of where Airmic should be going. The executive board, which includes future successor chairs of Airmic, are involved in the vision, and this gives us a direction to work towards. It may require tinkering but the vision will inform Airmic’s long-term thinking,” he said.

The 10-year strategy will see Airmic consolidate its position as the UK’s leading organisation for insurance and enterprise risk management professionals. The plan currently sets out a vision for four main areas: professional development for members; recognition of the profession; thought leadership and keeping Airmic healthy and objective.

“Getting risk management recognised as a profession is a goal that is very close to my heart,” said Mr Taylor. “The profession is not recognised at present—the qualifications are not generally recognised outside the risk management community, but risk managers should be on the same professional footing as other professions like accountants and engineers,” he said.

Risk management in the UK should be working towards chartered status, said Mr Taylor. “We should aim to work higher up the business tree with organisations such as the Institute of Directors and the Confederation of British Industry. If we can get recognition for risk management from these organisations it will help the cause of Airmic’s members and the profession as a whole,” he said.

Like some other professions, for example engineering, risk management is not one, but many disciplines. There are many types of risk management, ranging from the financial risk management of the banking sector, to roles that include combinations of enterprise risk management, insurance purchasing, business continuity planning, project management and health and safety.

And as risk management has started to feature more in corporate governance and strategic planning, other professions like accounting are vying to shape the role. But the jury is still out in terms of who will ultimately drive and shape the direction of risk management, said Mr Taylor. It is likely to ‘morph’ into something other than what we see today. And as it develops it will need wider recognition if it is to survive as a profession in its own right, he said.

“There is a risk that the profession will be overtaken by a particular strand of risk management, such as financial services,” said Mr Taylor. “If we don’t try to stay in front and move with the pack we will get left behind. It is much better that we are part of the development of risk management,” he said.

Airmic could well look like a very different organisation in 10 years’ time, moving from a trade association to a professional body for its members, said Mr Taylor. In the past year Airmic has already started this journey, with things moving quicker than expected, he said.

There have been past attempts to gain recognition for risk managers, some more successful than others. The Dutch risk management association tried in vain to gain accreditation for risk managers some five years ago, although the UK public sector risk management association has recently been more successful in defining the role of risk management and setting standards.

“The time is now ripe to work towards getting the role of risk managers recognised in the United Kingdom,” believes Mr Taylor. Airmic will now work with a number of other bodies in the UK to that end, he said.

Initially the work of getting risk management recognised will concentrate on the United Kingdom, although the aim would be to also gain recognition of UK risk management in Europe, said Mr Taylor. “Europe is always present at the back of my mind. It will be a challenge, but we should aim to link up with what other trade associations are doing where possible,” said Mr Taylor, a former board member of the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA).

Europe, and the world at large, has been more relevant to the work of many UK risk managers of late. They have had a challenging time this past year, with the world growing perceptively riskier, while organisations are seemingly growing more risk averse, said Mr Taylor.

“The past year has been amazing in terms of the broader context for risk management—with the European debt crisis, major catastrophic disasters and their impact on supply chains and more recently the first signs of a slowdown in the Chinese economy.”

This year is also set to be a year of political change with a change of leadership in France, Netherlands, Russia, China and presidential elections in the United States, he said.

“The environment in which risk managers are now working is hugely challenging,” said Mr Taylor. “Increasingly we see more risks on the agendas of risk managers, such as those related to cyber, supply chains, financial security and ethical risks through legislation like the UK Bribery Act,” he said.

“We also have seen appetite for risk reduce in these tough times as people are less willing to take risks. Companies are not expanding or investing as much as they previously did,” he said.

As well as a challenge, the current environment can also be seen as an opportunity for some risk managers, depending on their company’s view of risk and where risk management is positioned. Risk managers in senior positions are more likely to be consulted on strategic risk issues, he said.

Risk managers can support their companies by assessing and mitigating risk, but also by challenging perceptions, said Mr Taylor. They can even help their companies with the macro issues like the European debt crisis.

Risk managers can think through the potential consequences and business impact of a splintering of the eurozone, such as the possible effect on manufacturing sites and demand for products and services in European markets.

Airmic continues to support its members in these challenging times, by offering professional learning as well as producing guides to managing risks like supply chain and cyber, said Mr Taylor.

More time and energy has also gone into the Airmic academy, which continues to enjoy popularity among members with another year of high attendance, said Mr Taylor. The association has also recently put a mentoring system in place, to help younger and new risk managers get a foothold.

“We are beginning to see new people get involved in Airmic and we actively encourage that. There is a great opportunity for a younger chairman of Airmic to promote this in the organisation, and it will be great to see some younger blood come in with fresh ideas.”

The long-term vision will help bring all Airmic’s initiatives together into a more coherent framework for professional development, said Mr Taylor. It is already helping the board of Airmic identify gaps in its member services and highlight areas that need improving, he said.

“It is all about personal and professional development and doing your job well,” said Mr Taylor. And it is about getting recognised in your organisation as a profession that adds value to the business. Airmic is here to provide the means for risk managers to do that,” he said.

As chairman, Mr Taylor has learnt patience and to trust others in order to get things done. “My time as chair also taught me to not take on too much and to focus on the key issues where I can get things done. So the long-term vision was an ideal project for me to push forward,” he said.

The struggle in an organisation like Airmic is always to get the membership involved, said Mr Taylor. Associations are often made possible by the work of a small number of dedicated members. “It would be great to encourage more people to get involved and spread the workload, which would enable Airmic to do much more for its members,” said Mr Taylor.