Extending and obtaining the skill set–Nordics

Like many of their colleagues from across Europe that took part in the survey they also said a thorough understanding of the business, independence and a strategic overview are valued commodities. “Risk management is about communication and the ability to convince people internally about its benefits and to motivate them,” said Fredrik Finnman, Swerma’s president and Group Risk and Insurance Manager at ASSA ABLOY. It requires drive and courage to convince people internally about risk management, he added. “So perseverance and the ability to sell what you do are key qualities of a good risk manager. You need to be able to explain what risk management is on a basic level to people who are yet to accept the message,” he said.hideAnders Esbjörnsson, Ferma board member and Group Risk Manager at construction firm NCC AB, said that traditional risk management skills will always be needed but that communication and psychological skills are increasingly important. “The more experienced and older generation of risk managers are extremely good technically, but to be successful today it is more and more important to be able to communicate and handle people, both within and outside of the organisation. These are the most essential new skills that are needed,” added the Swedish risk manager. He believes that there is ‘still a long way to go’ for many risk managers to get up to speed in these key areas. Communicating to top management requires risk managers, many of whom come from the insurance industry, to move away from overly technical insurance terms and language in order to be understood by business colleagues, continued the Swedish risk manager. “This is a challenge for us as a profession to overcome,” said Mr Esbjörnsson. “We are working on it but there is a long way to go.” He also said that modern risk managers must be flexible and responsive to change in their industry and the risk landscape. “We must quite quickly learn how to handle these new risks. So we must not only look at traditional risk, we must keep a close eye on new developments in risk,” he added. Fellow participant Lassi Väisänen, Executive Director of Finnish risk management association FinnRima, agreed that communication skills and the ability to cooperate across the business and corporate functions are key skills for risk managers. He also listed a good understanding of the business, an ability to foresee, in cooperation with other functions, the biggest uncertainties and risks and avoiding silos as key to the risk function. Mr Väisänen added that risk managers must be able to make clear the likely financial impact of risks on company results. “You need to be able to transfer risk information in a format that enables people to see risk impact at profit and loss and balance sheet levels. You must understand what are the biggest risk areas from profit and loss and the balance sheet point of view,” he explained. Swerma board member Susanne Ström said that successful risk managers must be independent, accountable, have integrity, maintain a group-wide perspective, be good communicators and understand the strategy and risk management connections of an organisation. Obtaining the skill set Obtaining the new skills increasingly demanded of risk managers as they broaden their role is a conundrum for the profession. While Nordic experts believe part of the answer simply lies in gaining experience, they recognise the need for better education and training. As Mr Esbjörnsson said, experience is important but there is a need to broaden the education on offer. “When you look at risk management education programmes there is a real need to add communication and human behaviour skills to many courses. So we are talking about learning more on soft details in risk—how human behaviour affects risk as opposed to just the technical side of things, such as setting up a sprinkler to manage fire risk,” he said. He noted that the European risk management certification scheme currently being tackled by Ferma is an important initiative, particularly as it will require certified risk managers to embark on continuous professional development. “You need to have continuous training and education and attend risk management seminars,” said Mr Esbjörnsson. “If an insurance risk manager from an insurance background is not active in attending seminars, courses and training programmes he or she will lose the skills related to insurance and the very reason they were hired. The risk management associations must be aware of this and deliver ongoing learning opportunities to their members. Ferma can then act in a coordination role and add value,” he suggested. Mr Finnman argued that business experience and understanding its core functions are hugely beneficial for risk managers. “For myself working in a multinational company it helps that I have experience in functions outside of risk within the same industry because then I can understand the type of people I am working with,” he said. Ms Ström said formal risk management training enables risk managers to better understand the big picture. But this should be supplemented by specialist training—in areas such as insurance, engineering or financials—depending on the specific tasks of individual risk managers, she added.

Extending and obtaining the skill set–Nordics

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