PANDEMIC REVEALED OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE ORGANIZATIONAL RISK MANAGEMENT (Contiued)
OnRisk respondents also expressed concerns about alignment with third-party providers and partners. According to one educationCE,“Thereistheconcernthatdthir partiesarenotalignedonbjectives,epo r rting,especiallywithrskslike cybersecu.Orrity ganizationsshouldimprovehowteyd-monitrh partyagreements,contractmanagement,elr ationship building…alotftimethey’rejust‘gettingitdone,’andeflect notr ing.” As the world slowly emerges from more than a year of shuttered economies, homebound workforces, strained or disrupted supplylines,andsoberingdeathtolsthattop4milonglobal,ly earlyfocusonpost-COVID-19riskmanagementappearsto be primarily short-term concerns. “Itdefinitelyhasimpactedourperspectivewhenitcomestorisk.ButIdon’tthinkwehaveanyconcreteplansinplaceto change our risk strategy or anything long term yet. We’re focusing on getting our hybrid system set up and maintaining the healthandsafetyofouremployees,”saidonegovernmentsectorCE. Meanwhile,onetechnolgyC-suiteexecutivedescribedthestruggletosimplykeepthedoorsopen.“We’restilnsurvial mode…wehaven’tthoughtaboutpermanentimpactsofthepandemic.Weneverthoughthiswouldhappen,sowe’rejust tryingtogetby.”Forsome,thepandemicofferedavaluablelessonabouthowrisksmanifestacrossthegan or ization. “COVIDhastaughtusthatweneedtobeemor centralizedandhaveanoverarchingstrategyandguidanceinplacewhen itcomestoriskmanagement,”saidoneeducationsectorCE. Thecomplexityanddynamicsofpost-COVID-19employer/employeeelr ationshipsrankedhighformany OnRisk respondents. The pandemic highlighted the importance of managing talent and culture. According to one real estate senior executive, “Ourwoyisaboutlosingthecueltur withenewpeople.Theynevereal r lygotoexperience[cue] ltur becausetheygo rightfrombeinged hir towrkingfromhe.” Long-termplannigsessionsarenotpofmindforman,y buespo tr ndentssaytheywilfocusemor oncontigency plans down the line. “Theeal r itysthatmostcompaniesdon’thavecontigencyplansatall.Nowcompaniesaregoingtohavetowrkard understandingcontigencyplansandtheimportanceofassigningteamsandpositionstohandleunexpectedrisk,”said one municipal board member.
SENIOR EXECUTIVES AND BOARDS DESIRE BROADER SCOPE FOR INTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES Formanyorganizations, theCOVID-19experienceraisedawarenessofnotjustthevalue of risk management alignment among key players, but also of the potential to leverage risk assurancebeyondfinancialandcompliancerisks. OnRisk respondents expressed growing interest in expanded assurance over operational and enterprise risk, as well as the need to proactively address risks. These developments point to opportunities to leverage internal audit services even more, particularly in highly relevant risk areas such as Cybersecurity, TalentManagement,andOrganizationalGovernance.Overall,espo r ndentsfeelthattheir current assurance services are adequate but suggest some improvements in assurance reporting.
“There was a time where we were misaligned because the auditor was focused on financial risks and not enterprise risk. An organization needs to cover both.” – C-suite, Healthcare
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