Writing a blog about BREXIT to highlight the risks Britain could be facing over the next couple of months took numerous attempts. Trying to ensure that it has zero opinion and does not include speculation was almost impossible and I'm sure I'm not alone. With so much uncertainty the best thing an organisation can do is to ensure all of their procedures are effective, efficient, followed correctly and with all documentation up to date.
You have risks within every department of your business, but I would be shocked if BREXIT had not become a priority when announced back in 2016. Will this add more or reduce what is currently needing to be focused on? We do not know what legislations will put in place, or if the current ones will change but should they do so could you change your current infrastructure to align? According to the IIA, 82% of businesses will be affected by the risks associated with BREXIT, a statistic that should worry you and force you to be prepared.
Daily, I speak to people struggling with their various spreadsheets, version control, inspection follow-ups, and people management. If these struggles resonate with you now is the time to get them under control, prior to additional changes happening. Having a built-in and integrated system will automate your current workflows and increase efficiencies, allowing your team to spend more time investigating risk and completing other duties critical to their role. The cost of risk is likely to rise from business to business, so you need to take control now.
A good test to know if your current risks are being well handled is if your senior management can discuss them (strategic or not) and explain the data from the reports you pull. Is the information easily available to your senior management to understand why and where they link to the broader business? One of the issues which commonly arises in my discussions is that senior management can voice the risk, without knowing how it relates back to their strategy and business objectives – therefore not knowing why they are even discussing it.
When managing risk, following up on findings is so critical. In many organisations, there is one centralised spreadsheet or database which has the main purpose of tracking findings and follow-ups for risks. People I speak to are at the tipping point. No longer able to cope with the laborious administration of spreadsheets, there is the added risk of multiple versions being created and stored and therefore no single version of the truth available. Using an automated tool will not only provide a single version of the truth but also allow for automated follow up reminders and visual dashboards of risks.
BREXIT - Make sure you have a plan.
Discover today how Ideagen can help you manage your risks before and after Brexit
Fraser Doig
As Product Marketing Executive at Ideagen, Fraser is responsible for understanding the needs of our customers and how our software can help them become leaders in their industry. Fraser brings to his role a desire to help organisations drive quality and control in their business processes as a way of achieving operational excellence.