Real-Life Communication
Risk managers flex their communication skills constantly. They work
with employees at all levels of an organization to assess and manage the risks
involved in their work. Risks can't be managed without talking to people
who take them.
"The key to being a successful risk manager is getting
out and actually meeting the employees and letting them know what you do and
seeing what actually goes on at their location," says Ruth Unks. She is a
risk manager. "You really can't sit in an ivory tower and just mandate
certain things. You have to really get out there and be personable and help
out."
John Shorteed is the director of the Institute of Risk Research.
He says getting feedback from others helps a risk manager come up with the
best solutions to risk problems.
"You have to work a lot with other
people because when it comes to most risk problems, you don't know the
answer and you don't have the data. So you have to work with people to
find out a collective opinion on what's the right thing to do," says
Shorteed.
Written skills are used often in dealing with others. Whether
it be writing a risk assessment report on some issue for upper management
to mull over, or advising the public relations team on how they word a press
release, managing risks on paper is important.
"Good writing skills
are crucial," says Unks. "You have to be able to write fairly effectively
because a lot of risk management is making recommendations and then putting
those recommendations down on paper."
Also important is keeping a good
rapport with your main contacts. Although risk managers are used to touching
base with all employees, there are certain people they talk to every day.
These
are generally insurance brokers (when purchasing and claiming insurance) and
human resource managers (when dealing with employees' risks and workers'
compensation benefits).
You are a risk manager at a chemical processing
plant. You're dealing with a file where a floor worker has been off on
workers' compensation for six months after suffering mild chemical burns
on his hands. The leave is part of the company's health and wellness
program, which risk managers have to make sure isn't abused.
As
a risk manager, your main goal is to minimize losses to the company. Every
day the injured worker spends away from the job represents loss in productivity.
It's up to you to see what can be done about reducing the length of time
this worker spends on compensation, even if that means retraining him for
a role at the plant that doesn't require heavy use of his
hands.
Communicate these concerns and options to the company's
human resources manager in a 50- to 100-word e-mail. Ask her about the feedback
she's received from the injured worker's doctor regarding his recovery.
Send a copy of the e-mail to the company's insurance broker to keep him
up to speed.