RIMScast

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Michael Zuraw about his career in risk management, including how the CHIPS Act impacts him and what it takes to lead ERM at a semiconductor manufacturer. Justin asks about Michael’s RIMS ERM Award win, how new leadership at Onsemi has reacted to the program, how involved new leadership is in ERM, and how the program has changed since the win. Michael tells about his ERM 2024 sessions and how he likes his work with the SERMC.   Listen for ERM tips for improvement for your organization.   Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS. [:15] About this episode. Our guest is Michael Zuraw of On Semiconductor. He’s a past recipient of the ERM Award of Distinction. We will discuss what it takes to maintain an award-winning ERM program. [:41] Events! This is the last call for the RIMS Chicago Chapter’s Chicagoland Risk Forum, which will be held on September 19th, 2024 at the Old Post office. There is no charge for risk management professionals or risk department staff! Register at ChicagolandRiskForum.org. [1:05] We are just a few weeks away from the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register. [1:19] Registration is also open for the RIMS Western Regional, which will be held from September 29th through October 1st at the Sun River Resort in Oregon. Register at RIMSWesternRegional.com. [1:33] We want you to join us in Boston on November 18th and 19th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2024. The full agenda is live. It runs the gamut of ERM. Check it out! A link to register is on this page. [1:49] All RIMS regional conference information can be found on the Events page at RIMS.org. [1:55] RIMS-CRMP-FED! The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Course will be hosted along with George Mason University from December 3rd through the 5th. Links to these courses can be found through the certification page of RIMS.org and this episode’s show notes. [2:12] RIMS Virtual Workshops! On October 9th and 10th, Chris Hansen returns to deliver Fundamentals of Insurance. He’s very popular in the Workers’ Comp space. [2:30] In our prior episode, we had Elise Farnham of Illumine Consulting join us. She will be leading two upcoming courses for us. On September 25th and 26th, we’ve got Applying and Integrating ERM and on October 3rd and 4th, we have Fundamentals of Risk Management. [2:47]  Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops Calendar of RIMS.org/virtualworkshops. [2:56] Interview! Our guest today, Michael Zuraw, is a member of our Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council and is the Senior Director for Global Enterprise Risk Management at On Semiconductor. [3:16] I met Michael at the RIMS ERM Conference 2019 in New Orleans, where he accepted an ERM Global Award of Distinction honor for the program he leads at Onsemi. I wanted to catch up with him now and see how the program is evolving under new company leadership. [3:38] Michael will be presenting or co-presenting three sessions at the RIMS ERM Conference 2024 in Boston, so we’ll talk all about that and we’ll get his philosophies on what it takes to keep an award-winning ERM program going strong in 2024. Michael Zuraw, welcome to RIMScast! [4:21] Michael shares his memories of the RIMS ERM Conference 2019 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans. That was his first RIMS ERM event. He notes how collaborative ERM professionals are, whatever their industry or employer. [5:30] Justin and Michael collaborated on an interview for the ERM Q&A series. A link is in this interview’s show notes. Since then, they have met at RISKWORLD and ERM Conferences. Michael feels honored to serve on the RIMS Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council. [6:15] Michael is the co-author of two upcoming RIMS Executive Reports and White Papers. The first is part of a series of scenario-planning guides, about the Pre-Mortem Exercise to unlock some risk identification and help to manage biases and risks that might cause you to fail. [7:00] The second paper is on risk interdependencies or interconnectedness. Risks don’t stay in silos. We have risk registers by which we manage and organize risks, but generally, we underestimate risk because we don’t account for the cascading effect of risk events. [7:45] Justin will update the show notes for this episode to reflect when these two papers come out. After September, listeners can check out the show notes and download these papers. [8:15] Michael has been in ERM at Onsemi for 10 years. His bachelor’s and master’s degrees are in electrical engineering. He worked in telecom before semiconductors. He worked on the business management side. [8:45] When Onsemi formalized its ERM program, it named a Chief Risk Officer. Michael had a conversation with him. If risk is going to be treated as part of a strategy, Michael was interested. If it was a governance or reporting function, it wasn’t for Michael. [9:08] The Chief Risk Officer had a similar philosophy. He delegated putting the program together to Michael and supported him with what he needed. Michael had a lot of freedom. He’s been doing it ever since. [9:54] Michael discusses how the CHIPS Act impacts Onsemi. They have a government affairs group to focus on that. Michael is always looking at what parts of their manufacturing and infrastructure need to expand. [10:25] The CHIPS Act provides an incentive for doing more pieces in the U.S. There are similar programs in other countries where Onsemi has a footprint. Onsemi is in 10 countries with 20-plus manufacturing sites and more, including sales and support functions. [10:50] Michael says they’re always reviewing their footprint, where they need to expand, and how. Expanding the manufacturing of semiconductors takes tens of millions of dollars and years to build. When there is government support, every semiconductor company takes note. [11:46] Onsemi is a tech-heavy, engineering-heavy global company with 30,000 employees. You have to get very analytical with the engineering group. [12:33] Engineers are trained to solve problems full-speed ahead, using key assumptions they have in their heads. Michael is asking the organization to step back and hear what those assumptions are first. An assumption may be based 90% in fact but 10% in uncertainty. [13:19] Michael asks the organization to discuss the 10% probability that the opposite is true. That’s where the risk lies. Can they make that 10% likelihood into 2%? That’s risk mitigation. [13:34] In tech-heavy industries, we acknowledge and respect engineering training to solve problems, drive solutions, and work within their vocabulary. How do we put a risk framework into that model so the company’s risk profile can be improved? It takes time. [14:02] Is Michael a patient person? It depends! More often than not. [14:53] When Michael won the ERM Global Award of Distinction for the ERM program at Onsemi, the Chief Risk Officer called the Chairman of the Board and the Risk Committee to let them know of the Award. It was vindication that the company was going in the right direction. [15:34] The Risk department felt they were seeing the positive impact of the ERM Program. They saw the industry felt the emerging risk topic they submitted with their application was innovative and positive. [15:55] That program within the ERM Program was well-regarded within the company and led people to think about the future and get into an open discussion. People wanted to participate. [16:30] About four years ago, Onsemi’s long-time COO retired and new leadership came in. Michael tells how the ERM Program changed with the new leadership. They were much more focused on accountability and ownership. They wanted to remove self-reporting. [18:47] It’s RIMS Plug Time! RIMS Webinars! On September 19th, Origami Risk returns to deliver Leveraging Integrated Risk Management For Strategic Advantage. On September 26th, Archer returns to discuss The Future of RMIS: Beyond Traditional Approaches. [19:07] On October 3rd, Diligent will host Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors for Strategic Advantage. On October 10th, Zurich returns to present Long-Term Property Strategies for a Resilient Future. [19:24] On October 24th, HUB International returns for the fourth installment of their Ready for Tomorrow series, From AI to the SEC: The Future of D&O Litigation and Regulatory Exposures. [19:37] On November 4th, Justin will be hosting a special RIMS Webinar Presentation, Lessons from Veterans on Strategic Risk Leadership. That session will feature insights and perspectives from risk managers who had previously served in the U.S. Armed Services. [19:56] More webinars will be announced soon and added to the RIMS.org/webinars page. Go there to register. As always, registration is complimentary for RIMS members.  [20:08] The Spencer Educational Foundation’s goal is to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals. That is achieved, in part, by a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada. [20:23] Whether you want to apply for a grant, participate in the Risk Manager on Campus program, or just learn more about Spencer, visit SpencerEd.org. [20:33] On that note, applications are being accepted for internship grants. Since 1999, Spenser has awarded over $2.7 million in internship grants to over 540 recipients. To be eligible, risk managers must be based in the United States, Canada, or Bermuda. [20:51] The application deadline is October 15th, 2024. Awardees are typically notified at the beginning of December. A link to the Internship Grants page is in this episode’s show notes. [21:05] Let’s Return to My Interview with Michael Zuraw! [21:23] The program shifted with new management to an open 45-minute interview. Michael

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Elise Farnham about how ERM has changed, how new policies like the SEC climate disclosures influence the ERM landscape, and Elise’s risk philosophy. They discuss whether organizational leaders are placing more value on ERM programs, and the biggest challenge for a risk practitioner to turn theory into practice. When did you first understand how the fundamentals of risk management can be used to form decisions beneficial to an organization? What are some commonalities among the risk professionals you've come across in the RIMS virtual workshops (or RIMS events)?   Listen for insight on risk management basics and more wisdom for your organization.   Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS. [:15] About this episode. [:30] Events! We’ve got the DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event happening on September 19th in Irving, Texas. Learn more about that event in Episode 299, which features an interview with the Texas State Office of Risk Management. [:49] Also on September 19th is the RIMS Chicago Chapter’s Chicagoland Risk Forum 2024. Register at ChicagolandRiskForum.org. [:58] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register. [1:11] Registration is also open for the RIMS Western Regional, which will be held from September 29th through October 1st at the Sun River Resort in Oregon. Register at RIMSWesternRegional.com. [1:25] We want you to join us in Boston on November 18th and 19th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2024. The full agenda is live. It runs the gamut of ERM. Check it out! A link to register is on this page. [1:40] All RIMS regional conference information can be found on the Events page at RIMS.org. [1:46] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Course will be hosted along with George Mason University from December 3rd through the 5th. Links to these courses can be found through the certification page of RIMS.org and this episode’s show notes. [2:04] RIMS Virtual Workshops! On October 9th and 10th, Chris Hansen returns to deliver Fundamentals of Insurance. He’s very popular in the Workers’ Comp space. Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops Calendar of RIMS.org/virtualworkshops.  [2:27] Interview! We will be chatting with Elise Farnham of Illumine Consulting. Elise is very well known among the RIMS membership as she has been one of our instructors for the past 30 years! [2:43] Elise will be leading two upcoming courses for us here at RIMS. On September 25th and 26th, we’ve got Applying and Integrating ERM and on October 3rd and 4th, we have Fundamentals of Risk Management. [2:57] Elise will let us in on what it takes to apply and integrate ERM into an organization’s framework and operations and we will talk about her ERM philosophies. Elise Farnham, welcome to RIMScast! [3:24] This year, Elise celebrated her 51st year in the risk and insurance industry. It’s been an amazingly great career. She started in claims in the mid-seventies. She got involved with RIMS when she started working with large corporate clients in the late seventies and early eighties. [3:52] Elise took an interest in what RIMS was working to accomplish, reducing claims, all while she was working for a claims management firm. Elise has been working with RIMS since 1995. [4:51] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. [5:06] Elise became aware of the concept of ERM in the late nineties. She thought it would be a difficult job. ERM professionals have grown, frameworks have been developed, and we’ve seen some companies that lacked ERM fail spectacularly. [5:44] It has become evident that every company has to take the resources and strengths that they have, look at their entire risk picture, and turn what could be a bad situation into something positive for their organization. [6:17] Elise talks a lot in her classes about how to convert a problem into an opportunity that might help an organization. ERM has changed a lot in the last five years. Justin and Elise comment on how the pandemic may have helped companies realize the importance of ERM. [6:42] All of a sudden, companies were faced with a type of loss that came out of the blue. COVID-19 was the “black swan” that we will remember and write about for years to come. [7:00] How companies dealt with it, the resources they had to use, and changes to their work processes were all things that ERM considers. [7:14] Elise Farnham will be leading Applying and Integrating ERM on September 25th and 26th. [7:27] How does the SEC climate disclosure announcement change or influence the ERM landscape? It will impact how companies report their exposure. It will probably require some new technology to bring forward all of the information they will have to submit. [7:53] Elise thinks that will be a challenge for companies because there is a rule they will have to follow. Collecting data from every bit of an organization will be a significant challenge. It may help organizations use a good ERM program. It requires penetrating the silos to follow the law. [8:33] ERM will help companies to see the cumulative effect of risk. What if two bad things happen at one time? Getting more companies to have an ERM program will have a positive effect. It will be a lot of work to get there. [9:02] Elise has always been an optimist. She always tries to look at how this can benefit us. Perhaps that’s why she has embraced ERM. It’s not about how we can get hurt but how we can use a bad situation to make things better for the organization. She knows how difficult it can be. [9:55] Elise tells risk managers, “You don’t want to be the one to go in and say, ‘We just lost all of this.’ You don’t want that to happen. That’s a horrible situation to be in.” [10:12] It’s much better to say, ‘I just saved you this much money because we have a policy in place, our people all know what to do, and this has never happened to us as it did to that other company.’” That’s where Elise wants her risk managers to be. [10:46] Elise believes that today, organizational leaders put more value on ERM programs. The catch is understanding the amount of work that has to go into one. It takes resources and people to explore the organization, down to the risk owner, who may be on the factory floor. [11:17] The risk owner may not have risk management experience. Almost everybody has the philosophy that “it couldn’t happen to us.” Understanding that something bad could happen and preparing for it in advance will be a challenge for them. [11:42] The C-Suite understands the value of ERM. It’s a matter of applying the resources and following through. In her classes, Elise goes through the steps to take along the way. The feedback she gets is often, “Whew! That will take us a lot of time and effort!” They got the point! [12:08] It’s RIMS Plug Time! RIMS Webinars! On September 12th, HUB International returns to deliver the third part of their Ready for Tomorrow series, Pivot and Swerve: Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics. [12:26] Also on September 12th is a complimentary webinar presented by the RIMS-CRMP and UCLA Extension, The Many Routes to Becoming an Enterprise Risk Management Practitioner. [12:36] On September 19th, Origami Risk returns to deliver Leveraging Integrated Risk Management For Strategic Advantage. On September 26th, Archer returns to discuss The Future of RMIS: Beyond Traditional Approaches. [12:54] On October 3rd, Diligent will host Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors for Strategic Advantage. On October 10th, Zurich returns to present Long-Term Property Strategies for a Resilient Future. [13:11] More webinars will be announced soon and added to the RIMS.org/webinars page. Go there to register. As always, registration is complimentary for RIMS members.  [13:23] The Spencer Educational Foundation’s goal is to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals. That is achieved, in part, by a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada. [13:37] Whether you want to apply for a grant, participate in the Risk Manager on Campus program, or just learn more about Spencer, visit SpencerEd.org. [13:47] On September 12th, 2024, we look forward to seeing you at the Spencer Funding Their Future Gala at The Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. Purchase your tickets in advance because there is no guaranteed seating! [14:03] Our recent guest from Episode 293, Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray, will be our honoree. [14:09] Lilian is the Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Alliant Insurance Services and she will be honored for her valuable contributions to supporting the future of risk management and insurance. [14:26] That was a great episode, so after you finish this one, please go back and listen to Episode 293. [14:32] Let’s Return to Our Interview with Elise Farnham! [15:14] Elise loves this business, and helping risk managers do a better job. It’s very fulfilling. [15:51] The philosophical aspect of risk management is very logical. The real-world work part of it is almost drudgery, pulling information from everywhere within an organization, making people understand that they could have a problem if we don’t take care of it. [16:16] Thinking of combining several problems at once is hard for some people to imagine. Bringing people into the real world of risk is one of the biggest problems; getting them to understand that, yes, this could happen to them. [16:40] Elise’s family members have called her for advice after some unforeseen event, saying “I didn’t know this could happen!” Yet, the stats are out there. The stories are out there. It’s just, “It could never happen to me!” Risk ma

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews RIMS General Counsel and VP of External Affairs Mark Prysock about the RIMS Advocacy, the RIMS Legislative Summit being postponed to Q1 2025 to work with a fresh Congress and Administration. Mark covers a few of the important legislative issues potentially affecting RIMS and RIMS members, including the Tomorrow’s Workforce Act, the negative impact of increasing the tax burden on 501(c)(6) non-profit organizations like RIMS, and the national security issues at stake if nothing is done to make third party litigation funding transparent. Listen for information and inspiration to get more involved in RIMS Advocacy.   Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS. [:15] About this episode. Justin introduces return guest Mark Prysock, RIMS General Counsel and VP of External Affairs. [:42] Events! We’ve got the DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event happening on September 19th in Irving, Texas. Learn more about that event in Episode 299, which features an interview with the Texas State Office of Risk Management. [1:00] Also on September 19th is the RIMS Chicago Chapter’s Chicagoland Risk Forum 2024. Register at ChicagolandRiskForum.org. [1:09] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register. [1:21] Registration is also open for the RIMS Western Regional, which will be held from September 29th through October 1st at the Sun River Resort in Oregon. Register at RIMSWesternRegional.com. [1:35] We want you to join us in Boston on November 18th and 19th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2024. The agenda is live. The keynote will be announced soon. We want to see you there! A link is on this page. [1:50] All RIMS regional conference information can be found on the Events page at RIMS.org. [1:57] If you want to present a session at RISKWORLD 2025 in Chicago, you are in luck! The deadline to submit your session has been extended to Monday, September 9th, 2024. A link is in this episode’s notes. [2:12] We will be bringing out Mark Prysock in just a moment but before we get started, let’s talk RIMS Webinars! All RIMS Webinars registration pages are available through RIMS.org/webinars. [2:26] On September 5th, Merrill Herzog makes their RIMS Webinars debut with the Role of Insurance in Building Resilience Against an Active Assailant Attack. [2:35] On September 19th, Origami Risk returns to deliver Leveraging Integrated Risk Management For Strategic Advantage. On September 26th, Archer returns to explore The Future of RMIS: Beyond Traditional Approaches. Webinars for October are also available. [2:52] Justin jumped ahead a little bit, though. On September 12th, HUB International returns to deliver the third part of their Ready for Tomorrow series, Pivot and Swerve: Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics. [3:07] Justin is delighted to be joined by the moderator for that session, the Chief Marketing Officer for Canada at HUB International, Linda Regner Dykeman. Justin welcomes Linda to RIMScast and introduces the upcoming global webinar on staying agile that Linda will host. [3:38] The webinar will be at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 12th. Linda says they will be discussing current market trends and challenges. The industry has been able to produce some very strong profits over the last few years. [3:52] The market needed correction after many years of unprofitability driven by weather events in the property line where rates seemed to be unsustainable. Casualty also had its issues, particularly with Directors and Officers Liability. [4:10] As a result of the profitability the industry was able to achieve over the last few years, most carriers have become more competitive in growing their books of business. This competition is not being seen in all lines, segments, or geographies. [4:27] Some catastrophe-prone zones such as BC and Alberta have not seen the same level of competition across the board. As the market transitions from a hard market to a competitive environment, there is some unusual and inconsistent behavior. [4:44] Carriers in Canada are being more flexible with their appetite. London is looking to grow significantly over the next couple of years with goals of hitting $100 billion by 2025. Add to that NGAs who are seeing their market share change as local carriers become more competitive. [5:02] As we transition out of what was considered to be a hard market, we see a lot of inconsistency in this market. [5:11] Add to this the supply chain issues, which are not what they once were, the economy is flat with spending, once normalized for an increase in population, it reflects that of a market in a recession. [5:25] We, as brokers, are finding competitive solutions to protect our clients. We have to pivot and swerve to discover the right opportunities. [5:37] We had a significant rain event in Toronto, followed by one of the worst wildfires Jasper has ever seen, seemingly a once-in-a-hundred-year event; weather catastrophes are more severe and more frequent. [5:50] How is this going to change the availability of capacity and pricing? Time will tell, as insurers try to figure out if their pricing models included the right loadings for these events. [6:12] Being informed by what is happening in the market; the trends, the opportunities, what’s available, and partnering with the right broker, will help a risk manager make an informed decision, appropriate for their business. [6:34] The panelists have decades of experience and expertise across North America. They work with clients, markets, and other experts and bring a much broader perspective and experience to this session. [6:49] Steve Pottle is the risk manager on the panel. He’s been omnipresent in RIMS Canada for years. He’s a former RIMS VP and is currently the Director for Risk and Safety Services at Thompson Rivers University. Justin says he’s one of the best and Linda agrees. [7:20] Linda will moderate. She’ll ask the panelists questions HUB International has received from its clients, based on what they are seeing happening in the environment around them. She would also like the audience to pose some questions. Audience participation is encouraged. [7:44] Justin thanks Linda Regner Dykeman of HUB International, and will see her again on September 12th, 2024 for the third installment of HUB’s Ready for Tomorrow series, Pivot and Swerve: Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics. [8:02] Interview! Justin introduces Mark Prysock, RIMS General Counsel and VP of External Affairs. Mark will provide a RIMS Advocacy update and talk about the legislative issues on RIMS’s radar and the status of the next RIMS legislative summit. Mark, welcome to RIMScast! [8:36] Mark Prysock is the hardest-working lawyer that Justin knows. Justin wants him to be on RIMScast weekly. Mark says he will try to be on at least once a quarter. [9:13] The Legislative Summit has been postponed to Q1 2025 as the time Congress has left in 2024 is focused on passing continuing resolutions to keep the government open. It's not an ideal time for RIMS to come to D.C. with their legislative priorities. [10:07] Q1 2025 will be great for RIMS to go to D.C. to talk about RIMS’s priorities. The new Congress will be seated with new Committee Chairs and Ranking Members. There will be a new administration, so a lot of new Executive Branch jobs will have been filled. [10:46] In Q4 2024, RIMS Advocacy will announce to RIMS members the date for the Legislative Summit of Q1 2025. It will be live, in person, on Capitol Hill, similar to the 2023 event. [11:03] RIMS Advocacy hopes to set up educational sessions on Wednesday in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building, with a reception Wednesday evening with a fund-raising event for RISKPAC. On Thursday, everyone will descend on Capitol Hill and lobby RIMS’s issues. [11:46] RISKPAC has been going to a lot of fund-raising events for key members of Congress who sit on committees with jurisdiction over legislative issues that matter to RIMS. They focus on the Chairs, Ranking Members, and other committee members. [12:15] RISKPAC has had some good one-on-one time with members of Congress and their key staff members to talk about RIMS’s issues. [12:31] Greg McKenna is the Chair of the RISKPAC Trustees Committee. He supports everything RIMS is doing on the legislative front and knows that RISKPAC plays a vital role in helping RIMS accomplish those legislative objectives. Greg has been a RIMScast guest. [13:20] Mark discusses some association-specific issues. RIMS is working in a coalition with ASAE on the Tomorrow’s Workforce Act. That legislation would liberalize 529 College Savings Plans to allow individuals to use them for post-secondary training and credentialing. [14:21] The funds could be used for licenses and professional certifications like the RIMS-CRMP, for example. This is a successful bi-partisan, bi-cameral issue that has made good progress through the House. RISKPAC hopes something will get done by the end of 2024. [14:53] If the Tomorrow’s Workforce Act doesn’t pass this year, RISKPAC will pursue it aggressively in the next session of Congress. [15:05] The next issue is that Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate seem to believe that 501(c)(6) organizations like RIMS should be paying more taxes than they currently pay. The idea is to start taxing non-profits on their net income. [16:16] A lot of associations like RIMS would be significantly negatively impacted if that happened. It would have an impact on a lot of organizations’ abilities to offer programs to their members and in other ways. [16:41] RIMS will participate actively with another ASAE coalition to educate members of Congress about why non-profits should remain untaxed. That is going to be an aggressive effort that i

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews National Safety Council CEO Lorraine Martin about National Preparedness Month, a new OSHA proposed statement on workplace safety in extreme heat, National Recovery Month, drug overdose deaths at work, and some related topics. Lorraine also invites you to the NSC Safety Congress & Expo from September 13th through the 19th. Listen for information and insight from NSC CEO, Lorraine Martin.   Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS. [:14] About this episode. Justin introduces return guest National Safety Council President and CEO Lorraine Martin. She will tell us what’s going on with safety and preparedness in the U.S. and the world. [:44] Virtual Workshops! Applying and Integrating ERM is back and it will be hosted by Elise Farnham on September 25th and 26th and also on December 4th and 5th. [:58] On October 9th and 10th, Chris Hansen returns to deliver Fundamentals of Insurance. Other dates for the Fall and the Winter are available on the virtual workshops calendar at RIMS.org/virtualworkshops. [1:16] RIMS-CRMP Prep Courses! On September 10th and 11th, the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep will be held with NAIT. There is another RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on September 12th and 13th. [1:31] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes. [1:46] Events! We’ve got the DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event happening on September 19th in Irving, Texas. Learn more about that event in Episode 299, which features an interview with the Texas State Office of Risk Management. [2:04] Also on September 19th is the RIMS Chicago Chapter’s Chicagoland Risk Forum 2024. Register at ChicagolandRiskForum.org. [2:13] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register. [2:26] Registration is also open for the RIMS Western Regional, which will be held from September 29th through October 1st at the Sun River Resort in Oregon. Register at RIMSWesternRegional.com. [2:39] We want you to join us in Boston on November 18th and 19th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2024. The agenda is live. The keynote will be announced soon. We want to see you there! A link is on this page. [2:55] The nominations are now open for the RIMS ERM Award of Distinction 2024. Nominations are due August 30th. A link to the nomination form is in this episode’s show notes. [3:09] If you or someone you know manages an ERM program that delivers the goods, we want to hear about it. A link is in this episode’s show notes. All RIMS regional conference information can be found on the Events page at RIMS.org. [3:26] Interview! I am delighted to be rejoined by National Safety Council President and CEO Lorraine Martin. Her timing is perfect for National Preparedness Month in September. We’ve got so much to discuss in the way of natural catastrophes and other risks. [3:46] We will also talk about National Recovery Month, and how prescription opioids can impact employees and employers and why it is such an important business risk. That dovetails into last week’s episode with the NCCI. [4:02] We’ll talk about the NSC’s Safety Congress and Expo on September 13th through the 19th in Florida and we’ll also talk a bit about Lorraine’s background in the U.S. Air Force, her decades at Lockheed Martin, and how those shaped her risk perspective. [4:24] Lorraine Martin, welcome back to RIMScast! [4:45] Lorraine started her career in the U.S. Air Force. Justin thanks her for her service. After the Air Force, Lorraine spent nearly 30 years at Lockheed Martin. [5:29] The Air Force and all the armed services ask their people to do high-risk things to protect our nation and support our allies around the world. As a member of the armed services, you understand how important safety is to those you protect, and the risks that go with that. [5:55] Lorraine started in the Air Force in the early ’80s. Being a five-foot female in the Air Force she had combat boots and survival suits that didn’t always fit. She saw the need to keep everyone safe. That means being open and expansive to make sure to cover everybody. [6:44] At Lockheed Martin, Lorraine ran some of the aircraft manufacturing programs. There was potential for serious injury and fatality (SIF), with energy, heights, and all kinds of things that need to be done safely. [7:08] The products being built had to go do important things around the world, so they had to meet safety standards for operation and bring everybody home. Lorraine needed to understand safety in manufacturing and in the mission. [7:30] Justin and Lorraine met after Lorraine joined the NSC as President and CEO in 2019. Less than a year later, COVID-19 hit the U.S. Lorraine has been at the NSC for five years. Time sometimes flew by and In some cases, it felt like the world stood still for everybody. [8:13] On RIMScast in 2020, Justin and Lorraine talked about technology and the importance of reaching people, through podcasts, Zoom, or Teams. Lorraine is responsible for providing training so people can be safe. She had to learn how to do that when she couldn’t be with them. [8:40] The NSC had to become good at virtual training and helping customers and stakeholders understand what remote and virtual learning looks like. The world has come so far in understanding what people can do virtually. It’s not everything! Human interaction is still critical. [9:01]  Lorraine says we learned so much, whether for drivers' fleet training or for folks doing CPR. The NSC was able to reach more people, which is great when you’re talking about safety. In many cases, the NSC reached them in a more cost-effective manner for all involved. [9:27]  The NSC focused on what was happening to humans as they were being buffeted during this time, from 2020. On RIMScast, Lorraine and Justin had talked about mental health. The NSC pioneered some research that looked at how psychological safety impacts physical safety. [9:55] Lorraine believes that since 2020, we’ve come so far in understanding that physical safety can be impacted by many different aspects of your life like distraction, fatigue, or substance abuse, that can cause you not to be on your game. [10:22] The NSC honed in on the issue of a person not being on their game as being impaired, and they shouldn’t do something that would put themselves or somebody else at risk. [10:38] The NSC leaned into trainings around being able to identify impairment and giving people the skills to take action so they can take somebody out of harm’s way. It’s easy to say and hard to do but so critical. [10:55] The NSC and RIMS both used the pandemic as an opportunity to dial up virtual offerings and dial back some live events. Many of the right live events have come back. There is some training that is important to be in person. [11:18] In-person collaboration and interaction support mental health. Isolation as a result of the pandemic was a burden for many folks. [11:47] The NSC received positive feedback on their SAFER initiative, ensuring people were safe in returning to work. A task force of stakeholders from government, non-profits, public health medical professionals, and Fortune 500 companies advised NSC and NSC advised workplaces. [12:30] The SAFER guidelines included ventilation, vaccination, and all of the things a business would need. It was a one-stop shop for policy statements, legal statements, and other best practices for workplaces to use to safely accommodate workers at work. [13:10] The SAFER initiative is still going on. It’s funded now by the CDC. NSC is now looking at long-term COVID, mental health and well-being, the overall long-term effects of a pandemic, and how workplaces prepare for whatever’s coming in the future. [14:06] Lorraine just listened to a piece on NPR about COVID-19. We’re still learning. We’ve found a way so that most folks do not perish from it, but we don’t know everything about it and probably won’t for some time. [14:28] In Long COVID there’s some inflammation or reaction that’s still happening long after the initial symptoms. Understanding it and what we can do either to prevent or treat it is still in front of us. [14:46] Organizations that let NSC white-label guideline documents for distribution were mostly NSC member organizations. NSC has roughly 14,000 member organizations and companies. They get policies and information from NSC and they also give back so others could learn. [16:01] All of the armed services are members of the National Safety Council. Some of them use NSC training for various things. Lorraine’s past employer, Lockheed Martin, has been a member for a long time. [16:13] NSC has groups called networks, made up of the larger companies, that look at big trends coming, to help the government prepare and give back to small and mid-sized companies. Lockheed Martin is in many of the networks as are other Fortune 100 companies. [16:44] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! On September 5th, Merrill Herzog debuts on RIMS Webinars with the Role of Insurance in Building Resilience Against an Active Assailant Attack. [16:57] On September 12th, HUB International returns to deliver the third part of their Ready for Tomorrow series, Pivot and Swerve: Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics. [17:12] On September 19th, Origami Risk returns to deliver Leveraging Integrated Risk Management For Strategic Advantage. On September 26th, Archer returns to discuss The Future of RMIS: Beyond Traditional Approaches. [17:28] On October 3rd, Diligent will host Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors for Strategic Advantage. More RIMS Webinars will be announced soon and added to R

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Raji H. Chadarevian, Executive Director, Actuarial Research , the National Council of Compensation Insurance, or NCCI, about opioid use and related risks for injured workers. Raji and Justin talk about the statistics. The good news is that through the joint efforts of insurers, the NCCI, prescribing physicians, pharmacies, and employers, the utilization of opioids for pain management in injured workers, while appropriate in some cases, has decreased sharply in the last eight years, and continuing efforts to find alternative pain management systems should keep that trend going.   Listen in for more information about recovery awareness, and what your company can do to help injured workers avoid opioid addiction. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS. [:14] RISKWORLD 2025 will take place in Chicago, Illinois from May 4th through May 7th. The call for submissions is now open through August 27th. A link to the submission form is in this episode’s show notes. [:30] Virtual Workshops! Applying and Integrating ERM is back and it will be hosted by Elise Farnham on September 25th and 25th and also on December 4th and 5th. [:56] On August 29th, Pat Saporito returns to discuss Optimizing Risk Management with Artificial Intelligence. [1:05] On October 9th and 10th, Chris Hansen returns to deliver Fundamentals of Insurance. Other dates for the Fall and the Winter are available on the virtual workshops calendar at RIMS.org/virtualworkshops. [1:24] RIMS-CRMP Prep Courses! On September 10th and 11th, the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep will be held with NAIT. There is another RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on September 12th and 13th. [1:38] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes. [1:53] Events! We’ve got the DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event happening on September 19th in Irving, Texas. Learn more about that event in Episode 299, which features an interview with the Texas State Office of Risk Management. [2:11] Also on September 19th is the RIMS Chicago Chapter’s Chicagoland Risk Forum 2024. Register at ChicagolandRiskForum.org. [2:21] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register. [2:33] Registration is also open for the RIMS Western Regional, which will be held from September 29th through October 1st at the Sun River Resort in Oregon. Register at RIMSWesternRegional.com. [2:48] We want you to join us in Boston on November 18th and 19th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2024. The agenda is live. The keynote will be announced soon. We want to see you there! A link is in this episode’s show notes. [3:04] The nominations are now open for the RIMS ERM Award of Distinction 2024. Nominations are due August 30th. A link to the nomination form is in this episode’s show notes. [3:16] If you or someone you know manages an ERM program that delivers the goods, we want to hear about it. A link is in this episode’s show notes. All RIMS regional conference information can be found on the Events page at RIMS.org. [3:32] The Interview! With National Recovery Month in September, and National Opioid Awareness Day, September 21st, I wanted to shine a light on opioid addiction and Workers’ Compensation claims with new data about opioid abuse and how it impacts the workplace. [4:05] This is a critical risk and I wanted to speak with someone who can tell the story about the data, so I reached out to Raji Chadarevian, the Executive Director for Actuarial Research  at the National Council of Compensation Insurance, or NCCI. [4:24] He has the insight and perspective on the new data that’s being released, so let’s hear all about it! Raji Chadarevian, welcome to RIMScast! [5:03] Raji states that the NCCI celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023. The mission of NCCI is to help foster a healthy workers’ compensation system. It’s an advisory agency for 38 states and the District of Columbia, serving as a comprehensive source for all things workers’ comp. [5:47] Raji explains that as an advisory organization, the NCCI provides ratings and statistical advisory insights to the industry, as a whole. It also collects a variety of data. [6:05] Raji is the Executive Director of Research at NCCI. He tells the story behind the numbers. The brainiacs do the research and help him tell the story. [6:47] NCCI collects data representing $30 million in workers’ comp premium for just under four million policies a year, six million employer risk reports with detailed information about premiums, claims, and 10 million transactions with detailed information on lost-time claims. [7:17] NCCI collects data on 52 million payments to medical providers for claims every year. The Medical Data Call, where NCCI collects this information, started in 2010. It contains meaningful information to understand the experience of the injured worker throughout the recovery process. [8:01] Mapping the medical data, NCCI gets to understand the medical services provided, where they are provided, by what provider, and for what purpose. The data provides details of drugs prescribed and where they are dispensed, to understand the use of opioids in workers’ comp. [8:41] Managing pain is a big part of the recovery for workers’ comp injuries. Over the years, NCCI has published opioid use for some 40 states where it collects medical data. This data details precise utilization trends, the types of narcotics used, and the frequency of use. [9:18] The data shows carriers that cover workers’ comp for employers are able to compare their experience in any one jurisdiction to statewide trends and act on that intelligence to manage their pharmacy experience. [9:45] In the last eight years, there has been a huge change in opioid prescribing in workers’ comp. We’ve seen a significant decrease. The NCCI data shows that in the last eight years, opioid use in the year after an injury has decreased from 42% of lost time claims to 16%. [11:14] Raji notes this is a very important trend. Being addicted to pain medications makes it hard to manage your daily work when that addiction is taking hold. Opioid use is not opioid addiction. Opioid utilization can lead to opioid addiction. [11:50] There are alternatives to treating pain that have come through with the greater awareness of opioid addiction. [12:04] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! On August 27th, Riskonnect returns to discuss How To Successfully Deploy AI in Risk Management. On September 5th, Merrill Herzog debuts on RIMS Webinars with the Role of Insurance in Building Resilience Against an Active Assailant Attack. [12:26] On September 12th, HUB International returns to deliver the third part of their Ready for Tomorrow series, Pivot and Swerve: Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics. [12:41] On September 19th, Origami Risk returns to deliver Leveraging Integrated Risk Management For Strategic Advantage. More RIMS Webinars will be announced soon and added to RIMS.org/Webinars. Register there. Registration is always complimentary for RIMS members. [13:00] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda is live. [13:12] The submission process is open for the RIMS ERM Global Award of Distinction. A link to the application is in this episode’s show notes. The deadline for submissions is August 30th. [13:22] So review your organization’s ERM program. If you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction. [13:37] Back to the Interview! The use of alternative pain medications has driven opioid utilization coming down from 42% of indemnity claims to about 16% of indemnity claims. If you look at all claims, opioid utilization is about one in 16, as opposed to one in four, 10 years ago. [14:12] The huge decrease shows a dramatic change in the way the systems are treating the injured workers, in terms of medications provided. When NCCI first tried to address the opioid epidemic in workers’ comp, it held interviews with physicians, carriers, and regulators. [14:50] Workers’ comp is a highly regulated system. The regulators had some say in how to manage opioids and other pain prescriptions. There was a meeting of the minds of all stakeholders: those defending the workers, prescribing physicians, carriers, and employers. [15:30] Opioid addiction was an epidemic that impacted the workers’ comp system heavily. The conversations with stakeholders led to important insights on what the system can do to manage this experience. [15:57] Each carrier told NCCI they were already developing a specific program to manage the prescribing patterns for injured workers. Regulators were very interested in which opioids were being prescribed. Fentanyl used to be in the top 10 but not anymore. [17:35] The decrease in use was a result of increased awareness across the board, from patients, physicians, claims managers, and employers. Everyone was on board about the seriousness of the opioid situation. [18:11] We have time for one more break! The Spencer Educational Foundation’s goal is to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals. That is achieved, in part, by a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada. [18:28] Whether you want to apply for a grant, participate in the Risk Manager on Campus program, or just learn more about Spencer, visit SpencerEd.org. [18:39] On September 12th, 2024, we look forward to seeing you at the Spencer Funding Their Future Gala at The Cipriani 42nd Street in New Yo

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Daniel Eliot of NIST about NIST, its new publications on cybersecurity, including two Quick Start Guides, the Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, and more, Daniel’s history with cybersecurity for small businesses and his career-long passion for helping small businesses protect themselves against cybercrime.   Listen in for the latest information on NIST and cybersecurity guidelines for your organization. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS. [:14] RISKWORLD 2025 will take place in Chicago, Illinois from May 4th through May 7th. The call for submissions is now open through August 27th. A link to the submission form is in this episode’s show notes. [:30] About this episode. We will be joined by Daniel Eliot from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST. [:52] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. August 15th starts the three-part series, Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management. Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:14] Let’s talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. On September 10th and 11th, the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep will be held with NAIT. There is another RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on September 12th and 13th. [1:29] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes. [1:44] We’ve got the DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event happening on September 19th in Irving, Texas. Learn more about that event in Episode 299, which features an interview with the Texas State Office of Risk Management. [2:02] Also on September 19th is the RIMS Chicago Chapter’s Chicagoland Risk Forum 2024. Register at ChicagolandRiskForum.org. [2:12] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register. [2:25] Registration is also open for the RIMS Western Regional, which will be held from September 29th through October 1st at the Sun River Resort in Oregon. Register at RIMSWesternRegional.com. [2:38] We want you to join us in Boston on November 18th and 19th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2024. The agenda is live. The keynote will be announced soon. We want to see you there! A link is in this episode’s show notes. [2:53] The nominations are now open for the RIMS ERM Award of Distinction 2024. Nominations are due August 30th. A link to the nomination form is in this episode’s show notes. [3:07] If you or someone you know manages an ERM program that delivers the goods, we want to hear about it. A link is in this episode’s show notes. All RIMS regional conference information can be found on the Events page at RIMS.org. [3:24] On with the show! In October, we will celebrate National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. You should observe it all year round, of course. My guest today has a lot of great insight into risk frameworks. He is Daniel Eliot, the Lead for Small Business Engagement in the Applied Cybersecurity Division of The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). [3:48] NIST is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Today, we will discuss some of the publicly available risk management frameworks and how they’ve evolved through the years and the new frameworks that address AI, as well. [4:05] You may remember Daniel from his appearance on an episode in April 2020, when he was with the National Cybersecurity Alliance. He is back to provide some new tips for the global risk management community. [4:18] Daniel Eliot, welcome back to RIMScast! [4:42] Justin and Daniel comment on some things that have changed since April 2020. Daniel was at the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA). [5:50] Now Daniel is the Lead for Small Business Engagement in the Applied Cybersecurity Division of The NIST. He shares his journey from NCA to NIST via the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, a NIST facility operated by Mitre. [6:52] Daniel is happy to be back supporting the small business community. [7:04] Daniel had worked in a small tech startup for almost seven years. He helped them scale the business and manage the development of their product. Next, Daniel joined the University of Delaware’s Small Business Development Center, helping tech businesses start and scale. [8:16] Daniel applied for an SBA grant to help small businesses with cybersecurity. This was in 2014. The Cybersecurity Framework was published in 2014. Daniel applied the Cybersecurity Framework to small businesses. That started Daniel’s career in small business cybersecurity. [9:32] There’s a new NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF) Small Enterprise Quick Start Guide. Daniel’s role at NIST is to coordinate across NIST, government, and the private sector, to create opportunities for the small business community to engage with NIST expertise. [10:19] The RMF Small Enterprise Quick Start Guide is a product of that coordination across NIST, government, and the private sector community. In February, NIST produced the Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 Small Business Quick Start Guide. [10:44] NIST decided to do a Quick Start Guide for a risk management framework for small to medium enterprises. The Risk Management Framework is a process. It’s a holistic and repeatable seven-step process for managing security and privacy risks. [11:23] The NIST RMF Quick Start Guide provides an overview of the seven steps of the process, the foundational tasks for each step, tips for getting started with each step, a sample planning table, key terminology and definitions, questions to consider, and related resources. [11:53] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! All RIMS Webinar registration pages are available at RIMS/org/Webinars. On August 27th, Riskonnect returns to discuss How To Successfully Deploy AI in Risk Management. [12:12] On September 5th, Merrill Herzog makes their RIMS Webinars debut with the Role of Insurance in Building Resilience Against an Active Assailant Attack. On September 19th, Origami Risk returns to deliver Leveraging Integrated Risk Management For Strategic Advantage. [12:28] Justin jumped ahead a bit. On September 12th, HUB International returns to deliver the third part of their Ready for Tomorrow series, Pivot and Swerve: Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics. [12:44] Justin is delighted to be joined by the moderator for that session, the Chief Marketing Officer for Canada at HUB International, Linda Regner Dykeman. Justin welcomes Linda to RIMScast! [13:13] The webinar will be at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 12th. Linda says they will be discussing current market trends and challenges. The industry has been able to produce some very strong profits over the last few years. [13:29] The market needed correction after many years of unprofitability driven by weather events in the property line where rates seemed to be unsustainable. Casualty also had its issues, particularly with Directors and Officers Liability. [13:47] As a result of the profitability the industry was able to achieve over the last few years, most carriers have become more competitive in growing their books of business. This competition is not being seen in all lines, segments, or geographies. [14:04] Some catastrophe-prone zones such as BC and Alberta have not seen the same level of competition across the board. As the market transitions from a hard market to a competitive environment, there is some unusual and inconsistent behavior. [14:21] Carriers in Canada are being more flexible with their appetite. London is looking to grow significantly over the next couple of years with goals of hitting $100 billion by 2025. Add to that NGAs who are seeing their market share change as local carriers become more competitive. [14:39] As we transition out of what was considered to be a hard market, we see a lot of inconsistency in this market. [14:48] Add to this the supply chain issues, which are not what they once were, the economy is flat with spending, once normalized for an increase in population, it reflects that of a market in a recession. [15:02] We, as brokers are finding competitive solutions to protect our clients. We have to pivot and swerve to discover the right opportunities. [15:13] We had a significant rain event in Toronto, followed by one of the worst wildfires Jasper has ever seen, seemingly a once-in-a-hundred-year event; weather catastrophes are more severe and more frequent. [15:27] How is this going to change the availability of capacity and pricing? Time will tell, as insurers try to figure out if their pricing models included the right loadings for these events. [15:49] Being informed by what is happening in the market; the trends, the opportunities, what’s available, and partnering with the right broker, will help a risk manager make an informed decision, appropriate for their business. [16:11] The panelists have decades of experience and expertise across North America. They work with clients, markets, and other experts and bring a much broader perspective and experience to this session. [16:26] Steve Pottle is the risk manager on the panel. He’s been omnipresent in RIMS Canada for years. He’s a former RIMS VP and is currently the Director for Risk and Safety Services at Thompson Rivers University. Justin says he’s one of the best and Linda agrees. [16:57] Linda will moderate. She’ll ask the panelists questions HUB International has received from its clients, based on what they are seeing happening in the environment around them. She would also like the audience to pose some questions. Audience participation is encouraged. [17:21] Justin thanks Li

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews RIMS CEO, Gary Labranche about what’s coming up for RIMS, and also Linda Regner Dykeman, the Chief Marketing Officer for Canada at HUB International, about a Webinar she is moderating on September 12th, Pivot and Swerve: Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics. Listen in for details about the webinar.   Justin and Gary discuss the popularity and success of RIMScast, now in its 300th episode, the diversity it represents from the global risk community, and some of the events coming up in RIMS, including the 75th Anniversary Celebration, centered on RISKWORLD 2025 in Chicago. Gary shares his wisdom on trends in risk, what RIMS is promoting in legislation, and how RIMS is growing in influence. Gary introduces the joint production of the Associations’ Guide to Risk and Crisis Management toolkit which he coauthored and how it came to be. There is much more to learn from this spectacular 300th episode, so listen in. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS. [:15] About this special episode, Number 300, of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York, featuring RIMS CEO Gary Labranche and a special guest from HUB. [:36] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. August 15th starts the three-part series, Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management. Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:00] Let’s talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. On September 10th and 11th, the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep will be held with NAIT. There is another RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on September 12th and 13th. [1:14] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes. [1:29] We’ve got the DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event happening on September 19th in Irving, Texas. We learned all about it in Episode 299. Be sure to check it out! [1:47] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register. [1:59] We want you to join us in Boston on November 18th and 19th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2024. The agenda is live. The keynote will be announced soon. We want to see you there! [2:14] The nominations are now open for the RIMS ERM Award of Distinction 2024. Nominations are due August 30th. A link to the nomination is in this episode’s show notes. If you or someone you know manages an ERM program that delivers the goods, we want to hear about it. All RIMS regional conference information can be found on the Events page at RIMS.org. [2:49] I’m so excited to share this special 300th episode of RIMScast with you all. There’s no better guest for me to bring out than RIMS CEO Gary Labranche! He’s a busy man. It’s very difficult to book an interview with Gary. It’s been about seven months and we finally got him! [3:11] We’re going to talk about the trends impacting the risk profession, from active shooter preparedness and flood insurance to third-party litigation funding. We’re also going to talk about all the different ways in which RIMS is expanding and partnering with other organizations. We are delighted to share this special 300th episode with you all! [3:39] RIMS CEO Gary Labranche, welcome back to RIMScast! [4:00] Gary says it’s great to be back and congratulates Justin on 300 episodes of RIMScast. Gary talks about the effort that goes into each episode of the podcast. Justin notes there have been almost 175,000 unique downloads of the 300 episodes. [5:21] Justin thanks Gary for the kind words. Justin says the podcast is the most rewarding thing he has ever done. It changed the trajectory of his career, it has provided wonderful opportunities and it’s a great way for Justin to keep in touch with RIMS members and other risk professionals who have an interest in the podcast. He’s always loved it. [5:47] The advice Justin got when launching the podcast was to stick to a frequency. With a very minor exception over the past six years, Justin has stuck to a weekly episode. That, and the support of the RIMScast audience, RIMS leadership, and the many sponsors over the years, have contributed to the success of the podcast. Last week was the first sponsored episode. [6:25] The sponsor, Hillwood, will sponsor another episode in September when Justin is on-site at the DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event. [6:38] Gary attributes the success of RIMScast to perseverance, good quality, and great, diverse content with lots of different voices. That’s what people appreciate the most. Gary loves it because it shows the scope, breadth, depth, and variations of the global community, with guests from all over the world. [7:07] Having guests from many nations and areas of practice is one of Justin’s favorite aspects of the show. [7:42] Gary shares an overview of RIMS since January 2024 when he was last on the show. I February Gary went to Australia to visit with the chapter board there. From there he flew to New Zealand and attended the New Zealand and Pacific Island Chapter’s Embrace the Unknown event. Gary recommends visiting both nations. [8:59] Next, Gary went to Singapore and hosted the first RIMS-CRMP Networking Reception in Singapore. It was a good crowd and the first time most of them had met each other. Gary visited two universities that support the RIMS-CRMP by providing the RIMS-CRMP Prep course, which is one reason why RIMS-CRMP is growing so well in Singapore. [10:03] RIMS-CRMP in general is growing like wildfire. The number one country with RIMS-CRMP holders is the United States, and the second is Canada, but close on the heels of Canada is Singapore. There are more RIMS-CRMP applicants from outside of the United States than in the United States. [10:38] Gary enjoyed his international trip. It was an opportunity to develop a better sense of how to serve those communities, internationalize RIMS content, and make the RIMS-CRMP a global standard. It’s the only risk management credential accredited to an international standard by ANSI, the credentialing body. [11:43] RIMS just went through the audit to renew that credential. Making it a global standard will require RIMS to continue to develop, evolve, and improve, asking questions, and involving and engaging people from all over the world. [12:16] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! All RIMS Webinar registration pages are available at RIMS/org/Webinars. Servpro makes its RIMS Webinars debut on August 8th with Hurricane Preparedness in 2024: Innovations and Strategies to Protect Your Organization. On August 27th, Riskonnect returns to discuss How To Successfully Deploy AI in Risk Management. [12:46] On September 12th, HUB International returns to deliver the third part of their Ready for Tomorrow series, Pivot and Swerve: Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics. [13:01] Justin is delighted to be joined by the moderator for that session, the Chief Marketing Officer for Canada at HUB International, Linda Regner Dykeman. Justin welcomes Linda to RIMScast! [13:37] Linda says they will be discussing current market trends and challenges. The industry has been able to produce some very strong profits over the last few years, after many years of unprofitability driven by weather events in the property line where rates seem to be unsustainable. Casualty also had its issues, particularly with Directors and Officers liability. [14:05] As a result of the profitability the industry was able to achieve over the last few years, most carriers have become more competitive, to grow their books of business. This competition is not being seen in all lines, segments, or geographies. Some zones have not seen the same level of competition across the board. [14:29] As markets transition from a hard market to a competitive environment, there is some unusual and inconsistent behavior. Carriers in Canada are being more flexible with their appetite. [14:41] London is looking to grow significantly over the next couple of years with goals of hitting $100 billion by 2025. Add to that NGAs who are seeing their market share change as local carriers become more competitive. [14:56] As we transition out of what was considered a hard market, we see a lot of inconsistency in this market. [15:05] Add to this the supply chain issues, which are not what they once were, the economy is flat with spending, once normalized for increase in population, it reflects that of a market in recession. [15:19] We, as brokers are finding competitive solutions to protect our clients. We have to pivot and swerve to discover the right opportunity. [15:30] We had a significant rain event in Toronto, followed by one of the worst wildfires Jasper has ever seen, seemingly a once-in-a-hundred-year event; weather catastrophes are more severe and more frequent. [15:44] How is this going to change the availability of capacity of pricing? Time will tell, as insurers try to figure out if their pricing models included the right loadings for these events. [16:07] Being informed by what is happening in the market; the trends, the opportunities, what’s available, and partnering with the right broker, will help a risk manager make an informed decision, appropriate for their business. [16:28] The panelists have decades of experience and expertise across North America. They work with clients, markets, and other experts and bring a much broader perspective and experience to this session. [16:43] Steve Pottle is the risk manager on the panel. He’s been omnipresent in RIMS Canada for years. He’s a former RIMS VP and is currently the Director for Ris

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   This episode of RIMScast is proudly sponsored by Hillwood. Hillwood is a leading multinational real estate development company and part of the Perot family of companies. For more information, visit Hillwood.com.   Justin Smulison interviews four guests today, SORM Executive Director, Stephen Volbrecht, SORM Division Chief of Strategic Programs, James Cox, SORM Chairman of the Board of Directors, Gerald Ladner, Sr., and DFW RIMS Chapter Board Member Penni Chambers. The discussion covers the various roles of Stephen, James, and Gerald in SORMS, the purpose and development of SORMS over the years, and how SORMS manages risks for all the state of TEXAS. They also speak of the upcoming RIMS DFW 2024 Fall Conference on September 19th at the Irving Convention Center in Irving Texas and what they will present there.   Listen in for ERM wisdom and a preview of the RIMS DFW 2024 Fall Conference. Key Takeaways: [:01] About our sponsor, Hillwood. [:13] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. Our guests are from the Texas State Office of Risk Management. [:37] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. August 15th kicks off the three-part series, Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management. Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:01] Let’s talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. The next virtual offering will be on August 7th and 8th, a RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep along with Utah Valley University. [1:13] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes. [1:28] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register. All RIMS regional conference information can be found on the Events page at RIMS.org. [1:47] We would like to extend a big “Thank You” to today’s sponsor, Hillwood. Hillwood is a leading multinational real estate development company and part of the Perot family of companies. Hillwood’s diverse portfolio includes industrial, logistics, corporate offices, retail, aviation, and multi-family housing developments. [2:05] Notably, Hillwood’s Alliance Texas project has generated over 66,000 jobs and a $120 billion economic impact. Hillwood operates in 65 markets across North America and Europe, constantly seeking opportunities to create vibrant communities and deliver value to its partners. [2:23] Hillwood specializes in e-commerce industrial development, serving some of the world’s largest retailer brands. Its residential communities division is dedicated to creating truly unique, master-plan communities. In 2023, Hillwood sold 2,141 homes in its communities and delivered nearly 1,500 lots to builders with more than 3,800 lots in the pipeline for 2025. [2:45] Hillwood is also leading the development team for Goldman Sachs’s new facility in uptown Dallas. As a privately owned company, Hillwood prioritizes long-term sustainability: social, economic, and environmental. For more information, visit Hillwood.com. [3:05] Today we will be joined by leaders of the Texas State Office of Risk Management. They will participate in a panel discussion on September 19th at the DFW RIMS Annual Conference and Event. [3:18] They’re a fabulous chapter and that event will be held at the Irving Convention Center in Irving, Texas. A link is in this episodes’ show notes. Visit DWWRIMS.org for sponsorship opportunities and registration information. [3:31] Our guests today will discuss what it takes for the Texas State Office of Risk Management to function, how they prepared and reacted to Hurricane Beryl in July, and we’ll talk ERM and how some of their military experiences have enabled them throughout their risk careers and at the Texas State Office of Risk Management (SORM). [3:55] SORM Executive Director, Stephen Volbrecht, Division Chief of Strategic Programs, James Cox, and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Gerald Ladner, Sr., welcome to RIMScast! [4:54] Stephen Volbrecht is the State Risk Manager for Texas and Executive Director of SORM. The office administers the Enterprise Risk Management Program, the Insurance Management Program, the self-insured Workers’ Compensation Program, and the Continuity of Government Operations Program. Those are the four key missions of the Texas SORM. [5:58] Gerald Ladner, Sr. has been in the industry for 42 years and successfully navigated four hard markets. He has played roles with global and domestic U.S. insurance companies and is still engaged with the industry even though he’s semi-retired. [6:29] Gerald has also served as a broker. He has insured prominent clients like the Coca-Cola Company, the City of Atlanta, Fulton County, and The Southern Companies. He quoted on the Boston Artery Tunnel Project, which capped the global reinsurance industry supply. Gerald’s last assignment was as a Regional President at State Auto Insurance Company. [6:52] Gerald is involved today in independent board work, as well as serving his Alma Mater, and has served as Insurance Commissioner Appointee for the Texas Property and Casualty Guarantee Insurance Association, as well as the Texas Medical Liability Joint Underwriting Association. Gerald’s turn as Chairman of the Board at SORM expires in 2027. [8:01] James Cox is the Division Chief of Strategic Programs at SORM. His job is to take the vision that Gerald has and the strategic view that Stephen has and make them applicable to the Texas state agencies. He does the daily work that supports their vision and mission. He has an insurance adjuster license, an agent license, a notary, and a risk manager license. [9:40] Stephen Volbrecht has been with SORM for more than 20 years in various roles. He joined in 2001, just before 9/11. The office was created in 1996 and went into operation in 1997. It was created to get workers’ compensation costs under control for Texas state employees. [10:37] At that time, The Office of the Attorney General, Workers’ Compensation Division, paid Workers’ Compensation claims while the Department of Insurance, Division of Health and Safety, had the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission. The two agencies didn’t communicate directly. [11:38] Texas combined the Attorney General’s Workers’ Compensation Division and the Department of Insurance’s Workers’ Compensation Commission and created the State Office of Risk Management. [11:49] Within two years, they had dropped Workers’ Compensation costs by over $30 million, and not by denying claims or cutting corners. They paid claims more timely, stopped disputing claims, and prevented injuries from happening through risk management. [12:30] They continually put pressure on costs, even as medical inflation rises. Texas pays about $40 million a year for accidents and injuries. Because of success with Workers’ Compensation, SORM now has three additional missions, the Enterprise Risk Management Program, the Insurance Management Program, and the Continuity of Government Operations Program. [13:42] SORM worked with the Federal government to design the Texas Continuity of Government Operations Program, helped the State Legislature adopt it, and then was tasked with implementing it. Gerald Ladner and James Cox use their industry knowledge to develop procedures and frameworks for the Insurance Management Program. [14:58] SORM is a fundamentally different agency than the office Stephen joined in 2001 because the scope of its mission set has expanded greatly over the 20-plus years. [15:32] SORM is a fairly large office compared to what other states might have. It’s an office of specific subject matter experts over each of the domains it covers. It has a broad scope, including Enterprise Risk Management. [16:02] Gerald says SORM has a small board of five members responsible for strategic guidance, governance, innovation, leadership, risk management, stakeholder engagement, performance monitoring, and mentorship to the executive team. The board can decide quickly and anticipate the areas of risk they need to look at and how the organization will address them. [16:45] Justin takes a brief break and thanks Hillwood for sponsoring this episode. Hillwood operates in 65 markets across North America and Europe, constantly seeking opportunities to create vibrant communities and deliver value to partners. Visit Hillwood.com for more information and to seize those opportunities. [17:08] Justin also dives deeper into the RIMS DFW 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event that will be held on September 19th and 20th in Irving Texas. Here to tell us a little bit more about it is an omnipresent force among DFW RIMS members; Penni Chambers, welcome back to RIMScast! [17:34] This episode is airing almost four years after Penni made her RIMScast debut. A lot has changed in four years! [18:20] Penni is Vice President of Risk Management at Hillwood. She is in charge of a team of two that maintains, procures, and does all things insurance for all of Hillwood and its enterprise companies, including land and cattle, oil and gas, and aviation. [18:52] Penni’s role at RIMS has changed. She is serving the constituents of the RIMS chapters and members by being a proud board director. Penni is a lifelong member of DFW RIMS and a former president, serving a term in 2019. [19:30] Penni will moderate the kick-off session of the RIMS DFW 2024 Fall Conference on September 19th at the Irving Convention Center in Irving Texas. She will be moderating a panel with today’s guests, from the Texas State Office of Risk Management

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Kevin Vallely,  an explorer, architect, mentor, and author, about his early life, his career, his risk philosophy, and a hint of his upcoming keynote speech at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024, from October 6th through 9th in Vancouver, B.C.   Listen in for the steps to building the skill of resilience. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:15] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. Today we will discuss strategic risk management with architect and world-renowned adventurer, Kevin Vallely, who will also be one of the RIMS Canada 2024 keynotes. [:43] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. August 15th kicks off the three-part series, Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management. Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:07] Let’s talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. RIMS will host its own RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on July 30th and 31st and on August 7th and 8th, a RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep along with Utah Valley University. [1:22] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes. [1:38] Registration is open for the 48th Annual Florida RIMS Educational Conference. It will be held from July 30th through August 3rd, 2024 in Naples, Florida. The link is in this episode’s show notes. [1:53] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register.  [2:06] Exhibitor’s space is still available at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024. This is your chance to get in front of risk professionals from around the world. To learn more about how to become an exhibitor at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024, click the link in the show notes. All RIMS regional conferences information can be found through the Events page at RIMS.org. [2:29] The first of two guests today, Aaron Lukoni, is the Manager of Risk Services for Emergency Management in British Columbia, and the National Conference Chair for the RIMS Canada Council. Aaron is making this cameo appearance on RIMScast to tell you what’s coming up for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024. This may be the best RIMS Canada Conference ever! [3:01] Aaron Lukoni, welcome to RIMScast! [3:32] Aaron Lukoni is a Manager of Risk Services for Emergency Management, British Columbia. She handles wildfires, floods, and national events. She is a professional problem-solver for the Province of British Columbia. [3:52] By night, Aaron is the National Conference Chair for the RIMS Canada Council. Eight years ago, she started on a subcommittee. She has a passion for volunteering. Aaron will be hosting the RIMS Canada Conference in Vancouver B.C. from October 6th through 9th, 2024. [4:51] This RIMS Canada Conference will be great. It’s in stunning Vancouver! It will be a dynamic program filled with insightful presentations and interactive thought leadership sessions. There will be a huge exhibitor hall and amazing networking opportunities! There will be extra Plenary sessions with coverage of risk management critical topics. [5:46] There will be expert speakers and a diverse lineup of educational sessions to allow attendees to dive deeper into their areas of interest. There will be something for everybody at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024! [6:22] The keynotes are Kevin Vallely, Jody Wilson-Raybould, Jon Montgomery, and Jay Kiew, our guest on RIMScast Episode 296 (Check it out!). The speakers will highlight emerging trends from technological advancements and regulatory changes to evolving best practices and leadership considerations, all to motivate and inspire you and set the tone for the conference. [9:37] Thank you, Aaron! We look forward to seeing you at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 in Vancouver, from October 6th through the 9th. [9:45] Our next guest is an explorer, architect, and author. He is Kevin Vallely, who is renowned for his adventurous spirit and compelling storytelling. He holds a Guinness World Record for the fastest unsupported trek to the South Pole and has led numerous expeditions around the globe. [10:06] He’s the author of Rowing the Northwest Passage, about an unprecedented journey through one of the world’s most challenging environments. In 2025, he will trek to the Arctic in a way that no one has ever done. We’re going to hear about it and his risk philosophies for strategic risk management, with a preview of his RIMS Canada Conference 2024 keynote. [10:40] Kevin Vallely, welcome to RIMScast! [10:50] Kevin is in Vancouver today, and it is hot there this July! It’s 35 Celsius or around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. He enjoys the heat. [11:53] Kevin has been undertaking major expeditions for almost three decades. It started when he was a child, one freezing February night in Montreal. He was nine years old and his brother was five. They were separated from their parents in a department store, and a security guard put them out on the street instead of finding their parents. Kevin’s brother cried to go home. [13:31] At that point, Kevin, being the big brother, started the journey home with his little brother. Finding landmarks, he got to a familiar street and followed it for several hours, stepping into apartment buildings on the way to warm up, and made it home to their relieved parents and police searching for them. [14:22] That had been the riskiest and most uncertain moment in Kevin’s life and he effectively overcame it. It was an empowering moment. It wasn’t long after that, Kevin had this dream to ski to the South Pole, which he did, thirty-five years later. [14:47] Having been thrown into an unsettled and risky situation he didn’t want to be in, and overcoming it, Kevin realized he was good at pushing through and coming out the other end, having successfully taken care of his brother and himself. It was an aha moment and the beginning of his adventuring career. [15:22] There is no adventuring degree. You just put yourself out there. The degree is that you survive and succeed. People who don’t succeed in that world either deal with very bad consequences or their expeditions fail. Having broken the Guinness World Record to the South Pole is indicative that Kevin is doing something right. He has many expeditions under his belt. [15:50] A successful adventurer understands how to deal with risk, effectively manage it, and move forward. Kevin is a member of The Explorer’s Club, based in New York. It’s an elite club. [16:39] An adventurer always has to adjust. On September 10, 2001, Kevin and a teammate were summitting 10,000-foot-plus volcanoes in Java and Indonesia, two Muslim countries with very friendly people. Then September 11th happened and in a short time, Kevin and his teammate were not wanted. [17:39] They were warned by the Canadian Embassy to get out of the country but they kept going. They began to see this change. Then someone tried to drive them off the road, cursing at the “Americans.” Police officers told them to be very careful and recommended they leave. So they made an adjustment and left. [18:09] Kevin has been back to Indonesia a number of times since, and he says it’s the most wonderful country with the most wonderful people. But there was that moment in history when they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and they knew to get out. Their appearance as Westerners was held against them with hostility. It was vital to adjust and leave. [19:25] Resilience is a fundamental facet of every occupation. Studies indicate that resilience is as important as whatever it is in your job that you are doing, in terms of career success. Resilience is a skill you can build, develop, and train. Push yourself and build that strength with small things so when something big happens, you can deal with it. [20:11] The three Ps of resilience are a strong sense of Purpose, Partnership with a team, and Perspective on the situation. Be conscious of these three things all the time to build your resilience. [21:32] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! Servpro will make its RIMS Webinars debut on August 8th with Hurricane Preparedness in 2024: Innovations and Strategies to Protect Your Organization. On August 27th, Riskonnect returns to discuss How To Successfully Deploy AI in Risk Management. [21:57] On September 12th, Hub International returns to deliver the third part of their Ready for Tomorrow series. It’s titled Pivot and Swerve Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics.  More webinars will be announced soon and added to the Webinars page. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. Webinar registration is complimentary for RIMS members! [22:23] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda is live and soon we will have a call for nominations for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll have that link up soon in an upcoming episode. [22:43] Review your organization’s ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction. [22:57] The Spencer Educational Foundation’s goal is to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals; that is achieved in part by a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the United States and Canada. The call for General Grant applications is open now through July 30th. [23:18] General Grant Awardees are typically notified at the end of October. The link to the applicatio

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Aaron Lukoni about the RIMS Canada Conference 2024, from October 6th through 9th in Vancouver, B.C.,  and IDEA thought leader Michael Bach about Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility. Michael opens up on his perspective on anti-racism and inclusion, and how to slow down the swinging pendulum so good practices can take hold. He shares how organizations can start with a diversity committee, but eventually, it has to be a paid role to create change in the organization.   Listen in for thoughts on following the data instead of opinionated pushback. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:15] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. Our topic is diversity, equity, and inclusion, and our guest is IDEA thought leader, Michael Bach. [:37] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. On July 23rd and 24th, our good friend, Elise Farnham returns to teach Claims Management. August 15th kicks off the three-part series, Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management. [1:01] Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:10] Let’s talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. RIMS will co-host the two-day RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep session on July 18th and 19th with Parima. RIMS will host its own RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on July 30th and 31st and on August 7th and 8th, a RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep along with Utah Valley University. [1:31] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes. [1:47] Registration is open for the 48th Annual Florida RIMS Educational Conference. It will be held from July 30th through August 3rd, 2024 in Naples, Florida. The link is in this episode’s show notes. All RIMS Regional Conferences information can be found on the events page of RIMS.org. [2:07] The DFW RIMS Annual Conference will be held on September 19th. Registration is open. Visit DFWRIMS.org. [2:17] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register. [2:29] The first of two guests today, Aaron Lukoni, is the Manager of Risk Services for Emergency Management in British Columbia, and the National Conference Chair for the RIMS Canada Council. Aaron is making this cameo appearance on RIMScast to tell you what’s coming up for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024. This may be the best RIMS Canada Conference ever! [3:01] Aaron Lukoni, welcome to RIMScast! [3:32] Aaron Lukoni is a Manager of Risk Services for Emergency Management, British Columbia. She handles wildfires, floods, and national events. She is a professional problem-solver for the Province of British Columbia. [3:52] By night, Aaron is the National Conference Chair for the RIMS Canada Council. Eight years ago, she started on a subcommittee. She has a passion for volunteering. Aaron will be hosting the RIMS Canada Conference in Vancouver B.C. from October 6th through 9th, 2024. [4:51] This RIMS Canada Conference will be great. It’s in stunning Vancouver! It will be a dynamic program filled with insightful presentations and interactive thought leadership sessions. There will be a huge exhibitor hall and amazing networking opportunities! There will be extra Plenary sessions with coverage of risk management critical topics. [5:46] There will be expert speakers and a diverse lineup of educational sessions to allow attendees to dive deeper into their areas of interest. There will be something for everybody at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024! [6:22] The keynotes are Kevin Vallely, Jody Wilson-Raybould, Jon Montgomery, and Jay Kiew, our guest on RIMScast Episode 296 (Check it out!). The speakers will highlight emerging trends from technological advancements and regulatory changes to evolving best practices and leadership considerations, all to motivate and inspire you. [9:04] Thank you, Aaron! We look forward to having you back on RIMScast. I’ve got a full interview with Aaron on the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 Registration Page. Check it out there! [9:17] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! Servpro will make its RIMS Webinars debut on August 8th with Hurricane Preparedness in 2024: Innovations and Strategies to Protect Your Organization. On August 27th, Riskonnect returns to discuss How To Successfully Deploy AI in Risk Management. More webinars will be announced soon. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. [9:51] Webinar registration is complimentary for RIMS members! [9:55] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda will be announced soon, as will a call for submissions for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll have that link up soon in an upcoming episode. [10:14] Review your organization’s ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction. [10:31] My next guest, Michael Bach, is a leader in Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility, or IDEA. He has advised thousands of clients, served as the National Leader of DE&I for KPMG Canada, and was Deputy Chief Diversity Officer for KPMG International. He was named one of the 10 Most Influential DE&I Leaders Revamping the Future by CIO Views Magazine. [10:56] Michael was also honored as a Canadian Diversity Champion and Catalyst Canada Honors Human Resources and Diversity Leader. His best-selling books, Birds of All Feathers and Alphabet Soup, have received widespread acclaim. I am so excited to speak with him about all things IDEA and DE&I! [11:19] Michael Bach, welcome to RIMScast! [11:58] About Michael’s name and Bach jokes. There is no known family relationship between Michael Bach and Johann Sebastian Bach. [12:50] Michael doesn’t look at the work of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility as a social justice agenda but as a means to solve problems. How can Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility be applied to solve the challenges an industry faces? [13:12] Michael likes that the first letters of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility make the word IDEA. [13:56] Michael was brought up to recognize his privilege as a “cisgender white man” walking through the world with a level of access that wasn’t experienced by a lot of people and that he had the responsibility to leverage that privilege to the benefit of others. He learned what that meant when he got into the corporate world and a variety of roles, and then his role at KPMG. [15:05] Michael realized that the organization was having challenges with talent retention and engagement and that the way to improve those things was through a focus on IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility). Michael was head of Diversity for eight years. It was a new role at KPMG. He then became the Deputy Chief Diversity Officer for KPMG globally. [16:11] After two years, Michael moved on to create The Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion and led that organization for 10 years. [16:50] Some employers understand that this is not a social justice agenda or about doing the “right thing”; it’s good people management. It’s a smart way to run your business. [17:16] Some organizations have done nothing about DE&I. Other organizations have dipped their toe in the water and backed away because of pushback from customers. You will always make some people unhappy. If your value statements mean anything to you, then a focus on IDEA should connect to those values and matter to you as an organization. [19:04] Michael talks about the approach TD Bank took with the LGBTQ market. They wanted to own the “pink dollar.” They spent a fortune sponsoring Pride festivals across the country. While some customers pulled away, TD Bank won a large percentage of the LGBTQ community. TD Bank is near the top financially in the country. [21:19] Michael does not think this is a worrisome time. He sees a natural progression of change. He brings up the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the United States. Canada has the Employment Equity Act of 1984. This isn’t a new conversation and these aren’t new problems that will go away quickly. [21:49] Some organizations are backing away and Michael thinks they will regret it because they will have higher voluntary turnover rates, lower engagement scores, lower productivity rates, and higher rates of safety incidents. The data proves that if you’re not focused on the diversity of your people and good people management, they’re going to leave. Your costs will go up. [22:39] The organizations that back away from IDEA are going to be at Michael’s doorstep in five to 10 years asking for his help. The organizations that haven’t taken their foot off the pedal will be crushing their competition. This work requires you to constantly have your foot on the gas pedal, or you will roll backward. [24:05] How do organizations today compare to how they were in 2019? Michael talks about 2020 with George Floyd and thousands of bodies of Indigenous children found in unmarked graves at the sites of residential schools across Canada. Those were pivotal moments when, for the first time, people wanted to talk about anti-racism. Those moments drive change. [24:56] Four years later, people are saying we don’t need anti-racism. Governments are banning DE&I offices. Within a week after George Floyd was killed, Michael’s phone at CCDI, where he was working, was lighting up with employers asking for help with anti-black racism. CCDI put out extens

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Jay Kiew, one of the keynotes for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024; the first of several Canada Conference keynotes who will appear on RIMScast. Justin and Jay discuss what is a change navigation strategist, how a risk or insurance professional could benefit from the perspective of a change navigation strategist, and what a licensed Insights psychometric practitioner does.   Listen in for a contemporary bonus definition of innovation. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:21] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. I will be joined by change navigation strategist, Jay Kiew, who will be one of the keynotes for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024. [:44] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. On July 23rd and 24th, our good friend, Elise Farnham returns to teach Claims Management. August 15th kicks off the three-part series, Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management. [1:08] Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:16] Let’s talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. RIMS will co-host the next two-day RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep session on July 18th and 19th with Parima. RIMS will host its own RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on July 30th and 31st and on August 7th and 8th, a RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep along with Utah Valley University. [1:38] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes. [1:53] Registration is open for the 48th Annual Florida RIMS Educational Conference. It will be held from July 30th through August 3rd, 2024 in Naples, Florida. The link is in this episode’s show notes. All RIMS Regional Conferences information can be found on the events page of RIMS.org. [2:14] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024, which will be held on October 6th through 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register! [2:27] Our guest today is Change Navigation Strategist, Jay Kiew. He is one of the keynotes appearing at the RIMS Canada Conference on October 7th. Read his bio on the RIMS Canada Conference registration page or visit JayKiew.com. [2:46] Jay has over 13 years of experience with Deloitte, TELUS, and ADP, leading mission-critical strategic transformations with over two billion dollars worth of impact. We will discuss those experiences and the roles risk professionals played, hear from this Vancouver native on his risk philosophies, and get a sense of the energy he will bring to the RIMS Canada Conference 2024.  [3:20] Jay Kiew, welcome to RIMScast! [3:58] Jay Kiew has a podcast, Mavericks and Machetes, about navigating and hacking through the thick of change. Mavericks blaze trails in their organization. Organizations also can be mavericks. The podcast digs into exploring how people impact and drive behavioral change. Justin offers a joke about the title. [5:27] Jay saw a Toastmasters booth at his college welcome day. He joined before he knew what it was, a weekly event where he could test the art and science of public speaking. That translates well to his full-time job today. Toastmasters got him going, in terms of his fear of speaking in public. It was scary but he decided to lean into it. [7:13] At that time, Toastmasters didn’t accept members under age 18. Jay had just turned 18 when he joined. He participated in leadership offices. While he developed his skills as a speaker he contributed to the chapter. At 19, he became the world’s youngest Distinguished Toastmaster. When that became an article on Wikipedia, other young people copied him. [8:53] Justin tells of his experience doing standup comedy for about 18 months, helping him remove his prior fear of public speaking. [11:41] Jay grew up with parents who were hosts and DJs in Singapore. That entertainment background helps Jay in his career. His father had passed before Jay started college but his mother was very supportive of Jay joining Toastmasters. [14:29] Jay graduated college with a political science degree and a minor in business. He joined the payroll company ADP and helped companies move internationally, combining HR, legal, and tax matters in one role. He was facilitating the process but he knew he wasn’t at the table making any of the decisions. He wanted to be involved. [15:45] Asking himself how a company decides to move internationally, he found out about management consulting. He went back to school for an MBA. He joined Deloitte in their organizational transformation practice for a few years. Then he shifted to a digital healthcare company where he worked in strategy and transformation. [16:38] Jay describes a change navigation strategist as a blend of strategy and change management. It starts with creating a vision of where the organization could go, planning how to bring people on the journey, and changing people’s behaviors to go with the vision. It includes buy-in, alignment, and moving with purpose and mission. [17:11] The job title is vague enough that a lot of Jay’s family and friends have no idea what he does but specific enough that he can ask a CEO or CXO about what problem they are trying to solve and then focus on that problem using an applied behavioral science lens. This brings Jay into touch with healthcare, insurance, and financial services. [18:08] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! Servpro will make its RIMS Webinars debut on August 8th with Hurricane Preparedness in 2024: Innovations and Strategies to Protect Your Organization. On August 27th, Riskonnect returns to discuss How To Successfully Deploy AI in Risk Management. More webinars will be announced soon. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. [18:41] Webinar registration is complimentary for RIMS members! [18:46] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda will be announced soon, as will a call for submissions for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll have that link up soon on an upcoming episode. [19:04] Review your organization’s ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction. [19:18] The Spencer Educational Foundation’s goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, through a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the United States and Canada. The call for general grant applications is open now through July 30th. [19:40] General grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. The link for the application criteria is in this episode’s show notes. [19:50] On September 12th, 2024 we look forward to seeing you at the Spencer Funding Their Future Gala at the Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. [20:00] Our recent guest from Episode 293, Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray, will be the honoree. Lilian is the Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Alliant Insurance Services. She will be honored for her valuable contributions to supporting the future of risk management and insurance. [20:23] That was a great episode, so after you finish this one, go back and listen to Episode 293! [20:29] Let’s return to my interview with RIMS Canada Conference 2024 Keynote Jay Kiew. [20:59] Jay believes risk professionals are not averse to change. They are the ones driving the most change across their organizations as their markets shift. They are the most concerned with how organizations and team members adapt. If their roles change, they will feel resistance. [21:34] Jay sees the intersection between risk and change management to be in how risk professionals think through behavioral nudges, gamification, dashboards, and leaderboards. [21:59] When Jay keynotes on October 7th, it will be his first time at the RIMS Canada Conference. [22:18] Justin notes that RIMS Canada is big on innovation. Jay defines innovation as a spectrum. It can change how a product or service is delivered. The financial services industry changing to digital and adding new products is an example. That’s organizational innovation. [22:43] Individual innovation is adaptive by applying new technologies that help individuals to be more productive, such as by automating some of their work. [23:23] Jay comments on Generative AI and its effect on financial services/insurance, healthcare, architecture/engineering/construction, and filmmaking/videography. Those four industries are being the most disrupted. Jay shares some instances of AI innovation. [25:46] Jay speaks of slop AI, where it’s obvious no human wrote it. He asks, how do we differentiate instead of being derivative? [26:55] Matrix talk! [27:55] What is a licensed Insights Psychometric Practitioner? Jay can read people. [28:19] Jay’s tips for learning to read people, even remotely: People are not just in one mode. In this podcast, there are moments of Justin joking and Justin being thoughtful. Observe and ask where his head is, and what concerns him the most. Is he analytical at this moment or having fun? Where do you meet his energy levels? To match him, fall into the same energy level. [31:37] It’s important to see people where they are and then shift with them into a different state. Empathy is the starting point. Use intentional observation. [34:06] Jay’s words about RIMS Canada attendance: “Hey! Sign up if you haven’t registered yet. I think it’s going to be so much fun! It’s hosted in my hometown! How much better could it be? Right downtown, waterfront Vancouver. O

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews RIMS Director Of Publications Morgan O’Rourke and RIMS Risk Management Magazine Senior Editor Hilary Tuttle about RIMS Risk Management Magazine, including its recent Azbee awards for design, changes to its format, and the second quarterly issue. Hilary and Morgan share insight into supply chain, pirates, geopolitical conflict, heat domes, a forecasted active hurricane season, elections in many nations, AI gender bias, and what they expect to see for the rest of 2024.   Listen for guidance on preparing your risk management strategy for the second half of 2024. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:15] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. I will be joined by two of my favorite guests, Morgan O’Rourke and Hilary Tuttle of RIMS Risk Management Magazine. [:38] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. On July 9th and 10th, our good friend Chris Hansen will lead the two-day session Managing Worker Compensation, Employer's Liability and Employment Practices in the U.S. [:57] On July 23rd and 24th, we have Claims Management. Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:10] Let’s talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. RIMS will co-host the next two-day RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep session on July 18th and 19th with Parima. RIMS will host its own RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on July 30th and 31st and on August 7th and 8th, a RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep along with Utah Valley University. [1:31] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes. [1:46] Registration is open for the 48th Annual Florida RIMS Educational Conference. It will be held from July 30th through August 3rd, 2024 in Naples, Florida. The link is in this episode’s show notes. All RIMS Regional Conferences information can be found on the events page of RIMS.org. [2:07] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024, which will be held on October 6th through 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register! [2:23] Every July, we like to kick off the Summer with a Mid-Year Risk Report from our friends in the RIMS Publications Department, RIMS Publications Director and Editor-in-Chief of Risk Management Magazine, Morgan O’Rourke, and the magazine’s Senior Editor, Hilary Tuttle. [2:45] I thought it would be fun to hear what’s shaking the landscape in risk management. Morgan and Hilary are the best in risk management reporting. We’ll talk about risk management trends, some of their favorite topics to cover, and even some of the accolades that the magazine and website have won. [3:08] Hilary Tuttle and Morgan O’Rourke, welcome back to RIMScast! [3:26] RIMS Risk Management Magazine has won three design awards this year from the American Society of Business Publication Editors, known as the Azbee Awards. Congratulations to our friend, Art Director, Andrew Bass. [4:20] RIMS Risk Management Magazine is digital-first, publishing new articles weekly, sometimes a couple a week. It has quarterly digital-only issues and newsletters. The issues look like the former print edition but use technology in new ways to publish content. They are seeking contributions of articles from risk professionals. Contact them if you have a risk article to write! [6:27] The Q2 issue of RIMS Risk Management Magazine addresses the impact of AI on insurance underwriting. It covers geopolitical issues for the rest of the year. AI and geopolitics are dominant issues now. It also contains guidance on things like document retention policies for litigation and the uses of parametric insurance to address earthquake risk. [8:05] The issue presents news on the growing copyright infringement claims from the use of social media content and information on third-party risk management issues. [8:21] Russ Banham wrote an article in this issue about supply chains. Hilary also recently wrote content about shipping. There is a record low of ship losses but a notable increase in threats to shipping. Geopolitics, including the conflict between Israel and Gaza, and conflict in the Red Sea are driving the threats. The majority of cargo ships are being rerouted around Africa. [9:51] This rerouting affects supply chains greatly. It also affects the environment. By the end of 2023, after about two months of conflict, emissions were up 14%. Ships add 10 days of sailing time to go around Africa. The emergency infrastructure is strained for the route around Africa when ships that are built to stay in coastal waters are rerouted. [10:34] Somali pirates are back. International regulations on patrolling for piracy expired. Patrolling has been redirected to the Red Sea for the conflict there. Ships navigating the Horn of Africa cross through Somali waters. These factors provide opportunities to the pirates. Since December there have been several boardings. [12:38] “Ghost ships,” a fleet of unregistered ships, are shipping oil from Russia to countries that are still doing business with Russia. These are older boats that are poorly maintained that can’t be insured and are likely to leak, break, or catch on fire in port. The costs are borne by local governments and property owners wherever the ship docks. [15:01] Hilary brings up the Captain Phillips movie, where the Somali pirates kept mentioning insurance payouts. [15:26] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! Servpro will make their RIMS Webinars debut on August 8th with more details to be announced shortly. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. Webinars are complimentary for RIMS members! [15:50] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda will be announced soon, as will a call for submissions for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll have that link up soon on an upcoming episode. [16:09] Review your organization’s ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction. [16:24] The Spencer Educational Foundation’s goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, through a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the United States and Canada. [16:40] The Spencer Educational Foundation’s Risk Manager on Campus Program brings a practicing risk manager to a university to present and engage with students about the risk profession and the insurance industry for about one to three days. There is a grant program with an application deadline of June 30th. The link is in this episode’s show notes. [17:06] Check out the sample application at that link. Risk Manager on Campus Grant Awardees are typically notified at the end of September. Apply by June 30th, 2024. On September 12th, 2024 we look forward to seeing you at the Spencer Funding Their Future Gala at The Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. [17:31] Our recent guest from Episode 293, Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray, will be the honoree. Lilian is the Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Alliant Insurance Services. She will be honored for her valuable contributions to supporting the future of risk management and insurance. [17:55] That was a great episode, so after you finish this one, go back and listen to Episode 293! [18:01] Let’s return to my interview with Morgan O’Rourke and Hilary Tuttle of the Azbee Award-winning RIMS Risk Management Magazine. [18:30] July is the start of severe weather seasons across the globe. The forecasts are terrible. The East Coast is facing a heat dome. It becomes an issue for businesses of protecting their workers. In a recent survey, 65% of small business owners said they plan heat safety measures to protect employees; 35% of small business owners have no plan for such measures. [19:24] There are some severe consequences if you have employees working outside without any consideration for their safety. OSHA has raised extreme heat safety as an enforcement priority. If you are in the 35% not planning or employee safety in the heat, reconsider your plan. [19:53] The Workers Compensation Research Institute recently did a study that found that the probability of work-related accidents increases by five to six percent over 90 degrees. The effect is strongest in the South. This relates to heat stroke but also to extreme heat’s effects on cognitive function, reflexes, and reaction time. There is an increase in incidents like falling. [20:39] There is also a correlation between excessive heat and more significant injuries like traumatic injuries, dislocations, lacerations, and more. Some claims are a lot bigger. [21:27] Morgan notes some recommendations employers can follow for providing and enforcing planned breaks, water, and shade. They should have a thought-out process and strategy. If an employer sees obvious effects, they must get employees immediately out of harm’s way into a colder place. If someone is confused or vomiting, get them medical attention immediately. [22:38] It’s helpful to educate the workforce to know what symptoms to look out for in themselves and others, especially heat stroke symptoms that may not be obvious. This is a great mitigation option. [22:59] Employers can use technology to monitor people’s temperature and the temperature of the environment where they work. This includes wearables. [23:31] Mitigation protocols apply both to extreme cold and extreme heat. Both can cause great harm. A sports drink is not all that is needed. [23

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Mrunal Pandit of Tata Consumer Products about being the RIMS Risk Management Honor Roll Inductee 2024, having math in her DNA and how that relates to risk management and insurance, her role at Tata Consumer Products. They discuss how “once-in-a-lifetime” catastrophic flood events seem to be happening regularly, and how to proactively and prudently prepare for them. Mrunal tells how she developed Tata’s risk framework playbook for natural catastrophes and how risk management is supported by Tata’s philosophy of social responsibility.   Listen in to for experienced advice on proactively preparing your business to mitigate the risks of climate change. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:15] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. I am excited to be joined by RIMS Risk Management Honor Roll Inductee for 2024 Mrunal Pandit of Tata Consumer Products. [:40] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. On July 9th and 10th, our good friend Chris Hansen will lead the two-day session Managing Workers’ Compensation, Employer's Liability and Employment Practices in the U.S. [58] On July 23rd and 24th, we have Claims Management. Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:11] Let’s talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. RIMS will co-host the next two-day RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep session with Parima on July 18th and 19th. RIMS will host its own RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on July 30th and 31st and a RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep with Utah Valley University on August 7th and 8th. [1:32] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certifications Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes. [1:47] Registration is open for the 48th Annual Florida RIMS Educational Conference. It will be held from July 30th through August 3rd, 2024 in Naples, Florida. The link is in this episode’s show notes. All RIMS Regional Conferences information can be found on the events page of RIMS.org. [2:08] Did you know that the RIMS Risk Management magazine Q2 2024 issue is available online? A link to the digital issue is in this episode’s show notes. The new issue covers the impact of AI on insurance underwriting, geopolitical risks, ERM program tips, social media copyright claims, developments in parametric insurance, and more! [2:38] You can also head over to RMmagazine.com. [2:41] In next week’s episode, we will have our mid-year update with RIMS Publications Director Morgan O’Rourke and Risk Management magazine Senior Editor, Hilary Tuttle. [2:56] My guest today is Mrunal Pandit. She is the Global Head of Insurance at Tata Consumer Products in India. She is the first person to hold that position at Tata. She has made some outstanding achievements in her role and that is why she was named the RIMS Risk Management Honor Roll Inductee for 2024. There is so much to discuss about her impact! [3:29] Her profile in RIMS Risk Management magazine’s Awards Edition was a great read and we wanted to extend that, here on RIMScast. The link to the article is in this episode’s show notes. [3:40] RIMS Risk Management Honor Roll Inductee for 2024, Mrunal Pandit, welcome to RIMScast! [4:07] It was a very happy moment for Mrunal and her family when she was awarded as the Risk Management Honor Roll Inductee for 2024. It represents a significant milestone in her professional career as an insurance and risk management professional and recognition for the work she has done so far. What better validation could she ask for than from RIMS? [5:25] Mrunal is a numbers person. She addresses the significant role of math in the risk profession, such as in decisions about retaining a risk or transferring it to insurance, based on a quoted premium. It’s all numbers to Mrunal and factoring in the data is intriguing and exciting. She says she “speaks in numbers.” [6:31] The article, written by Russ Banham, is available in the Awards Edition of Risk Management magazine. A link is in this episode’s show notes. [6:57] Mrunal calls risk management interesting and dynamic. The world’s risk landscape is constantly changing, with global supply chain risks, geopolitical scenarios, and emerging risks like cyber. Challenges keep changing year after year, which keeps Mrunal on her toes and leads her to many learning opportunities. [7:28] Mrunal refers to Tata Consumer Products. When she started, it was a plantations company, then a beverage company, and now a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company. This has added to the complexities of the risks, allowing Mrunal to implement the risk management framework prudently. She has found that to be gratifying. [8:03] The organization grew; with that, the risk complexity grew and Mrunal’s knowledge as a risk manager grew. [8:36] Mrunal drinks Tetley Tea and a lot of the Indian-made Tata Tea, two of Tata’s products. Tata Tea is a different blend from tea sold in the United States. The teas are blended for the geographic market. Mrunal recommends Justin try Masala chai or Mumbai chai teas. [9:30] Are these once-in-a-lifetime weather events that now happen frequently in India attributable to climate change? Mrunal says climate change has evolved from one of the ten most important risks to the first or second most important risk in India. It plays a significant role in Mrunal’s risk management strategy today. [10:21] Climate change creates risks to manufacturing, storage, business operations, the supply chain, and business. It is prudent to take the necessary proactive steps to ensure that the overall losses due to climate change are reduced or mitigated. Climate change is becoming an integral part of every business risk. Every risk manager should view it very prudently. [11:38] Mrunal joined Tata Beverages, as it was called, in December 2017. They were proud of having few claims in most locations. A devastating flood in 2018 with many human casualties and much asset damage led Mrunal to build a disaster playbook for settling calamitous claims. [13:05] Tata now has a framework and playbook for what needs to be done before any natural catastrophe, including earthquake, floods, and cloudbursts, and what steps need to be taken before the catastrophe happens. Technology gives some warning time before most natural catastrophes. Tata sends notifications to the affected teams about what they need to do. [13:44] The playbook also covers what needs to be done at the time of the event, and post-catastrophe, if there are losses, the necessary steps for mitigating the risk and recovering prudently, step by step. [14:12] Mrunal talks about monsoon seasons. Before the monsoon season, Tata sends a detailed note to the affected geographic areas about monsoon preparedness and the “dos and don’ts.” Every year there are cloudbursts, which happen any time of year. Those are also captured in the disaster playbook. [15:32] Mrunal uses the RIMS Risk Maturity Model as an important tool in Tata’s risk management. It helped her to understand what risks Tata needed to self-insure and what risks it needed to transfer to insurance. [16:58] Justin mentions an upcoming audio and possibly video series about the Five Pillars of the Risk Maturity Model. [17:30] Risk mitigation and disaster management are huge, going forward. Mrunal believes there are no geographic areas that will be spared the effects of climate change. We may see nothing is happening today, but tomorrow we don’t know what will happen. With data analytics, AI is going to play a very significant role, telling us the data patterns, going forward. [18:02] It is prudent for us, as risk managers, to understand that we are going to have our businesses and operations, maybe not tomorrow but three or five years down the line, affected by flooding or another natural catastrophe that would hamper the business. [18:19] So it is prudent to inform our business that this is the trend, going forward. Necessary steps need to be taken from the business continuity perspective. It’s a process to prepare for catastrophe in your geographies where you have a lot of operations. Come up with a business continuity plan. [19:06] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! Servpro will make their RIMS Webinar debut on August 8th with more details to be announced shortly. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. Webinars are complimentary for RIMS members! [19:28] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda will be announced soon, as will a call for submissions for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll have that link up soon on an upcoming episode. [19:47] Review your organization’s ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction. [20:02] The Spencer Educational Foundation’s goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, through a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the United States and Canada. This also applies to not-for-profit entities. [20:21] If this description applies to you, you should apply for a Spencer General Grant. The application deadline is July 30th, 2024. General Grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. [20:39] Another great Spencer program is the Risk Manager on Campus Program, which brings a practicing risk manager to a university to present and engage with students about the risk profession and the insurance industry for about one to three days. There is a grant

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray of Alliant Insurance Services about her risk and insurance career journey, what DE&I initiatives mean in her growth, the sorts of programs she has launched, and how she proves their worth on social and financial levels. She tells how a professor tried to steer her to trade school so she wouldn’t fail in the big university and how the lack of inclusion at her first job limited her career opportunities until a boss who saw her potential nudged her firmly ahead. She is passionate about the power of DE&I to do moral good and grow business profits.   Listen in to learn what diversity, equity, and inclusion can mean for your company. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:15] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. My guest is Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray. She is the Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for Alliant Insurance Services! We will discuss what it takes to launch and measure the effectiveness of a DE&I Initiative. [:47] Lillian will also be the honoree at this year’s Spencer Educational Foundation Funding Their Future Gala on September 12th in New York City. [:58] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. On June 26th and 27th, our friend Elise Farnham leads the two-day course, Captives as an Alternate Risk Financing Technique. On July 9th and 10th, we have Managing Workers’ Compensation. [1:18] On July 23rd and 24th, we have Claims Management. Other dates for Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:31] Let’s talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. The next session for risk managers based in the U.S. and Canada will be held on August 7th and 8th, followed by a two-day session on September 12th and 13th, and lastly, on December 17th and 18th. [1:53] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep Course will be held on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Additional Prep Courses are offered through NSE Academy, India, Conrad Clark Nigeria, UCLA, and others. A link to these resources and more is also in this episode’s show notes. [2:14] Did you know that the RIMS Risk Management magazine Q2 2024 issue is available online? A link to the digital issue is in this episode’s show notes. The new issue covers the impact of AI on insurance underwriting, geopolitical risks, ERM program tips, social media copyright claims, developments in parametric insurance, and more! [2:44] You can also head over to RMmagazine.com. [2:49] Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray is the Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for Alliant Insurance Services. She is also this year’s honoree for the Spencer Funding Their Future Gala, which will be held, on Thursday, September 12th, 2024 at The Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. [3:15] We are going to hear about her risk and insurance career journey, how DE&I initiatives have played a part in her growth, the sorts of programs she has launched, how she measures them, and how she’s able to prove their worth on social and financial levels. [3:36] Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray, welcome to RIMScast! [4:02] Lilian says that being the 2024 Honoree for the Spencer Funding Their Future Gala feels amazing, phenomenal, and stupendous! She says she’s at a time in her life when she’s happy doing the things she wants to do and she’s making a difference. This honor helped her get there. [4:50] Lilian’s risk and insurance career started in 1988. After she graduated from UCLA in 1987, she worked for a financial planner in Beverly Hills. In October of 1987, the stock market crashed. It was a disaster for the small firm where she worked and Lilian decided she wanted to have a different career. [5:38] Lilian’s girlfriend worked at an insurance company. She told Lilian they were hiring interns. It would be a boost from her current $18K a year to $28K a year. Insurance had her at “Hello.” [6:43] About 22 years ago, Alliant came to Lilian’s attention in a bad renewal market when they “stole” one of her clients. Listen in for details. Then Alliant offered Lilian a job and she accepted.  [8:23] Lilian tells how she moved into the EVP and Chief DE&I Officer roles she holds with Alliant. After George Floyd, Alliant made a very impactful decision. They wanted to make a difference. Recognizing what was going on, they wanted to ensure all of their employees had a space and a sense of belonging. They created the DI department. [9:05] The conversation Alliant initially had with Lilian was about leading the Alliant Charitable Foundation. The foundation’s goal is to bring people in to expand the industry, make it more accessible to everyone, recognize the contributions of marginalized communities, and reward them for their contributions to the industry. [9:32] Internally, the foundation wanted to recognize Alliant employees, to ensure they have a safe space to be their authentic selves, and have opportunities to advance within the organization. Lilian was asked to help the foundation raise money and get the message out. [9:52] As that work progressed, Alliant asked Lilian to do more. So she moved some accounts around to be able to do more. [10:41] Lilian says Alliant has always had a commitment to DE&I. They haven’t wavered from it. That commitment to DE&I comes from the top leadership. With commitment from the top, everything falls into place. If Lilian gets pushback from a department, when she goes to leadership about it, they’ll have a conversation with them about why DE&I is important. [11:27] DE&I initiatives are morally right and also financially smart and good decisions for business. When done properly, from an authentic place, they can drive your bottom line. [11:59] Lilian’s challenge is measuring her initiatives. Alliant’s 2024 push is to get everyone’s self-identification to be able to track how doing X results in Y. [13:35] Alliant has a six-pillar strategy to change the culture within the organization through a series of trainings, bringing in speakers on well-being and mental health, financial literacy, a 401(k), investing, and FICO. It’s a culture where your employer supports your whole being, including professional development and mentoring for career advancement. [14:53] Alliant is evaluating external mentoring and internal mentoring to find which is more effective, having the employees help them come to that conclusion. They also use peer coaching, giving people different entry points to grow professionally. They also work with training agencies and industry DE&I associations such as NAAIA. [16:04] Lilian feels synergy with these associations. DE&I isn’t just for marginalized people but also for their allies. Everyone grows when something is diverse. One learns when different ideas come to the table. You don’t know what you don’t know until you bring diverse people in, have those conversations, and get those perspectives. [17:00] Being able to show the value of that to everyone is how you move the needle and it’s also how you make a lot of money. [17:09] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! Our friends at TÜV SÜD GRC return on June 20th to present Sustainability Without the Sticker Shock: Save Green While Going Green, featuring insight from former RIMS President, Chris Mandel. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. Webinars are complimentary for RIMS members! [17:36] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda will be announced soon, as will a call for submissions for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll have that link up soon on an upcoming episode. [17:55] Review your organization’s ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction. [18:10] The Spencer Educational Foundation’s goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, through a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the United States and Canada. This also applies to not-for-profit entities. [18:30] If this description applies to you, you should apply for a Spencer General Grant. The application deadline is July 30th, 2024. General Grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. [18:46] Another great Spencer program is the Risk Manager on Campus Program, which brings a practicing risk manager to a university to present and engage with students about the risk profession and the insurance industry for about one to three days. There is a grant program with an application deadline of June 30th. The link is in this episode’s show notes. [19:10] Check out the sample application at that link. Risk Manager on Campus Grant Awardees are typically notified by the end of September. Be sure to apply by June 30th, 2024. On September 12th, we look forward to seeing you at the Spencer Funding Their Future Gala at The Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. Our guest today, Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray, is the honoree. [19:38] Back to the interview with Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray!  [20:18] Lilian is one of six on her DI team. One has the charitable foundation as her sole responsibility, including the Fellows program, one of Alliant’s hallmark programs from the foundation. There is an internal side of DI and several employee resource groups. [21:18] Lilian calls the managers of these programs “best in class,” which has led to Alliant receiving recognition for these programs. [21:59] Lilian says women are all over the insurance industry, in roles without opportunities for advancement. For a woman to get into leadership, she has to have someone looking out for her, and sponsoring her. [23:12] W

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Victoria Ogbuehi of Coca-Cola about her education, her aspirations, her 12 years in public security, and her move into risk management. She describes the personality traits that are most helpful in an ERM career, such as a learning mindset and a habit of hard work. She describes winning her awards, as well as the importance of the RIMS-CRMP to her career and even her confidence. She cautions young professionals that if they are lazy, they should not try to work in risk management.   Listen in to learn about a fascinating career move from security to risk management. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:16] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. My guest is Victoria Ogbuehi, RIMS-CRMP. She is the Senior Risk and Resilience Manager for Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company in Nigeria and a four-time Outstanding Security Performance Award winner! Lots to discuss! [:51] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. On June 18th and 19th, we have Fundamentals of Risk Management. On July 9th and 10th, we have Managing Workers’ Compensation. [1:07] On July 23rd and 24th, we have Claims Management. Other dates for Fall and Winter are on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:20] Let’s talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. Our guest today is a beneficiary of the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course. The next session for risk managers based in the U.S. and Canada will be held on August 7th and 8th, followed by a two-day session on September 12th and 13th, and lastly, on December 17th and 18th. [1:50] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep Course will be held on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Additional Prep Courses are offered through NST Academy, India, Conrad Clark Nigeria, UCLA, and others. A link to these resources and more is also in this episode’s show notes. [2:11] Victoria Ogbuehi is the Senior Risk and Resilience Manager for the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, based in Nigeria. I know her from being a RIMS-CRMP holder. She has a fascinating career I wanted everyone to hear about, including 12 years at the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps! [2:40] Victoria was risk-adjacent and then made her way over to full-time risk management. I can’t wait for all of you to hear what her risk journey has been like. [2:52] Victoria Ogbuehi, welcome to RIMScast! [3:25] Victoria’s 12 years with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, coming right out of school, were the most stressful years of her life. Entering the real world, she saw her school days seemed to be out of reality. The 12 years were hectic but they were a cherished time and a learning process that made her find her footing in her risk role today. [4:14] Victoria started as a core inspector and grew in rank. She had never intended to be a security professional. [4:48] Victoria studied economics in her undergraduate years. She had wanted to work in the Central Bank of Nigeria, the World Bank, or the Securities and Exchange Commission. She wanted to help grow economies. [5:27] Victoria has never worked at a financial center or in the field of economics. In her third year as a public security professional, she felt stuck and she knew it was time to pursue a career in security. In Nigeria, some job applications are restricted to an age window and she wanted to make a change. She wanted security to be her calling for life. [6:40] Victoria went back to school to study law enforcement and criminal justice. With that degree, she felt more confident and motivated. She went back again to study law. She understood that knowing the law would help her be a better law enforcer. She got certificates for security management and operations. It was her journey of building for 12 years until she left. [8:08] Security is a male-dominated field, globally. For Victoria, it was not about men dominating the field but about the passion for what she did. [9:08] There were so many challenges for Victoria in Security. One of the biggest challenges was inadequate training. She is very studious and doesn’t like to go a year without taking a course in something. For three years, she wasn’t exposed to any courses. Then she took them at her own expense without support. She had to beg her employer to acknowledge her studies. [10:12] Another big challenge for Victoria was that there was no motivation. She felt stuck all the time. Simply put, there were few opportunities for growth. [11:00] Victoria had heard about risk and insurance at school. As a student, she did not see herself as becoming a risk manager. However, when the opportunity to become a risk manager eventually came, she applied. The application process was tough. The position was strategic and she had to appear before the Managing Director and the Group Chief Risk Officer. [12:21] Victoria had the advantage of her knowledge of economics and 12 years of security operations experience. She saw this opening more as an opportunity to learn something new than as a job. The people who hired Victoria saw potential in her. She didn’t have confidence in herself but relied on her economics education. That was Victoria’s journey to risk management. [13:38] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! On June 13th, our friends from Riskonnect return to present Unlocking the Value of Business Continuity and Insurable Risk Management. [13:52] Our friends at TÜV SÜD GRC return on June 20th to present Sustainability Without the Sticker Shock: Save Green While Going Green. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. Webinars are complimentary for RIMS members! [14:08] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda will be announced soon, as will a call for submissions for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll have that link up soon on an upcoming episode. [14:28] Review your organization’s ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction. [14:42] The Spencer Educational Foundation’s goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, through a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the United States and Canada. This also applies to not-for-profit entities. [15:02] If this description applies to you, you should apply for a Spencer General Grant. The application deadline is July 30th, 2024. General Grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. [15:18] The Spencer 2024 Funding Their Future Gala will be held on Thursday, September 12th, 2024 at The Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. Links are in this episode’s show notes. This year’s honoree will be Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray. She is the Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for Alliant Insurance Services.  [15:41] Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray will appear on an upcoming RIMScast episode. Be sure to subscribe to RIMScast through your favorite podcasting app to make sure you catch that episode and the 291-plus other episodes that antedate it. [15:58] Back to the interview with Victoria Ogbuehi! In addition to being an employee of Coca-Cola, Victoria is involved in ERM. Victoria says applying ERM at her group in Coca-Cola is not difficult but complex. The group has well-developed guidelines for enterprise risk management. Over 80% of what you do are deterrents. They have robust processes in place.  [17:24] Victoria engages every risk-accountable leader. She notes four serious security risks across the business: kidnapping, terrorism, crime, and internal fraud. Other functions, such as supply chain, finance, procurement, and so on, each have specific risks they are looking out for. Victoria’s duty is to coordinate the risk management efforts of the different functions. [18:34] Victoria facilitates Risk Review Sessions and ensures that all the accountable risk owners understand the expectations, especially when reviewing the effectiveness of the measures they put in place. She helps evaluate risk response plans and contingency plans and helps the risk owners understand what is expected of them. It’s a gradual process. [19:16] When there’s a change in leadership, Victoria onboards them on the expectations. Risk is not managed by one person or department but is a cross-functional collaborative effort. That is what ERM is all about. Victoria works to understand each group’s processes and operations so she can advise them in the best way. [20:01] Victoria would not say that Coca-Cola HBC in Nigeria is targeted directly for risks or threats. Nigeria is a very diverse country and the most populous in Africa. Because of the diversity, the crimes committed differ across regions. Coca-Cola HBC is one of the biggest companies in the country and has operations across the country. [21:15] Coca-Cola HBC ensures that they identify all of the crime hot spots and proactively advise their employees on the safe places to go and unsafe places to avoid, how they can avoid those places, and how to conduct themselves in the event they find themselves in those environments unexpectedly, or anything happens. Environments continue to evolve. [22:09] The ERM group continually monitors the threat velocity and gives advice based on their findings. It is an ongoing activity. Nowhere in the world is completely safe. They do assessments, giving their employees priority and keeping everyone as safe as possible. [24:07] Victoria has been the honoree of the Outstanding Security Performance Award four times. She considers how far she has come. She used to sleep eight hours a night; now, she sleeps six because she wants to ke

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Julie Bean, 2024 Ron Judd Heart of RIMS Award Winner about her career in risk management, including how she ended up at seven companies in her first two years, and about her extensive involvement in RIMS Chapter committee leadership, chairing three committees and co-chairing a fourth committee at the same time. Her advice to new risk managers: Get involved in your RIMS Chapter, join committees, and build your network. Networking builds your career. Listen in for risk management insight and thoughts about being involved. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:15] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. We will be joined by the Ron Judd Heart of RIMS Award winner for 2024, Julie Bean! [:37] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. On June 11th and 12th, we’ve got Applying and Integrating ERM. Also on June 11th and 12th, we have Fundamentals of Insurance. On June 18th and 19th, we have Fundamentals of Risk Management. [:59] On July 9th and 10th, we have Managing Workers’ Compensation. On July 23rd and 24th, we have Claims Management. Other dates for Fall and Winter are on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:16] Let me tell you about the new dedicated RIMScast episode that just went live, sponsored by Otoos, “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance”. I interviewed Dana Kfir, the Director of Customer Success at Otoos about how technology can improve safety on construction sites and how companies can use incentives to drive change. [1:46] The link to this dedicated episode is in this episode’s show notes. It is complimentary for RIMS members and nonmembers. Go check it out! If you are interested in producing a similar special episode of RIMScast that features your organization and is tailored to meet the needs of your audience, reach out to us at Content@RIMS.org or Sales@RIMS.org. [2:12] The Ron Judd Heart of RIMS Award recognizes the volunteer contributions of a RIMS member who serves as a role model while keeping the chapter and the society vibrant and resilient, truly exemplifying the heart of RIMS. Julie Bean is best known as an omnipresent force in the RIMS Chicago Chapter. She is this year’s recipient. [2:38] We saw her take to the stage in San Diego during RISKWORLD 2024. We had a chance to connect afterward and I’m so glad to present this interview where she will share some of her insight and knowledge on her work as a risk professional and her illustrious career, and what it took to balance being a RIMS chapter and a risk professional. [3:06] 2024 Ron Judd Heart of RIMS Award winner, Julie Bean, welcome to RIMScast! [3:38] Julie says it was an amazing feeling to receive the Ron Judd Heart of RIMS Award at RISKWORLD 2024. She worked for a month on her acceptance speech, but then the presenters told her there would not be time for remarks. She was just happy to walk across the stage with an enormous headshot behind her! The San Diego Convention Center has a huge stage. [4:49] Julie takes a moment to reflect on the award. When her chapter nominated her and she saw the letters of recommendation, she was touched. She had never felt she was going over and above; it’s in her DNA to be part of the chapter, one of the largest next to New York. The chapter’s energy is so exciting! Julie always felt it an honor to be a part of it. [5:46] Julie says, “Thank you to my incredible chapter and all of the risk professionals whom I’ve had the honor of meeting over these 20-something years. It was an honor to be there.” [6:15] Julie was a Marketing and English double major, with no risk or insurance classes. In the working world, she was expecting to go into marketing but worked in companies that either shut down or were bought by somebody else. In two years, she was at seven companies. Through all that, she learned about resilience in companies and within herself. [6:58] After her sixth company, Julie went to her headhunter to reinvent herself and find something else. That has helped her a lot in the risk management world because resilience is what it takes to protect the company and make it stronger. [7:30] Julie is at the Chamberlain Group; in July it will be 19 years. She joined at the level of the parent company, the Duchossois Group. It’s a family-owned company. The Duchossois Group bought and sold several companies. Julie ended up at the Chamberlain Group once the other companies were divested. She has always been doing risk management for Chamberlain. [8:03] Chamberlain is the access solutions company with the garage door operators LiftMaster and Chamberlain and MyQ Technology. Julie has always been a department of one, so she has learned to surround herself with people who help her in her profession and help her company. [8:35] To work as a department of one, Julie created her path forward in a family business. The Duchossois Group gave her flexibility and autonomy in her role. She understood there was no vertical mobility. [10:17] Julie learned early that she needed to surround herself with a network of smart people. Her broker and professional networks are extensions of her department. [11:04] Julie is risk-averse. She looks for the worst thing that could happen and asks if they want to take that risk. There are upsides to taking risks. Her RIMS committee work allowed her to lead and taught her to delegate. Once you delegate, your committee is much stronger. [12:22] Julie tells about her RIMS journey. Dan Morris, a one-time RIMS chapter president, and Julie’s boss at ServiceMaster, encouraged Julie to attend RIMS chapter meetings and serve on committees. In the Chicago Chapter, there are many opportunities because many things are going on. At one time, she was chairing three committees and co-chairing a fourth. [14:15] Julie is thankful that her boss at the time, Colleen O’Connor, found it valuable for Julie to spend time on committees because of the networking and the knowledge she gained from her involvement with RIMS. [14:49] Julie speaks of the benefits to her career she derives from networking. People she knows at RIMS are the most brilliant minds in the risk community and they are so willing to share their thoughts. When she has a problem, she asks for help and the answers come quickly. [17:09] For several years, Julie had a session at RIMS for family-owned privately-held companies. It was a closed session because, those who work in that environment have different, unique challenges than a large public Fortune 500 company. Julie says those sessions were incredible. She could always reach out to any of those peers to get good advice. [17:54] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! On June 6th, Evident ID makes its RIMS Webinars debut with Uncovering Hidden Risks in Your Third-Party Risk Management Program. On June 13th, our friends at Riskonnect return to present Unlocking the Value of Business Continuity and Insurable Risk Management. [18:18] Our friends at TÜV SÜD GRC return on June 20th to present Sustainability Without the Sticker Shock: Save Green While Going Green. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. Webinars are complimentary for RIMS members! [18:35] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda will be announced soon, as will a call for submissions for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll have that link up soon on an upcoming episode. [18:54] Review your organization’s ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction. [19:09] The Spencer Educational Foundation’s goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, through a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the United States and Canada. This also applies to not-for-profit entities. [19:29] If this description applies to you, you should apply for a Spencer General Grant. The application deadline is July 30th, 2024. General Grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. [19:45] The Spencer 2024 Funding Their Future Gala will be held on Thursday, September 12th, 2024 at The Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. Links are in this episode’s show notes. [20:06] Back to the interview with the Ron Judd Heart of RIMS Award winner Julie Bean! [20:29] Julie is in Oakbrook, Illinois, where the Chamberlain Group resides. It’s a suburb outside of Chicago. RIMS will be in Chicago for RISKWORLD 2025 in May 2025. In May, there’s a good chance of having good weather in Chicago! Julie will most definitely be there! [22:20] Julie’s biggest challenge over the years has been to show the value proposition of the risk management role. If it’s done correctly, nobody notices you. You’re not a profit center. What the role does is to protect the assets of the company; to ensure that anything is handled. What is the value of the claim not happening because you had good risk control? [22:58] What is the value of putting the correct insurance in place so that you’re covered and protected when there are losses? Julie tries to encourage people in the organization to understand that risk is everybody’s responsibility. The risk manager does not own risks. A risk manager gets involved with the other departments to understand the risks in the organization. [24:20] When Julie lost her first job for reasons beyond her control, she was shocked. She says you have to think about what you offer a company, not what companies are going to offer you. After the third and fourth job losses, she switched her mindset. In those experiences, she had learne

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews three of his favorite people, Lorie Graham, Trisha Sqrow, and Dr. Lianne Appelt, who are the three authors of the new RIMS Executive Report, Developing and Refining Risk Appetite and Tolerance. They discuss how the executive report was conceived and written, and what the challenges were in writing it. The report contains insight and direction on the need for a clear and accessible risk appetite statement and risk tolerance in any organization using ERM. They speak of challenges risk professionals face in setting a risk appetite statement, and why risk appetite is essential for organizations today, Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:15] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. We will be joined by past and present members of the RIMS Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council to discuss their new RIMS Executive Report, Developing and Refining Risk Appetite and Tolerance. [:47] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. On June 11th and 12th, we’ve got Applying and Integrating ERM. Also on June 11th and 12th, we have Fundamentals of Insurance. On June 18th and 19th, we have Fundamentals of Risk Management. [1:09] On July 9th and 10th, we have Managing Workers’ Compensation. On July 23rd and 24th, we have Claims Management. Other dates for Fall and Winter are on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:27] Let me tell you about the new dedicated RIMScast episode that just went live, sponsored by Otoos, “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance”. I interviewed Dana Kfir, the Director of Customer Success at Otoos about how technology can improve safety on construction sites and how companies can use incentives to drive change. [1:57] The link to this dedicated episode is in this episode’s show notes. It is complimentary for RIMS members and nonmembers. Go check it out! If you are interested in producing a similar special episode of RIMScast that features your organization and is tailored to meet the needs of your audience, reach out to us at Content@RIMS.org or Sales@RIMS.org. [2:23] The RIMS Canada Conference 2024 will be held in Vancouver from October 6th through October 9th. The deadline for session submissions has been extended through May 30th! Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca or the link in this episode’s show notes to learn more about how you can submit your educational session for consideration at RIMS Canada Conference 2024. [2:54] As mentioned, RIMS has a new Executive Report called Developing and Refining Risk Appetite and Tolerance. It is available through the link in this episode’s show notes and through the Risk Knowledge page at RIMS.org. The report was jointly authored by three of my favorite people, Lorie Graham, Trisha Sqrow, and Dr. Lianne Appelt. [3:19] All have been featured in the ERM Q&A Series. Trisha and Lorie have both been featured here on RIMScast, and Lianne is making her debut. We’re going to talk all about this wonderful new Executive Report that was just released. We’ll see where we can extend the dialog beyond the report. [3:43] Lorie Graham, Trisha Sqrow, and Dr. Lianne Appelt, welcome to RIMScast! [3:53] I am joined by three of my favorite RIMS members. Two of you are returning to RIMScast. One is making your RIMScast debut, Dr. Lianne Appelt. People might know Dr. Lianne Appelt from RIMS-CRMP Stories, earlier this year. [4:36] Trisha Sqrow of Marsh is next. Trisha says it’s great to be part of the Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council. Trisha was with DFW Airport when they received Honorable Mention for the ERM Award of Distinction in 2021. [5:38] Lorie Graham is “the leading Oracle of ORSA.” Lorie was the Vice-Chair and Chair of the RIMS Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council. As the former Chair, Lorie kept her word and helped see this paper through. [6:23] Lianne says that putting together a risk appetite statement or devising risk tolerance levels or the other elements described in this paper are some of the hardest things we do as risk professionals. When this was discussed in the Council, Lianne saw potential value in having a guide with examples for risk practitioners to learn from and use to grow their programs. [7:54] This paper was Trisha’s first project on the Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council (SERMC). Through working on this paper, Trisha got to know Lorie and Lianne. She used her knowledge and grew a lot in the knowledge gained from Lorie and Lianne. They divided and conquered, each doing an aspect of the project. [8:43] Lorie says working on the paper was a shared responsibility. They each had a different perspective, coming from different industries, having different roles, and facing different challenges in their organizations. It was fun to learn from each other. [9:30] Developing and Refining Risk Appetite and Tolerance is available through a link in the show notes. Lorie says that risk appetite is the direction your company wants to go and tolerance is the amount of variability around that target that you are willing to accept. Tolerance statements are like guard rails. Lorie explains more about risk appetite. [11:15] Lianne talks about when and how to start developing risk appetite and tolerance. It is discussed in detail in the paper. It depends on the circumstances, your stakeholders, and your leadership team. It can take a lot of input, iterations, and time. Use the guidance of your risk culture and make sure you achieve your objectives as a risk practitioner. [13:04] Lianne says a big part is understanding the culture and the organization. Risk appetite is usually one of the last things an organization addresses because it is hard. Your impact statements can inform your appetite and tolerance statements. [14:53] Lorie says the words of the risk appetite statement need to reflect metrics that are important to your business, in the language of the business, and connect to your business goals so people see why it is important. People need to understand the statements. Keep them fresh as the business evolves and the environment changes. [15:55] Whittling the statements down to one or two sentences can be hard, but it is important. It won’t be perfect the first time. See how people translate it into the business. [16:27] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! On June 6th, Evident ID makes its RIMS Webinars debut with Uncovering Hidden Risks in Your Third-Party Risk Management Program. On June 13th, our friends at Riskonnect return to present Unlocking the Value of Business Continuity and Insurable Risk Management. There are more to be announced for June and July! [16:52] Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. Webinars are complimentary for RIMS members! [16:59] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda will be announced soon, as will a call for submissions for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll have that link up soon on an upcoming episode. [17:17] Review your organization’s ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction. [17:32] The Spencer Educational Foundation has the goal of helping build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals. They achieve that goal in part through a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the United States and Canada. This also applies to not-for-profit entities. [17:51] If this description applies to you, you should apply for a Spencer General Grant. The application deadline is July 30th, 2024. General Grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. [18:07] The Spencer 2024 Funding Their Future Gala will be held on Thursday, September 12th, 2024 at The Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. Links are in this episode’s show notes. [18:43] Dr. Lianne Appelt is featured now on the RIMS-CRMP Stories.  A link is in the show notes. Lianne speaks of common challenges risk professionals face when developing risk appetite and tolerance statements. A lot of the challenges are interdependent. One challenge is where setting a risk appetite statement and developing tolerance ends up being a compliance activity. [19:28] For many, it is a “check-the-box” exercise they don’t want to spend a ton of time, effort, or energy thinking about how it can add value to the business. They want to do the bare minimum and move on. That leads to another challenge, the “set-it-and-forget-it” situation. If it sits on a shelf or in a Dropbox folder and nobody looks at it, it doesn’t add any value to the program. [20:41] Trisha says some of it is having an unclear value proposition and not relating it to the business or the culture of the organization. People ask, “We’re doing fine, there have never been issues, so why do we need this?” The value proposition of appetite and tolerance is that it empowers decision-making throughout the organization. It replaces bureaucracy in decisions. [21:36] Statements of risk appetite and tolerance allow you to allocate resources properly to bump up tolerance when needed. They help the organization to be more agile. They tie ERM to your business’s strategic goals and initiatives. [22:43] One of the biggest challenges Lorie faced was asking herself, if you set a tolerance and exceeded the tolerance, did you fail? If you exceeded the appetite, did you fail? It’s not failure, it’s an opportunity to see it coming, know that you’re reaching it, and have a strategy before you get there to change your trajectory, risk appetite statement, or goals. [23:26] Get people on board with the underst

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews live at RISKWORLD 2024 Tina Cameron, author of the RIMS Executive Report, Leveraging Insurance & Risk Management to Address Political Risk, about her risk management career and the winners of the 2024 Spencer RIMS Risk Management Challenge, the IIRM Hyderabad Vigilant Challengers and their risk management professor, about what it took to win the challenge. They share their vigilant path to victory by learning real-life risk management skills. Listen in for risk management nuggets of wisdom. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:15] These interviews were recorded live at RISKWORLD 2024 in San Diego with the author of a RIMS report on political risk and the winners of the 2024 RIMS/Spencer Risk Management Challenge. [:44] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. On June 11th and 12th, we’ve got Applying and Integrating ERM. Also on June 11th and 12th, we have Fundamentals of Insurance. On June 18th and 19th, we have Fundamentals of Risk Management. [1:05] On July 9th and 10th, we have Managing Workers’ Compensation. On July 23rd and 24th, we have Claims Management. Other dates for Fall and Winter are on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. [1:22] Let me tell you about the new dedicated RIMScast episode that just went live, sponsored by Otoos, “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance”. I interviewed Dana Kfir, the Director of Customer Success at Otoos about how technology can improve safety on construction sites and how companies can use incentives to drive change. [1:52] The link to this dedicated episode is in this episode’s show notes. It is complimentary for RIMS members and nonmembers. Go check it out! [2:04] RISKWORLD 2024 was a smashing success, hosting approximately 10,000 attendees. On-site in San Diego, I recorded two more interviews I wanted to share with the global RIMScast audience. I found them so insightful and they captured some of the energy we were experiencing on the exhibit-room floor. [2:31] The first interview was with a fascinating risk professional, Tina C. Cameron. She is the Senior Manager of Global Insurance for World Vision International. Tina also authored a recent RIMS Executive Report titled Leveraging Insurance & Risk Management to Address Political Risk. A link is in the show notes. [2:57] Since Tina travels worldwide, she’s an authority on the subject. On Wednesday, May 8th, Tina and I found a Tiki Bar near RIMS HQ and we set up the mic to talk about the Executive Report, her work, and the many risks and challenges a risk professional or business leader must consider before setting up operations abroad. [3:22] I am pleased to share this interview with the global risk management community. Tina Cameron, welcome to RIMScast! [4:00] Tina Cameron is with World Vision International. She started her career with a degree in business finance. She also studied global economics. She got a position as a corporate cash manager. That led to a job of half cash manager, half risk manager. After that, she only took risk manager jobs. She lists the industries she worked in that gave her a broad base of experience. [4:54] Tina got her ERM and qualified for the RIMS Fellow. She also worked in mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, and audit. Tina was very interested in international matters. Her father was a world traveler and adventurer. He slept on the ground in some places. Tina has always been interested in other cultures. She wanted to be in a larger international organization. [6:03] Tina joined World Vision International, an organization in about 100 underdeveloped countries. These countries don’t have all the privileges of developed countries. World Vision works to establish relationships with the government and bring humanitarian aid. They deliver humanitarian aid to poor children in the poorest countries in Africa, South America, and Asia. [6:52] World Vision International also does microloans. Tina says one of the most important things is helping girls get into school in countries where girls are not valued as highly as boys and have no access to schools. World Vision helps families get their girls into school. They pay for education and transportation so girls in those countries have an equal opportunity.  [7:43] Tina talks about Leveraging Insurance & Risk Management to Address Political Risk. The main point of the report is to prepare. You cannot go into a country with blindfolds on. You have to prepare your people and understand the country. You have to understand the government and the infrastructure. You need to develop relationships with a good network of support people. [8:46] You have to work with security firms. World Vision International has in-house security because they are in the most dangerous places in the world. Their security team prepares World Vision people to go into a country with strenuous training. A person is not eligible to go into the country without passing security training. [9:04] World Vision employs local nationals and also people from around the world to help. There are a variety of people flying in for operations. Employing local nationals creates goodwill. There are also lots of volunteering opportunities all over the world. The jobs World Vision creates are opportunities for locals to help their communities. [9:48] World Vision International is a Christian organization but they do not proselytize or force Western values on people. They go in with respect for the culture and religion. They go in only to help the locals get to the best circumstances they can with food security, clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. World Vision gives them the skills to be self-sufficient and then leaves them. [11:03] Tina says a lot of firms don’t pre-plan for political risk. Then, once in the country, they ask carriers for political risk insurance. In a lot of cases, coverage will be denied to firms that are not known to the carriers. Tina wrote in the executive report the things you can do to get underwriters comfortable with your risk profile. [11:37] Carriers need to get to know you and your operations, and that you understand security. They need to know your travel. Do this ahead of time and also get your various other forms of insurance without country exclusions. The carriers know World Vision International, so they don’t get normal exclusions. [12:18] We’ve been there since the fifties. You can’t just jump in and expect to get insurance. It will either be denied or it will be extremely expensive. If you’re planning on going into a new country, get with a specialist broker who understands political risk and can guide you through the process. That’s when you first begin to understand your risk. Start a year in advance. [13:32] Tina’s paper was written for risk managers who roll up their sleeves and put their hands in the dirt. It’s necessary to do due diligence on the country. Ask yourself about the power grid, internet service, and what cell phones will work there. Can you dial out of the country? Who controls the water and power? What are the roads like, if any? What about waterways? [14:48] Are there fire stations? Are they all-volunteer? Are your people trained to put out fires? Hire outside security for your commodity warehouses. What’s the flooding like? You’ll want to be on high ground. We can take a lot from what we’ve learned here in the U.S. from natural disasters and other places where you’ve had losses. [16:27] Tina suggests learning the best way to secure roofing so you don’t have a roof claim with every hurricane season. [16:45] You have to have a contingent supply chain plan. You may need to airdrop. Look for other suppliers. What are the cyber laws in that country? How do you handle local cash? The top person on the ground needs to have a credit card with a high limit. Emergencies can happen, including needing emergency evacuation. Extracting people requires payment in advance. [18:03] Tina discusses her participation in RISKWORLD, RIMS education, and the International Council. She and Justin give a shoutout to Gayle Jacobs, an SVP at Marsh, who advises World Vision International on political risk. Gayle Jacobs had a session at RISKWORLD 2024. [19:27] Tina, thank you so much for joining us! [19:42] RIMS plug time! Webinars! Our friends from TÜV SÜD GRC will return on May 23rd with Respond to Emerging Risks with this Winning Property Loss Control Formula. On June 6th, Evident ID makes its RIMS Webinars debut with Uncovering Hidden Risks in Your Third-Party Risk Management Program. [20:15] On June 13th, our friends at Riskonnect return to present Unlocking the Value of Business Continuity and Insurable Risk Management. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. Webinars are complimentary for RIMS members! [20:35] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda will be announced soon, as will a call for submissions for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll have that link soon on an upcoming episode. [20:54] So review your organization’s ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction. [21:09] The Spencer Educational Foundation has the goal of helping build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals. They achieve that goal in part through a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the United States and Canada. This also applies to not-for-profit entities. [21:29] If this description applies to you, then you should apply for a Spencer General Grant. The application deadline is July 30th, 2024. General

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Oliver Wild, the President of AMRAE, Joan Woodward, Executive Vice President for Public Policy at Travelers, and Chuck Baxter, Executive VP at IPISC, all live at RISKWORLD 2024. First, Oliver discusses AMRAE’s 2024 RMIS Panorama. Next, Joan discusses Travelers’ 2024 CFO Study. To finish the episode, Chuck discusses World Intellectual Property Day and the importance of IP rights in your organization. There is much to learn from these RIMScast guests. Justin also reveals the location of RISKWORLD 2025. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:15] These interviews were recorded live at RISKWORLD 2024 in San Diego, from May 5th through May 8th. [:39] Before we get to the interviews, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. On June 11th and 12th, we’ve got Applying and Integrating ERM. Also on June 11th and 12th, we have Fundamentals of Insurance. On June 18th and 19th, there is Fundamentals of Risk Management. [1:05] On July 9th and 10th, we have Managing Workers’ Compensation. On July 23rd and 24th, we have Claims Management. Other dates for Fall and Winter are on the Virtual Workshops full calendar. A link is in this episode’s show notes. Listen for more about RIMS events later in the show. [1:30] My first guest is the President of the Association for the Management of Risk and Insurance Enterprise or AMRAE. Their complimentary 2024 RMIS Panorama is now available for download. The last time we saw the folks from AMRAE on RIMScast was in 2019. François Beaume from AMRAE was in the RIMS office and we had a fun, impromptu interview. [2:03] This year, I sat down with the AMRAE 2024 President, Oliver Wild. Oliver is the Chief Risk Officer for Veolia, a company providing water risk management, water reclamation, and water treatment. He was at RISKWORLD 2024, representing AMRAE. We talked about the Panorama, its improved functionality and accessibility, and the trends identified in the Panorama. [2:46] Oliver Wild, welcome to RIMScast! [3:05] Oliver is the President of AMRAE, the French equivalent of RIMS. They have over 1,600 risk manager members. They organized their conference in February 2024 in Deauville, France. There is a link to the event site in this episode’s show notes. The last time Justin spoke with someone from AMRAE was in 2019. Justin interviewed François Beaume in the RIMS office. [3:59] The new Panorama is the 17th Edition. Oliver says AMRAE is reaching out to more risk managers with the help of IFRIMA, FERMA, and other risk associations. For this edition, AMRAE got responses from 250 risk managers in 36 countries. It gives an international view of the use of risk management information systems. [4:30] The number of vendors has also increased. It’s a very dynamic market. [4:49] AMRAE integrates risk managers’ views. There are risk manager testimonials and expert opinions on the market from insurers and brokers. It’s a neutral, objective study and very business-focused, reaching into different departments in the organizations. [5:38] You can access the full report. It’s free. You can also get direct access to the data with a QR code that gives you dashboards so you can slice and dice the data and get the view you want to see, per country and vendor, and the risk managers’ responses. [6:54] It’s a growing, dynamic market. More risk managers are implementing risk management information systems. The trend is a single risk management information tool to respond to the needs of many departments. On average in a company, 50 people use that tool to help them report to the board or their executives. [7:47] A critical aspect and key benefit of these data-rich risk management information tools is information sharing, including real-time data. The number one reason risk managers implement this type of tool is for risk mapping. Other benefits are driving your action plans, following up on them, and sharing risk maps with your internal audit. [8:43] A recent trend is to use these systems for risk management and prevention. To a lesser extent, Oliver sees internal control feeding into that. [8:57] Oliver speaks of the popularity of SaaS. The quality of SaaS tools has improved, off the shelf. You can adapt and shape the tool to your needs. Risk managers are very happy with the tools that they have. They are easy to implement and it takes about four months. The average cost for these tools is €100K a year but differs by country. In the U.S., bigger systems cost more. [10:53] The digitalization of the risk management function is critical and you’re seeing that in the insurance market as well leading to the big expansion of risk management information tools. [11:10] Oliver shares his view on AI. The GenAI aspect is very new and is developing quickly. It’s already in current risk management tools. Oliver mentions “sanity checks” to improve data quality. Risk managers say AI helps them in fraud prevention by looking at financial patterns of fraud. In the insurance market, AI helps analyze policies and scan through prevention reports. [12:11] AI can make the risk manager’s life easier and more efficient. You need human eyes to see the analysis and human ears to hear it, but AI gets you on your way. It’s a real-time analysis. [12:52] AMRAE organizes an annual event in Normandy and Deauville. It gets about 4,000 people. It’s a great event with plenary sessions and around 30 workshops for risk managers. The Panorama is the 17th Edition, but AMRAE produces analysis of other topics year-round, based on the topics of the moment. AMRAE does prospective thinking on future risks. [13:33] There’s also a training part with certified training and modules to help risk management face their challenges. Risk management is now at the board level and modules help risk managers get used to talking to C-suites and execs. There is training on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), aimed at the environmental impact of the company. [14:17] In the Risk Management System Panorama, people are using AMRAE training to do their reporting on CSRD. That’s one of the areas of focus of the report this year. [14:28] AMRAE does a lot of smaller events in regions in France to reach out to a maximum of the risk management community. AMRAE has six centers across France, hosting events throughout the year. AMRAE is the association of reference for the risk management community in France. Their equivalent of RISKWORLD is called Les Rencontres (The Meetingplace). [15:16] Les Rencontres covers the whole risk ecosystem for all stakeholders, with discussions, cocktails, and dinners. It’s fun and a key source of information. It has a big student population. Last year over 300 students attended. The students bring their CVs and talk to the carriers about a job for when they graduate. Les Rencontres is always the first week of February. [16:02] Oliver Wild is also the Chief Risk Officer for Veolia. There are 17 people at the head office and a network of offices around the globe in 58 countries. That’s about 90 people in risk and insurance combined. They deal with risk mapping, identification, and prevention. They run captives and insurance programs. The risk managers interact with all the other departments. [16:49] Oliver, it has been such a pleasure to talk with you. You’ll come back for another episode, virtually, unless you want to ship me out to France? [17:05] RIMS plug time! Webinars! Our friends from TÜV SÜD GRC will return on May 23rd with Respond to Emerging Risks with this Winning Property Loss Control Formula. On June 6th, Evident ID makes its RIMS Webinars debut with Uncovering Hidden Risks in Your Third-Party Risk Management Program. Some RIMS board members will be there to lend insight, as well. [17:37] On June 13th, our friends at Riskonnect return to present Unlocking the Value of Business Continuity and Insurable Risk Management. All of these sponsors had a wonderful presence at RISKWORLD on the showroom floor and we sincerely appreciate our partnerships with them. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. Webinars are complimentary for RIMS members! [18:12] Our next guest is the President of Travelers Institute and Executive Vice President for Public Policy at Travelers, Joan Woodward. Joan led a session at RISKWORLD, From Forecast to Forefront: New Research on the CFO’s Strategic Mindset. At that same time, Travelers released its special report, 2024 CFO Study. A lot of the session info was based on this brand-new report. [18:44] I caught up with Joan right afterward. We extended the dialog from her session and explored some of the details from the 2024 CFO Study. Joan Woodward, welcome to RIMScast! [19:11] Travelers decided this year to survey over 600 CFOs and Heads of Finance at large companies with 500 or more employees across a mix of industries to get their views on topics from core responsibilities and corporate strategy to the macroeconomic concerns on the minds of CFOs. CFOs are key decision-makers in selecting the right solutions. [20:10] CFOs rely on risk managers in the company. They wear multiple hats. Travelers wanted to know what keeps them up at night, how they deal with complex risks, and whom they turn to to help them manage that risk. [20:40] A lot of major companies have their enterprise risk management teams report to the CFO. A lot of companies have a risk committee on their board of directors. Overseeing risk management is probably one of the most difficult things a CEO has to worry about. Risk management and the CFO go hand-in-hand to advise the board and their CEO. [21:24] The Travelers study uncovered four key themes; one is the expanding role of CFOs with internal and external constituencies in risk management and overseeing that function to ensure the business is resilient

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews RIMS Risk Manager of the Year 2024, Steve Robles, Los Angeles County. They discuss how his career progress how he negotiated a position to have a direct report to the County CEO and Board of Supervisors, as an Assistant CEO over Risk Management, and why he feels it was necessary to have a direct report with the strategic decision-maker. Steve tells of the importance of sharing knowledge with a network and how he built his coworkers to be his succession to be ready when he left. Finally, he leaves you with his advice for building your career upon your passion. Listen for wise risk management philosophy. Key Takeaways:y [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:14] RISKWORLD 2024 is the yv w now in San Diego, from May 5th through May 8th. Use the RIMS Events App to organize your sessions, meetings, and other fun and educational experiences at RISKWORLD. [:30] About today’s episode of RIMScast. This is a fantastic episode! I will be joined by RIMS Risk Manager of the Year 2024, Steve Robles. There’s so much to discuss with him! [:56] There’s a good chance that you are listening to this episode while you are with us in sunny San Diego, California during RISKWORLD 2024. Let’s start with May 6th. In the morning on the Main Stage at 8:00 a.m., we have an Opening Keynote from Peter Diamandis. [1:14] At noon, PST, we’ve got the Main Stage Leadership Keynote, An Afternoon with Marlee Matlin, Academy Award-winning actress, director, and activist. The Spencer RIMS Risk Management Challenge Final Round will be held in Ballroom 6A at 1:15 p.m. [1:34] On the morning of Tuesday, May 7th we’ve got the Spencer 5K Fun Run, sponsored by Sedgwick. That event will be held at 200 Marina Park Way. At 8:00 a.m., we have our Industry Breakfast Keynote from Evan Greenberg, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chubb Limited and Chubb Group. [1:54] On Wednesday, May 8th, at 3:00 p.m., on the Main Stage, our Conference Finale and Closing Keynote will be delivered by entrepreneur, author, TV personality, and Shark, Daymond John. Each day there will be sessions at the DE&I Studio, the Global Studio, the Innovation Hub, the Thought Leader Theater, and the Wellness Center, in addition to the breakout session rooms. [2:21] Check out the full itinerary at RIMS.org/RISKWORLD, and the RIMS Events App. If you have any questions or want to pick up some wonderful RIMS swag, check us out at RIMS HQ. [2:39] The RIMS Risk Manager of the Year program aims to raise the profile of the risk management profession and the outstanding programs the honorees have implemented within their organizations. The program was initiated in 1977 and the Risk Management Honor Roll was added in 1981. [2:56] The 2024 RIMS Risk Manager of the Year is Steven Robles. Steve was recognized for his work as the Assistant CEO for the County of Los Angeles. He’s featured in the special Awards Edition of RIMS Risk Management magazine. On Wednesday, May 8th, at 2:10 p.m., Steve and I will be at the Global Studio to extend this dialog. [3:21] Right now, we’re going to have a lot of fun! We’re going to talk about highlights of the past year and his career and what it means to be Assistant CEO for a major county in the United States of America. RIMS Risk Manager of the Year 2024, Steven Robles, welcome to RIMSCast! [3:56] Steve is excited to be a guest on RIMScast! Steve says it’s extremely humbling to be RIMS 2024 Risk Manager of the Year. He has spent his entire career in risk management and to be honored like this is just an amazing feeling. It’s wonderful to know all the people who have helped him in his career; Steve shares his award with them. We cannot do our jobs by ourselves. [4:56] The Awards edition of Risk Management magazine has a wonderful article by Justin that details Steve’s career, especially the last couple of years and his work at LA County. The article’s link is in this episode’s show notes. [5:30] Steve was with San Bernardino County for almost 23 years; it was a lot of fun. He started his risk management career as a safety officer there. He worked with the Sheriff’s department to ensure they were safe when they raided drug labs. He worked with all kinds of wonderful professionals. That’s what got him hooked. [6:41] The department Steve worked in at San Bernardino County was the Risk Management Department. From Safety, Steve progressed to Workers’ Comp, Liability, Insurance, Indemnification, Contracts, and Finance. As he built his skill set and supervisory experience, he realized he could run the department. After 10 years, his goal was to head the department. [8:58] Justin points out a great takeaway for the audience: Build your skill set, build your network, and when the time is right, present yourself for promotion. [9:33] Steve’s friends told him not to take the job at LA County. Steve likes to organize and he saw there was disorder to organize. In his home, he likes to do tile work. He saw the opportunity to do some good for a place that was a good fit for him. Steve loves LA County. It was a major seven-day-a-week commitment. He got his family to buy into it. Fortunately, his kids were grown. [12:40] RIMS plug time! For RIMS Virtual Workshops, visit RIMS.org/virtualworkshops to see the full calendar. Virtual workshops are in session, beginning in June, starting with Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management. That’s a three-part course that begins on June 6th. We’ve got Fundamentals of Insurance on June 11th and 12th. [13:03] We’ve got Fundamentals of Risk Management on June 18th and 19th and we’ve got Captives as an Alternate Risk Financing Technique on June 26th and 27th. More information about these workshops and others is on the RIMS Virtual Workshops page and a link is in this episode’s show notes. [13:20] If you attend RISKWORLD, be sure to download the RIMS Events App. This is different from the RIMS App which is available only to members. The RIMS Events App will help you keep sessions organized, take notes, communicate with other attendees, and a whole lot of other great features because there’s so much happening. This is a great way to stay on schedule. [13:58] Back to the interview! Steve describes the extremely extensive interview process for the position at LA County. The panel and questions were pretty standard about Steve’s experience and philosophy on building a risk management program. Once he made the first cut, he had to interview with each elected official on the Board of Supervisors and their Chief of Staff. [14:52] There were five Supervisors. He spent about two hours with each of them, over a week. After they approved him, he sat with the CEO. He wanted to have a direct report to the CEO. They met for about two hours. By the time he started his first day, it felt like he had worked a week. [16:06] Steve says the CEO was great. Steve learned from the CEO during the interview that he had worked with Steve’s mom in a previous job and she had trained him on a lot of things in personnel! Steve said getting to know the board members and the CEO on a human level helped him a lot. Steve told his mom and she said, “Oh I know him, tell him, Hi!” [17:34] Justin recalls when he got an internship at a major television network because his grandmother knew the mother of the marketing director. Leverage every family connection you can! Steve’s wife also has a family connection with one of the Board Supervisors and he name-dropped her as well. [18:13] Steve is easy to get along with. He tells how that helped him to bring people along to where he wanted to go on a program or initiative. He knew he needed other people on board. He started by building a story. Risk managers need to be good storytellers. Use humor to put people at ease and allow them to share their true thoughts. A better idea may come up in discussion. [19:40] Steve calls this conversation controlled chaos. [20:17] Steve made privacy and cyber a top concern. These concerns went hand-in-hand. One of the issues at Los Angeles County was that their technology was extremely disjointed. Seven computer systems housed seven different data sets to administer risk management and the county council program. [20:49] None of the systems communicated with each other but all systems had the same type of personal data and connected through the internet. That made seven different exposures. Steven developed a comprehensive system to consolidate the seven systems. Steven paid attention to the cyber aspects and privacy aspects of managing how the data got out. [21:34] This was in 2013. Offices involved were the CEO, Health System, Jail System, Social Services System, and other county systems, which had the same challenges. Their first milestone was when they had a breach! It helped to have something occur so Steven could build from the chaos. It was a wake-up call. [22:48] The breach springboarded the county departments to collaborate in their efforts to control cyber. Steven tells why the breach didn’t threaten his job. He always says, “I don’t know what’s going to happen but I know we need to be prepared for something happening. And this is how we prepare for these types of things.” [24:13] That means we need to have an emergency communication policy with collaboration on handling disasters. We need to prepare for what we don’t know yet. As emerging risks came up, Steve brought them up. He brought up cyber and privacy long before there was a data breach. There was an emphasis on how they would respond to it. Steve also brought up AI years ago. [24:49] Steve doesn’t know yet how AI is going to be a risk to us, but it’s going to be a risk and we need to prepare for it. [24:58] One more RIMS Plug break! Webinars! Our friends from TÜV SÜD GRC will return on May 23rd with Respond to Emerging Risks with a Winning Property Loss Control F