How to Performance Benchmark Your Risk Management: A practical guide to help you tell if your risk management is effective

HOW MUCH MONEY ARE YOU WASTING ON RISK MANAGEMENT? 

Do you know these answers: "How do I tell if the $x million I spent last year actually delivered benefits or reduced risk?"... "How do I know how my organization is performing against its peers in terms of ROI on risk mitigations?"
 
Every year we spend billions on risk management, often without measuring the effectiveness of those critical initiatives. Because everyone's time is short, we've condensed 50 years of the authors' experience into 50 pages of practical advice that helps you immediately assess the effectiveness of your risk management.
 
Develop lead indicators, not lag indicators
 
Too often, KPIs most quoted in support of organizational objectives are lag indicators of things that have gone wrong. They shouldn't be. Establish lead indicators that measure performance well in advance of risk events, and even guide development of new or ongoing risk mitigation strategies.
 
Not all KPIs are created equal
 
How well do your KPIs really reflect your business? We put together a cheat sheet of 10 tips to create more effective KPIs.

• Define Key Result Areas - Work with stakeholders to choose most important 5-10 things, and decide what must happen in what time frame
• Use your SMARTS - Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, Timely and Simple
• Know Your Business - Document and understand the operations, systems and procedures KPIs will measure
• Involve Contractors and Stakeholders - Work with people who will deliver the KPIs:  make sure they meet the 4As: actionable, achievable, appropriate, and agreed
• Establish Reporting Framework- Don't align KPIs to your monthly/quarterly/annual reports... set KPIs first, then develop reporting that really matters
• Define Performance - Yes/no or right/wrong KPIs don't allow for incremental improvement
• Use Existing Technology - If you don't have time to develop a KPI measurement platform, use what you do have
• Give Feedback - Be prompt, direct, and honest
• Use the Language of Management - Use language appropriate to your field, and if leadership changes, adjust KPIs according to new demands
• Check and Adjust - You won't get KPIs 100% right the first time, so build them with wriggle room and review