Tag Archives: talent shortage

Immediate Vault Immediate Access

Solving the Talent Crisis in the Risk Profession

Posted on by

BOSTON—In a time when skills become obsolete much quicker than in previous eras and the professional landscape is rapidly evolving, businesses need to be more agile and adaptive. Companies with these characteristics tend to meet their clients’ expectations more effectively, have higher employee engagement, and see more success generally. They can accomplish this by bringing on and nurturing younger or newer talent.

buy ventolin online cosmeticdermcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/ventolin.html no prescription pharmacy

While more schools are offering risk-related academic programs, however, the industry is still not attracting enough young people to its ranks.

buy cytotec online cosmeticdermcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/cytotec.html no prescription pharmacy

How can companies attract new talent to the risk management industry and keep them from leaving?

“I hear people saying all the time, ‘I wish next-generation people would stay,’” said Monica Merrifield, vice president of risk intelligence at YMCA of Greater Toronto. At today’s RIMS 2019 session “Solving the Talent Crisis in the Risk Profession,” Merrifield and fellow panelists Joseph Milan, principal at JA Milan and Associates LLC, Grace Crickette, vice president of administrative affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Andrew Bent, risk director at Sage Group plc., discussed why young people aren’t joining the risk management field, and what companies can do to bring them into the industry and keep them there.

Crickette described the next generation as purpose-driven and passionate, expecting a company to have a bigger vision and to be clear about the employee’s role in that vision. They work best in high-collaboration and low-hierarchy environments, and expect a variety of work, as well as meaningful interactions with leadership. They are interested in creating a pathway to growth more than advancement—not necessarily a ladder, Crickette said, but “a lattice.” In part, companies and hiring managers can attract these young professionals by examining their own operations and internal culture to ensure that they address these concerns and are open to new perspectives and contributions. When companies emphasize the values of diversity (both of ideas and people), humility, and learning from mistakes, this will make them more appealing for the next generation of talent, Merrifield said.

Merrifield and Crickette also stressed the importance of cultivating new talent, and how young professionals can grow by seeking out mentors and sponsors who will create opportunities for them, even if those opportunities are not at their current company.

buy desyrel online cosmeticdermcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/desyrel.html no prescription pharmacy

“Don’t wait for a sponsor, ask for a sponsor,” Crickette said. Multiple panelists also encouraged young professionals to pursue education and accreditation for advancement and growth in a risk management career, Crickette urging young people to take more tests and get professional designations to set themselves apart and learn more, and Milan describing the benefits of the RIMS-CRMP certification. Milan also advised young professionals to be courageous enough to share new ideas in their workplaces, and Merrifield said that they should focus on soft skills, which are less likely to be automated in the future.

When people lament that they wish millennials would stay, Bent said he responds by pointing to studies showing that millennials are actually more loyal when their employers present them with a “why”—a deeper purpose for their work and a reason to stay. He said that companies should examine what they are actually doing to attract and retain younger talent, keeping in mind that millennials and younger generations are better at moving on when they see that a new opportunity elsewhere is better.

Crickette added that the industry needs to show young people that there is more to the risk management business than just insurance, and explain how diverse the field is. Bent and Milan both also said that the risk profession is mostly associated with bad things happening, and that risk management professionals could help change that perception by showing how risk management can create opportunities, showing up in their communities during both good times and bad.

It is possible to get young people to join and stay in the risk management profession, these experts stressed, but companies must do the work to adapt to the employees they want, creating opportunities for young risk management professionals to engage and grow.

The First Step to Retaining Top Talent: Don’t Annoy Your Employees

Posted on by

One of the biggest business risks of the coming years and decades will be hiring and — more importantly — retaining top talent. Legions of Baby Boomers are heading out to pasture every day, taking an untold wealth of knowledge with them, so those companies that can get the best of the best from the younger generations will be poised to leapfrog the laggards in their industries.

While most consultants tell organizations to focus on the perks, policies, benefits and workplace atmosphere that will attract the brightest, what about the negative side? What are the aspects of a company’s workplace that deter employees from sticking around?

When it comes to the big issues, my guess is that pay, horrible bosses, uninspiring environments and too much work must rank high on most people’s lists. The people I know anyway.

What about the little things though?

The Institute of Leadership and Management in London took a scientific approach to find out, polling nearly 2,200 managers to determine the most-common annoyances of office workers.

Jargon, poor time management and employees coming to work sick (so-called “presenteeism”) rate highly. And as expected, workers being tardy to work and meetings came in as the number-one irritant of managers.

Guilty as charged on that one, I’m afraid. Sorry co-workers.

Another thing many people hate is a hate I share, however: Trying to use email for everything.

Now, look, I hate talking on the phone, too. It’s the worst. If you’re trying to call me to ask me what time I can meet you for coffee, that’s annoying. And please don’t leave me a voicemail unless your house is on fire. Text or send and email, please. I have things to do, and your accent is not as charming as you think, Ms. South Carolina.

But if you need to discuss the start of a new project, particularly if it’s not some old-hat procedure that we’re both familiar with, then, yeah, pick up the phone. Better yet: If we work in the same office, would you please just walk over to my desk for a chat? It’s really not that far. And it’s just so much more useful. Not everything can be done by email.

That said, this is what makes managing a workforce so difficult.

Some people care deeply about certain issues while others don’t even notice them. Then those not-noticing people have annoyances that don’t rank with person C. And so forth and so on forever.

All this illustrates the incredible difficulty of managing the modern employee.

It’s hard to make everyone happy.

But there is great risk in not even trying. You can’t please all of the people all of the time, they say, but as the race for talent becomes increasingly competitive, companies should be attempting to keep as many of them as happy as possible.

If you don’t, your competitor will.

Talent Shortage: A Top Risk Facing Businesses

Posted on by

No, it’s not the credit crisis or the looming threat of cyber crime or business continuity during a natural disaster or the overall state of the national economy that keeps American business owners awake at night. It is, according to most, the shortage of talent and skills.

This may seem strange, seeing as were are still experiencing record unemployment numbers — meaning the pool of seemingly qualified employees should be vast to say the least. But in fact, the 2011 Lloyd’s Risk Index found that talent and skills shortage ranked as the number two risk facing American business leaders — shooting up from the number 22 spot in 2009.

“These findings show that talent is now firmly part of the risk lexicon — high levels of unemployment have boosted the quantity of candidates, but employers are still wrestling with the quality. Our own Global Talent Index echoed these concerns and highlighted two factors underscoring this risk: population demographics and skills gaps,” said Kevin Kelly, CEO of Heidrick & Struggles the leadership advisory firm providing executive search and leadership consulting services worldwide.

Are business leaders prepared to handle not only the number two risk on the list, but all 50 in the index? Apparently they are. Respondents said they are more than adequately prepared for 48 out of the 50 risks listed. That is in comparison to 2009, when leaders said they were not adequately prepared for eight of the 40 listed risks. Leaders cited “boosting talent retention” as one of the most overall effective risk management actions taken over the last three years, showing how eager businesses are to retain the staff they have.

Speaking of risk management, when respondents were asked to identify the most effective risk management action their organization had taken over the last three years, they cited the introduction of formal risk management strategies and systems, stating that “risk management is now one of the most important roles in the business community.”

Finally.

It may have taken the collapse of the U.S. housing market, a worldwide recession and the continuous uncovering of massive fraud to push the idea of risk management to the forefront of global business programs, but at least the discipline is now moving to where it belongs.

And it is apparently now focused on retaining the talent and skills that are greatly needed in a business world full of continuously evolving risks.