How did you get into risk management, and how long have you been doing it?
I was the Insurance & Risk Apprentice within the team focussing mainly on Liability Claims when the position for Risk Officer went up for recruitment. I had not finished my apprenticeship in full but had progressed from novice to Cert CII, so took a chance that although I did not have any formalised experience or qualifications, I thought I would be a good candidate because of my other experiences and life skills. I have been in the role now for almost 16 months.
What do you enjoy about it?
Almost everything! I love that I am never doing the same thing from one day to the next but that there is also a routine to it all, so I get a balance for my weird personality that both enjoys and hates routine.
What challenges do you face in your business? What challenges are facing your sector?
Working within a local authority council the main challenge we face is doing more with less, providing better and greater services but often with less money or people than before. More than ever people are engaging with and relying on council services; at the same time, councils are being challenged to reduce spending, streamline services and move more services online to self-service portals while maintaining a close connection with those we serve.
Do you have any specific risk challenges within your organisation?
Wider understanding of what risk management is and how it can support you in achieving your business outcomes. In 2020, just as the Pandemic was starting and the first lockdown came into effect, our strategic risk advisor had secured a new position at another council. With the Pandemic taking precedence in everything, recruitment was put on hold and we regretfully had 2 failed recruitment processes in the following four years, a change of administration and several changes to the staffing structure meaning we lost a lot of our corporate memory and Risk Management was not up to standard, and RM was seen very much as a tick box, and punitive, exercise i.e. people were avoiding it thinking they would identify themselves as the person to punish if it went wrong.
How are you addressing those challenges?
Our last year has been spent upskilling our management teams and re-energising the Risk Management Process throughout the council. We commissioned our insurer to complete a risk management health check which gave us an understanding of where our organisation came in terms of maturity. We have been delivering training regarding the risk management process (overview training) as well as one on one training to upskill our staff in utilising CORE.
How long have you used CORE?
Approx. 18 months (was trained before I started by a colleague that was ‘caretaking’ the system during the time with no dedicated resource) and was using LACHS for approx. 4 years prior to CORE which I think helped me in my adaptation to using CORE.
How does CORE help you in your role?
I find CORE to be the perfect product for Local Authorities to formalise their risk recording and monitoring within a database. I truly cannot fathom how difficult it must be to work on Spreadsheets or hold all the data in SharePoint as I have always had CORE to work with. We have looked at a few other products, which do look amazing, but are very geared towards risk professionals accessing the systems, which most staff are not within Councils. I think CORE is the perfect product for those of us who work in that middle ground, where Risk Management is a requirement for the Organisation but where we will not have more than one or two Risk Professionals available. CORE is a product that balances both worlds – it allows myself to manage the system and have an overview of all activities across the org, while it is easy enough for any member of staff to access, use, record and monitor their risks in real time.
Would you be happy to occasionally talk to a potential user about your experiences of us and our products?
Of course, anytime!
Would you be happy to share a brief quote? Your thoughts on JCAD or the support services, or the product?
I always have high praise for the Team at JCAD, every single one of them! I have yet to meet or talk to a member of JCAD staff that hasn’t met or exceeded my expectations, and they truly do make you feel as though you are part of the JCAD family.
Anything else?
I want to say a personal thank you to Sandra McGuiness, and the Support Team at JCAD – I have had a journey over the last 16 months that I simply would not have gotten through if it wasn’t for their unwavering support and quick responses to any requests I have made. You are truly wonderful people and you have made what was quite a daunting task at first glance into something much more manageable and I know you will continue to be there to support LBTH during its journey to a more Risk Mature Organisation.
