In this year’s “road test,” Group A members (those scheduled for an LCR) piloted the new Risk Management Review process ahead of its debut in 2021. We surveyed them for their frank appraisal of the process so far, and the results are in; the new system is earning high marks.

Risk Management Consultant Jackie Pierce, ARM-P, explains: “The new review process started this summer, giving members a chance to be interactive with consultants in identifying individual risk management needs and creating goals and plans for each agency. My Pilot Group A members did a fantastic job in providing critical data and information that helped the review process we used in the Kickoff Meetings!” 

Pierce worked with each of her Group A members to schedule a Kickoff Meeting with key players at the agency. “Together we developed objectives during the meeting to guide us through creating goals and Plans of Action customized to each member,” she says. “Next, we’ll create SMART Goals and conduct assessments based on each plan. Group A members are now seeing the benefits of our new review process.”

The survey results — and comments — speak for themselves.

• The Kickoff Meetings earned high marks from almost all participants, with nearly 66 percent of respondents calling it a good first step in the process and about 33 percent identifying it as an “Improvement.”
• Most respondents said the process took just the right amount of time. “Perfect!” said one respondent, while another commented that the meeting was very productive: “I received help identifying exposures/areas of concern.”
• More than half of those surveyed said the new review offers greater collaboration. One respondent said, “I felt the Kickoff Meeting was very collaborative as staff was able to provide feedback and suggestions with the next steps of areas to focus on.” Another noted, “Seems to be more value and provides for more streamlining of the overall process and timeline.” 
• Roughly 75 percent of survey respondents deemed the Kickoff Form a good first step in the review process. Most importantly, more than half of respondents said they felt adequately prepared for the next steps and nearly 25 percent were very prepared.

Next steps

While Pilot Group A touched most parts of the revised review process, Pilot Group B is focusing on pursuing Plans of Actions and setting goals, which they began at their Kickoff Discussions. Risk Management Consultants continue to introduce the process with Group B.