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GLOBAL RISK LANDSCAPE 2021
satisfaction and wellbeing, ahead of employee productivity. Companies that cannot support employees will struggle to grow, as staff underperform due to adverse pressure. European fintech Thought Machine, which makes operating systems for banks, expanded across Asia and Australia during the pandemic. A company principle taught to all inductees is never to say “not my part of the ship”. It’s a nautical expression. A co-founder began his career in the navy, where sailors live or die on the same vessel. Neglecting one part of the ship is to imperil it all. The company commands: “We are all working on different parts of the same ship. If your part is working, take a breather, then go offer your help to other teams.” Another success story is Moneypenny, an outsourced PA company with 21,000 clients. Chief executive Joanna Swash won Management Today CEO of the Year in 2020. Swash says eradicating blame culture is key to long-term performance. “You’ve got to make people feel safe and secure, and that it’s okay to fail,” she explains. “Our staff know they can use their judgement in
of senior leaders believed that the top risk job should be a C-suite position 81 % 23 % 29 % of respondents agreed that blame culture inhibits their company’s ability to respond effectively to disruption of risk-welcoming respondents said that the final sign-off on risk management practices lies with the with the chief risk officer, compared to just 2% of risk-averse companies
You’ve got to make people feel safe and secure, and that it’s okay to fail. Our staff know they can use their judgement, and if there are problems, they give us lessons to learn from in the future
IT’S THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL
a situation and, if there are problems, they give us lessons to learn from in the future.”
The top three pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
Naturally, she has tips for companies wanting to build a similar culture. “It begins in recruitment. We got 8,000 applications for 300 positions last year. We recruit on personality, not skills.” The company structure is flat to reduce a top-down mentality: “We are all equal pieces in the jigsaw. The CEO has no special parking space. At the Christmas party the senior staff serve behind the bar and clear up. We could pay people to do it, but the point is to serve your people. That’s how you get rid of a blame culture.” The result for Moneypenny? In the weeks of the first lockdown, business volumes fell by half. A year on and headcount almost doubled as the company surged back. Gregorcyk adds that eradicating blame culture is a company-wide effort. “Everyone is responsible for a company’s culture,” she says. “Culture is ever-evolving and requires the board of directors, the C-suite, HR, compliance, management and employees to
Ranked 1st
Ranked 2nd Ranked 3rd
Vicky Gregorcyk, leader of Risk Advisory Services for BDO USA, agrees. “A solution to counter a blame culture is a ‘full- accountability’ culture where everyone takes responsibility,” she says. “It also means using failures as an opportunity to learn and grow.” The guidance for staff is to do whatever the client needs. “There is nothing worse than hearing someone say they’ll ask their manager. It makes it sound like they’ve got no control. No autonomy. It’s wrong on all levels,” says Gregorcyk. This right to fail includes the leadership. A Moneypenny expansion to New Zealand ended in failure, with the venture axed at an early stage. A ramp-up of American operations was risky, but so far is proving a hit. “We have an attitude of ‘Let’s be brave and bold. What’s the worst thing that can happen?’ If we were only going to have an attitude of doing things that were dead certain we would not have grown like this,” says Swash.
Low employee satisfaction and wellbeing
11%
15%
19%
Inadequate technology / lack of digital transformation capabilities
10%
18%
15%
Internal cultural issues
3%
13%
14%
JOANNA SWASH CEO, MONEYPENNY
Geopolitical risks
15%
7%
6%
Security-related risks
12%
7% 5%
Inefficient, inflexible processes that were difficult to sustain during lockdown
11%
5%
7%
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks Crowded competitor landscape and successful rivals
9%
6%
6%
4%
7%
9%
keep their eyes open to how it is operating, not only in policy but also in practice.”
Reputational risk
7%
7%
5%
Blame culture is a handbrake on growth. It can corrode a reputation. At times it can imperil an entire company. Taking action is risky. Employees often know what needs to be done. If they aren’t taking action, it’s a sign something is broken.
Lack of funding or cash-flow issues
8%
5%
5%
Lack of engagement with customers/ not being able to meet customer needs
3%
4%
8%
Supply chain disruption
7%
3%
3%
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