Dear IRMSA Members
I am sure that like me, many of you feel drained and exhausted by the emotional and physical toll Covid- 19 has taken. I recently read an article comparing the 1917 flu with our current pandemic, the article highlighted how unlike the 1917 pandemic, Covid-19 has accelerated and compressed certain technological and societal shifts. Its legacy will leave a scar on all, with many being directly impacted through the loss of loved ones and or the loss of incomes. Highlighting not only how vulnerable or dependent we had become on the previous status quo but also the need for reflection on the values we choose to live by.
Covid has reinforced the understanding that everyone’s path and experience is different. As we physically distance ourselves in order to continue working together, more empathy is required to ensure that we all can co-exist within a new dynamic. I remember a time in business where managers would frequently tell employees to leave their personal issues at the office door and that we shouldn’t let our personal lives cloud our professional ones. Of course, that time has passed but never before has our work life so encroached on our family or personal relationships, and in so doing highlighted the need to understand our staff and colleagues motivation and morale.
One of the biggest challenges for me in lockdown was finding my hard borders – living in an almost endless limbo of video conferences, WhatsApp’s and meetings. As lockdown, with all its peculiarities, has eased we have had to adapt professional and family routines on an ongoing basis.
Risk management is the impact of uncertainty on our objectives, I love that definition, it reminds me that uncertainty is a part of life. And like all of the messiness and wonder that being alive brings, we can choose how we respond to the uncertainty we face. I always smile when my non-risk colleagues incorrectly assume that risk managers are focused on being risk averse, when the opposite is true. No personal or societal progress is ever made by being risk averse – it’s about taking informed risks, risks within yourselves and society’s appetite. And we need to embrace that – we need to re-embrace the confidence in taking the right risks.
I heard a phrase referencing that the economy of the future is one “built on fear” and whilst that might be true, what is important is how we use the fear to fuel action as opposed to inertia. Like many I have followed the news reports, the personal blogs and anecdotes and it is rightly so that many are fearful. Covid-19 is scary, and its ability to act like Russian roulette is particularly frightening. But we need to decide how we reset our lives and do so in a risk responsible way so that we don’t miss out on the opportunities this mid/post Covid world has to offer.
I miss some of the options and freedoms we had prior this pandemic, I miss the personal interaction that a smile or hug can bring. But more importantly, the casual hello and chance encounter which triggers thoughts and actions, which have been key to the role of the risk manager – within Covid we will need to adapt.
I know that all of us can get through this. Like all things it too shall pass but we will have the scars, and as an often quoted saying goes “a scar is just a reminder that you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you”.
The economy will be different, our businesses will be forever changed but our spirit to embrace new challenges and contexts should remain.
Yours in Risk
Berenice Francis
IRMSA President