Developing meaningful stakeholder engagement to successfully manage risk>
Gain Integrity – Michael Volkov
A crucial aspect to risk management is not only recognizing the problem, but also communicating those risks to the key stakeholders. Oftentimes organizations do not actively engage stakeholders until forced to because of a crisis. The resulting interaction is often defensive, antagonistic, and damaging of trust.

Communication is key Engagement generates mutual understanding and sharing of responsibility if things go wrong. Although the “tone from the top” and the role that leaders play is fundamental in building meaningful engagement, getting middle management to embrace a new risk program is the most crucial step leadership can achieve towards its adoption. The manner in which the tone from the top is reinforced is often just as crucial to implementing change in corporate culture.

Relationship-building for risk management At the enterprise level, building a risk-management program calls for a unique set of skills, none more important than relationship-building. Success will be dependent upon multiple factors, perhaps none more important than emotional intelligence. Understanding the interrelationships between people and processes can have a vital impact — positive or negative — on the success of your risk management program, hence why middle management buy-in is vital.

The communication skills required for persuading stakeholders, convincing conflicting stakeholder interests, and reaching compromises and satisfaction of those stakeholders, are fundamental to effective risk communication. One of the biggest challenges facing organizations today is the ability to motivate, persuade or influence stakeholders on matters of risks. Organizations continue to face both internal and external challenges because of negative emotions associated with third-party risk management, which generally feels forced.

Critical elements of an effective third party risk management program Share, engage and continuously communicate with supply chain stakeholders to identify, monitor, and mitigate risks rapidly and as a team, saving time and reducing costs. Gain increased transparency through first-hand insight into the partner’s attitude towards an investment in cybersecurity controls. An integrated supply chain risk management approach can deliver significant financial benefits to the organization, support organizational goals and objectives, and provide ongoing assurance about overall resiliency and compliance to stakeholders across multiple areas. Continuous, comprehensive monitoring of third parties remains essential, with or without collaboration. Leverage technology for accessible, intuitive tools that reduce your organization’s unmanaged risk while greatly enhancing user experience.
Link: https://ganintegrity.com/blog/developing-meaningful-stakeholder-engagement-to-manage-risk/