The average firm’s list of business and risk management priorities looks very different today than it did two years ago. What’s changed? For starters, according to Forrester data, 43% of enterprise risk management (ERM) decision-makers report having experienced three or more discrete critical risk events over the past 12 months. The same group reveals that improvements in customer experience, innovation, and accelerating response to business and market changes rank higher on their priority list than improvements in regulatory compliance. And that’s just the beginning: Mature firms understand that, despite the turmoil from the pandemic, the unending disruption from their third-party ecosystem, and the changes in customer behaviors and preferences, they still must innovate, grow, and compete.

For risk management professionals, this pivot is a game-changer and an opportunity to elevate the role of risk management within their organization. To do this, they’ll need to increase their risk-taking capability to capitalize on new opportunities and simultaneously improve their risk management competency to mitigate risks and drive faster, better strategic decisions.

Introducing Forrester’s ERM Research

ERM and GRC are both three-letter acronyms sharing “risk” but are by no means synonymous. What’s the difference? Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) focuses on the framework and technologies to help firms manage the array of data points and processes required to meet their organization’s risk and compliance needs. ERM helps ensure that firms take on the right risks in support of their strategic direction while avoiding any missteps.

I’m excited to introduce Forrester’s new ERM research portfolio, designed to help risk pros:

  • Navigate risk and decide which risks are worth taking in pursuit of strategic goals and objectives.
  • Understand the impact of their decisions to customers, employees, partners, and the brand reputation.
  • Improve their risk management competency to mitigate risks and drive faster, better strategic decisions.

Risk Pros Boost Their Practices With Our Current Reports, Tools, And Templates

We created the Forrester Enterprise Risk Management Success Cycle, a model to help risk managers steer their businesses through the changing dynamics and expectations to become a trusted business and value-aligned brand. Among the new topics we covered last year are:

  • ERM Vision, 2021 to 2026. This report outlines global business and technology trends and their long-term implications, helping risk managers better prepare for the potential impacts that will shortly ensue.
  • The Biggest Trends Shaping Enterprise Risk Management In 2021. This report examines the current state of ERM and business resiliency to provide risk pros with insight into the trends and priorities for future ERM investment.
  • Proactively Manage Risk With The Forrester ERM Success Cycle. Risk pros learn how to master the five competencies of the Forrester ERM Success Cycle — identify, evaluate, respond, monitor, and communicate — to keep pace with the proliferation of business, ecosystem, and systemic risks.
  • The Forrester Supplier Resilience Assessment Tool. This report offers an assessment tool that provides a structured approach to evaluating your suppliers along five domains: business continuity, concentration risk, risk and compliance processes, security, and values.

What’s Coming Next

For starters, we’re updating our reports on the top trends shaping ERM and top systemic risks for 2022 with data from our new survey of ERM decision-makers. In addition to the new catalog of ERM research, we’ll also publish a library of templates and tools to help you get started or expand your ERM program. For risk pros, this means data plus dedicated research and tools that go beyond the security and technology lens to help build and mature a risk management strategy and process focusing on risks to the entire organization.

Look for our upcoming research on:

  • How to write a risk appetite statement.
  • The top systemic risks for 2022.
  • The top trends shaping ERM in 2022.
  • The role of the transformational chief risk officer.

Schedule an inquiry with me or Renee Murphy to talk about how the role of risk pros is changing and how to hone your practices to prepare for the future.