Overview

Every day your business is exposed to a growing number of risks with the possibility of impacting your future success. Are you in control?

Businesses and organizations place significant emphasis and investment on financial control.

Operational risks such as the loss of critical human assets or failure to minimize staff vulnerabilities can cause a serious threat to companies or organizations. Some businesses find this out about the hard way. Others know the possibilities and take steps to prevent the occurrence or to
minimize the damage.

Operations Risk Assessment

Executive Advisors can evaluate your organization's functions and 'people systems.' Boards and senior management are concerned with reducing risk. Crisis management and operations risk management policies include the review or development of a corporate or system-specific policy and organizational structure. Once these fundamentals are in place, it is possible to initiate a monitoring program of the system. The operations risk management framework builds on the policy that provides the scope and constraints that are required to establish a sensitive and diverse corporate culture.

Our operations risk management services enable your management to decide how to mitigate organizational risks in a structured and managed way. Our experts can offer the following services:

• Organizations Risk Awareness Seminars that secure understanding and an appreciation of human risk factors.
  
  
• Organizations Risk Analysis to identify operational risks and vulnerabilities, and evaluate alternatives available to minimize or reduce the risk.
  
  
• Organizations Human Risk Management Programs develop and implement policies and programs, which include framework of designated individuals with responsibilities in this area.
  
  
• Organizations Risk Facilitation Programs provide required support to the operations risk management process.
  
  
• Organizations Risk Monitoring develop a system to continually monitor operations risks and give updates to senior management and the board.
  

We help boards and management understand the potential organizational impact by identifying areas of vulnerabilities, ensuring the development and training of appropriate policies and procedures, and implementing an evaluation process of the programs.

Vulnerability Assessment & Human Assets

Executive Advisors can conduct a vulnerability assessment to deliver a top down strategy for the protection of an organization's critical human assets. In a carefully structured workshop for board members, our consultants help identify areas of strategic corporate importance. Typically, these assets are identified as people, property and information. Once the critical assets have been confirmed during the vulnerability assessment, we analyze the likely threats to these assets and develop strategies and options for their protection or to reduce the exposure. This approach ensures a board level mandate and delivers an unambiguous direction of what needs to be done to protect areas of strategic importance.

Harassment Reduction

Workplace harassment and hostile work environments are areas of vulnerability for businesses and organizations. These areas of risk involve the people and the internal information (i.e. knowledge of policies and procedures) assets of the organization.

Executive Advisors can evaluate the human side of the organization's harassment management, highlight areas of key vulnerabilities or potential trouble spots, and recommend countermeasures to reduce the exposure to risk. Harassment can occur between staff, members and staff, and board and staff. Training of staff and board, and informing members, can mitigate the occurrence of harassment and also educate the participants. In addition to recommending strategies to reduce the risk, Executive Advisors will develop an ongoing evaluation process to inform management and the board and senior management the risk vulnerability status.

Crisis Management

Establishing a robust company policy is the key to the successful handling of a crisis. Roles and responsibilities need to be identified and clearly laid out in easy-to-use plans that help the board and management respond swiftly and effectively to situations as they develop. Crisis risk management is the planning and organization of who should go where, when, with what, and to what effect in the event of a crisis. Implementing such a policy indicates a forward thinking company is prepared to cope with the unexpected.

Board members and senior managers know how to manage complicated situations. However, few are aware of the pressures and responsibilities they would face in a crisis situation. Executive Advisors assists the design of a crisis management program that helps your organization respond optimally to crises. Some of the types of services we offer are:

• Crisis Management Reviews. Our consultants design workshops to raise awareness about and solve anticipated problems. These workshops address issues of crisis management organization and establish the levels of resources needed to mount an effective crisis response.
  
  
• Rehearsals. Rehearsals provide a safe, controlled environment where our consultants rehearse with the crisis management team. A rehearsal based on objectives developed in advance with senior staff, will be designed to provide low stress learning situations that contain the basic elements that senior management and the board has to consider in an actual crisis situation.
  
  
• Crisis Management Exercises (small, major, and media-related). This is an opportunity to examine information management processes and communications. Conducting exercises helps to assess contingency plans. The board and senior management have the opportunity to check media statements for future release, organize press conferences, and even put directors in a situation where they have to face an unplanned television or radio interview. This provides an excellent opportunity to incorporate public relations departments or agencies in the crisis preparedness program and prepare for different eventualities. Equally as important, this educates the public relations arm of the organization on fundamental strategies. Rehearsing the board and management of the organization under lifelike conditions is most effective because realistic exercises facilitate maximum learning.

Crisis Control and Response

Effective crisis management demands a sound plan to be implemented by a confident team making timely decisions based on accurate information. The crisis management procedures include information and involvement of both board and senior management during the crisis. Crisis control and response provides the framework for the crisis team, by considering:

• Identification of decision making procedures and communications support.
  
  
• Information management including reporting processes, rapid analysis and prioritization processes.
  
  
• Activation and closure procedures and "triggers" for scaling work teams up and down.
  
  
• How to maintain effectiveness over time.
  
  
• Essential and desirable personnel positions and equipment. Back up or replacement for key positions, information, and production capabilities.
  
  
• Administration during crisis, such informing board members, staff and their families, and accommodation of staff or relocating centralized office, if necessary.
  
  
• Managing staff, customers, vendors, and facility security.
  
  
• Consultants will carry out a site visit and work with the facilities team to design and implement a solution for the organization.
  

Business Continuity Management

Businesses continually face the potential for disruption. To minimize possible problems accruing from adverse events, implementing a sound business continuity management system is essential. Customers and clients are less tolerant to service interruption, which in turn requires businesses and organizations to ensure a more robust service. This will enable your organization to continue operating in the event of a staff, information, systems, facility or supply interruption, thus providing a seamless service.

Executive Advisors is able to provide expertise in several areas of business continuity management, including:

• Organization’s Impact and Risk Assessment ­ identifying
  and prioritising organization’s risks and vulnerabilities.



• Outlining Alternatives ­developing and evaluating alternatives.



• Scenario Testing ­ ensuring the completeness, accuracy,
  validity and viability of plans.



• Organization’s Continuity Strategy ­ selecting the most
  suitable course of action.



• Organization’s Continuity Planning - developing plans to
  execute the strategy.



• Implementation ­ managing the business continuity system.



• Audit and Analysis ­ identifying and prioritising specific
  operational risks.



• Assessment ­ Continual monitoring the continuity plan to
  insure that the system is up-to-date and that management
  is aware of current needs and vulnerabilities.

Security Reviews

Many organizations today are doing something with regards to security management, but it is rarely enough. Executive Advisors is able to provide expertise in the human factors areas of information security. We work with your information security team to develop our findings. Inherent within our service is the fact that we are able to apply our psychological knowledge to your organization. This is particularly useful when conducting reviews of security.

Executive Advisors is able to assess the human side of your current security management, highlight key personnel risks, vulnerabilities or potential trouble spots and recommend countermeasures to reduce the exposure to risk.

Whether it is called a health check, benchmark, gap analysis or even a human factors audit, we can help you measure the operational vulnerabilities of your organization.

Personal Asset Protection as Part of an Operations Risk Management Program

The provision of adequate security is an essential element of the framework for effective crisis control. Vulnerability and security reviews examine the protection afforded to an organization's critical human assets. These reviews identify the threats to critical human assets, establish whether protection is appropriate, and determine if existing programs are adequate.

Personal security is an area that often needs attention. The actual and perceived risks to high profile and/or wealthy individuals and their families are increasing. Stalking, threats, electronic eavesdropping, breach of staff confidentiality agreements and intrusive press actions have all made news recently. It is essential that the crisis management and operational risk management processes address these areas of vulnerability. These programs should be evaluated and the results sent to the board and senior management.

Operations Risk Management Consultation

Crisis management is an essential competency for all board members and executives. In situations when an executive least expects it, or when an incident can escalate beyond control, the true value of knowing the crisis management plan is evident. At this point applying the planned and coordinated approach as a response to adverse situations optimizes the organization's functioning.

Executive Advisors is able to support your organization in achieving your goals to maximize operations risk prevention through effective knowledgeable management practices. We can lend our expertise to provide an independent review and evaluation that the program is continuing on the right track.

BACK TO TOP