Industry

RIMS 2019 Goes Global

Q&A with Kristen Peed, corporate director of risk management at CBIZ in Kansas City, and an active member of the RIMS Board.
By Brianne Spellane, Sandy Laycox Posted on April 30, 2019
Q
Last year’s RIMS brought in a large student population. How successful was that in terms of attracting young talent to the industry and what is this year’s focus in terms of talent generation?
A
It’s an on-going process. RIMS is seeing more universities offer RMI content and degreed programs. Most people at my stage in my career didn’t have this as an option when they were in school. This is incredibly important for us as an industry because we have an aging population and we need to ensure that the next generation is ready to join us. RIMS is working with 3 universities in North America to develop a curriculum based on the RIMS-CRMP content, which is the only accredited risk management certification in the world.

We also have a couple of programs to help our rising risk professionals. We have the Mentor Match program which is a new way for RIMS members to seek out, interact with, and learn from leaders in risk management and future leaders in the industry. Both people in the match have the opportunity to learn from each other. We also developed an internship manual for our RIMS members to utilize and help create internships at their companies. Internships are a great way to get students involved. I have been fortunate enough to work with one each summer for the past four years. The annual conference is a great place for the students to meet the future potential employers and secure themselves jobs and internships as well.

Q
What are some other goals or focus areas for RIMS this year, and why have you chosen those in particular?
A
For 2019, we are focused on going global. The ease and opportunities for companies to go global is supporting this. RIMS has to be able to support their members when they make this move to expand their organizations’ operations. RIMS is currently focusing on three geographic areas – India, China, and ASEAN (Asia Southeast Association of Nations). We have Regional Advisory Groups in each of those locations on the ground who are providing us with information on where risk management is in the country and what they have as challenges that we can help with. We further support this initiative by working with the universities there as well to help educate those students utilizing our RIMS-CRMP curriculum.

Another focus area for RIMS continues to be diversity and inclusion. We had a task force last year to research this topic and we established a formal council this year to continue our efforts. With this, we have created a D&I vision statement and are insuring that we are a welcome and inclusive society.

Q
What trends are you seeing in terms of risk? What are most business leaders concerned about these days and how would you gauge the insurance industry’s response/preparedness in these areas?
A
I think that cyber continues to be a hot topic. I am actually speaking on cyber at the conference in conjunction with someone from France to discuss how companies based in the U.S. might view cyber differently from those based in the EU. It is going to be really interesting to see the different perspectives that we discovered during the research phase.

Technology is evolving to give us additional data analytics and help us to identify trends that are out there. Risk managers are able to access information better to make decisions and recommendations for their companies. There are so many different technology solutions to help virtually augment the risk management team from wearables, RMIS platforms, and app-based solutions. It’s really exciting to see such innovation and creativity in our industry that can help to mitigate and control losses for organizations.

Climate change and political issues/risks as companies go global will continue to be a hot topic. That is why we are focusing on global development so we can be positioned to deliver valuable content and information to the members.

Q
Give us a peek into what we can expect from RIMS 2020.
A
Every year I go to the conference for 3 things:

Education – The conference covers so many different things and I always walk away learning something that will help my company mitigate risk. Cyber and vendor risk management are two of the topics I am really looking to learn more about.

Networking – I love getting to see all of my friends every year and make new ones that I can exchange ideas with or learn from. Having this face to face contact really helps to cement and strengthen relationships. I am able to meet with other risk managers, underwriters and other service providers all in one convenient location.

The Destination – The RIMS staff always picks a fabulous place to visit! RIMS 2020 will be in Denver, Colo., and a little later (May 3-6) to avoid the snow. Denver has great food and nightlife so if you get to venture away from the conference, you are sure to have fun!

I can’t wait to see what new ideas and trends are emerging that we can focus on and learn about in 2020.

Brianne Spellane Director of Membership, The Council Read More
Sandy Laycox Editor in Chief Read More

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