Risk management professionals face significant obstacles in navigating complexities and making informed decisions. The lack of real-time and integrated data results in numerous risk reporting challenges, leaving many Chief Risk Officers (CROs) and the rest of the GRC team ill-equipped to drive their organizations forward.
In their informative webinar titled “The 10 Must-Have Reports for Risk, Compliance, or Audit Leaders,” Resolver’s expert duo, Pooja Azhalavan and Ben Bradley, share insights from their work helping customers optimize their ERM and GRC programs to unlock risk intelligence.
In this article, we’ll cover common risk reporting challenges experienced by risk management, audit, compliance, and other GRC practitioners, as gleaned from our webinar. We’ll review how to overcome them to transform risk management reporting into true risk intelligence, earning themselves a strategic seat at the table. With a focus on effectively visualizing risk, compliance, and audit data, you’ll discover the key to proactive risk mitigation and strategic alignment.
Common barriers to effective data capture and overcoming risk reporting challenges
Azhalavan highlights the three common barriers that hinder the seamless flow of risk-related information and how overcoming these risk reporting challenges can lead to more effective decision-making.
Challenge 1: Data integration — Understanding risk in context
The first key challenge lies in the deficit of complete information necessary for making well-informed decisions. “Based on an industry study, 80% of CROs have claimed to lack the quality, availability, and timeliness of data to make the right business decisions at the right time,” says Pooja Azhalavan, highlighting the importance of complete information for informed decisions. Organizations face challenges in collecting and integrating risk-related data from various sources and may lack a risk-aware culture and suitable tools, hindering efficient reporting and assessments. This includes identifying risks, tracking regulatory updates, documenting controls and policies, monitoring incidents, and capturing loss events. Unfortunately, risk professionals struggle to grasp the full scope of potential threats without a comprehensive view of all relevant data.
Visualization of RCM Compliance Overview Dashboard
Challenge 2: Targeted reporting — Communicating to key stakeholders
The second significant challenge revolves around understanding risk in context. Risk management’s true value chain begins with better visibility, but that vision can be blurred when data remains trapped in silos. Many organizations collect valuable risk data, but the lack of data sharing across teams hinders the ability to generate quality intelligence and deliver effective reports.
Azhalavan emphasizes the significance of centralizing risk data in a single repository, integrating risk with controls and obligations, and accessing consolidated reports. Doing so allows various risk functions to access a unified view of risk-related information, breaking down the barriers between teams and creating a more efficient and collaborative risk management process. Centralizing data minimizes duplicated efforts, and teams, such as internal audit, can operate more efficiently. Accessing consolidated and aggregated reports enables risk functions to gain an objective understanding of the organization’s overall risk posture, empowering them to make informed decisions to move the organization forward.
Challenge 3: Explaining the numbers — Effectively visualizing data
The third and final challenge involves effectively visualizing data. While collecting and integrating risk data is crucial, the ability to visualize this data effectively can help risk analysis be more easily turned into actionable insights and discussion items. Azhalavan states, “Visual reports and dashboards will further facilitate data exploration, conducting trend analysis, and identifying data correlations.” Compelling visualizations aid in presenting recommendations to the board and other key stakeholders, enabling effective risk management.
Visualization of IT Risk Management Executive Dashboard
Capturing and leveraging risk data effectively is essential for organizations to successfully navigate the complexities of the market. Integrating risk intelligence, sharing unified views of risk, and employing effective visualization through dashboards and reports, is fundamental to getting business value from risk. By addressing these common barriers, organizations can avoid these risk reporting challenges, enhance risk management efforts, achieve better decision-making, and protect their bottom line in today’s ever-changing business landscape.
How Resolver helps you uncover opportunities within risks using powerful reporting
Organizations can turn risk into opportunity by leveraging essential reports and adopting a holistic approach to risk reporting. Effective risk reporting facilitates strategic decision-making, ensures regulatory compliance, and enhances operational efficiency.
Want to see the 10 essential reports for risk leaders? Watch the webinar replay now to discover how these must-have reports can empower your risk, audit, and compliance teams to make data-driven decisions in today’s complex business landscape. Learn how you can integrate and report on your three lines of defense, giving better visibility to senior leaders and helping your risk teams have a strategic seat at the table. See the power of risk management reporting for yourself to transform risk into opportunity in your organization.
