Every organization is different. However, there are some departmental risks that are relevant no matter the industry or organization. We’ve identified the top risks for the most common departments in organizations that you should know about.
At the end of every section, we’ve linked to the full article where you can learn more about the individual risks for each department and how to mitigate those risks. If you want to learn how risk management software can help you remove departmental silos and effectively report on risk data, take our free guided tour now.
Customer Service
Understanding the challenges that customer service teams face gives management insight into areas of opportunity and growth. How many of these risks are you prepared for?
- Difficult customer interactions
- Outdated or inefficient information systems
- Gaps in employee training
- Mismanagement of policies and warranties
Finance
While risk is uncertain by nature, all finance teams should at least prepare themselves for difficulties that other companies have commonly faced in the past. Is your finance department prepared to address these five risks?
- Bankruptcy or foreclosure
- Equity market downturn impacts to finance teams
- Schedule and resource contingency
- Financial risks of project overspending
- Financial reconciliation
Environment, Health & Safety
Strict regulations and occupational hazards are only a few of the top risks that health and safety teams need to consider. We’ve identified 5 risks that EHS teams should be concerned about:
- Keeping pace with regulatory changes
- Managing workplace hazards
- Natural disaster preparedness
- Employee health and wellness concerns
- Not meeting sustainability goals
Human Resources
Having a great HR team that operates on up-to-date principles in the field is critical to business success. Is your human resources team prepared to address these 4 risks?
- Staying ahead of regulatory requirements
- Workplace safety risks
- Safeguarding employee well-being
- Onboarding & training
Information Technology
When companies make their lists of priorities, where do they put risk management for IT teams? IT departments should consider these 4 risks:
- Malware and cybersecurity attacks
- Legacy systems and technical debt
- Overlapping and siloed tools
- Insufficient incident response planning
Legal
In an increasingly regulatory environment that is enhanced by citizen watchdog agencies with large social media followings, legal teams face a challenging task in making sure their companies control legal risks and stay protected from a lawsuit. To do that, enterprises need to ensure that they are accurately capturing, monitoring, and controlling legal risks such as:
- Regulatory non-compliance
- Contract oversight gaps
- Inefficient litigation management
- Insufficient data and reporting processes
Marketing
The marketing arm of a business doesn’t just handle sales. It deals with client communication, business to business communication, rapport building, branding, and advertising. The 5 risks that marketing departments need to be aware of are:
- Data privacy & compliance
- Security threats
- Reputational damage
- Misalignment with company objectives
- Analysis paralysis
Operations
Like other departments within a corporation, operations teams face mounting risks and challenges to doing their jobs effectively and efficiently. We’ve identified four risks that should be top priorities for operations teams.
- Measuring data points
- Processing change readiness
- Operational excellence
- Not separating duties
Sales
Sales teams face ongoing threats and obstacles that may contribute to sales failures. Learn about the top risks that impact sales teams.
- Inadequate sales strategy
- Profit and sales metrics
- Sales and marketing alignment
- Sales underperformance
- Inadequate product knowledge
Security
We take a closer look at the top 4 risks for security teams and how they can prepare for and mitigate them in case of an event:
- Insider threats
- Theft and vandalism
- Physical access exploitation
- Incident response gaps
Using Software to Protect your Organization
Resolver’s risk management software helps risk managers and owners easily manage their risk environment by adding, updating and describing risks that could impact the organization’s goals.