Could you briefly describe your association? The profile of your members?
For the first time in Greece, an Association for Risk Managers is established (Dec. 2019). The founding members, as well as all members, have significant experience and expertise in the area of Finance, Credit, Insurance, Compliance, Market, Procurement, Facility, Logistics, Governance and Data & Cyber, with the ‘official’ role of Risk Manager or acting like Risk Managers or participate to Risk Committees. You see, the role or Risk Manager in Greece is not ‘well defined’ in the market (except banks and investment sector) and it is our priority to highlight the role and work of risk management executives to the State, bodies, organizations and the market.
How important is it for HARIMA to join the European community of risk managers?
As part of EU, Europe is our home ! EU regulations and directives to be applied locally but also trends in every sector of economy, is something that will definitely affect every country. As a newly established Association, it is very important for us not to be ‘isolated’ but learn from best practices, share knowledge and innovative approaches coming from professionals with same interests. Furthermore, a European representation of our efforts will strengthen our voice and eventually accelerate the succession of our common goals.
What are your top 3 priorities for the next year?
- Assign roles (chairman and members) for every Committee
Committees are the backbone of our Association. Our approach is to recognize the different risk management needs of the organizations, per function (i.e. Credit, Supply Chain, Facility, Finance, Commercial, Data & Cyber, People, Strategy, Governance, Compliance) and industry (i.e. Banking & Investments, Insurance, Energy, Agro, Maritime, Retail, Manufacturing, Services, Healthcare, Public Sector, HO.RE.CA., SMEs) so we can effectively support our members to identify and deal with the relevant risks.
- Training
Providing Risk Management education and training to our members is a priority for our Association. That includes partnership with a risk management training provider and a reputable University in Athens.
- State recognition as a certificated professional body
We have already started contacting public authorities so eventually our Association is recognised as a certificated professional body and grand professional certifications
How do you see the role of risk managers evolving since the Covid-19 crisis?
The recent Covid-19 pandemic, among other negative effects, revealed the readiness level of each organization to face such incidents. But no matter the readiness level, all market (in Greece) seemed to realize that the role of Risk & Crisis Management is very important. Either as an appointed individual (professional Risk Manager) or as a small team (normally with the CEO, Dep. CEO, Finance & HR) within the company, the majority of enterprises (published telephone survey) agree that going forward, operational infrastructure and strategic decisions should include a risk management input (beyond ISO standards).
FERMA has a new member: the Hellenic Association for Risk Managers