ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Check the dictionary under the phrase “people person” and you just might find a picture of David Mair there. The incoming president of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) has made a career of encouraging the best from people. It is a common thread between his 13-year tenure with the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), his volunteer efforts with the Nonprofit Risk Management Center in Washington, D.C. (which offers risk management education and support to nonprofit organizations across the U.S.), and his involvement with the RIMS executive. RIMS, like the USOC, “is a product of people resources”, Mair says. And as RIMS works to take a more prominent place on the world stage, the “people power” of the organization could take on a truly international scope.

International affairs

Mair is ideally suited to the task of expanding RIMS’ horizons, having formerly served as vice president for the society’s international affairs committee. This included responsibility for Canadian chapters, as well as for “fostering relationships” with risk management organizations worldwide.

RIMS’ extended reach accomplishes several purposes, he says. “RIMS continues to be looked at by organizations around the world as the leader in risk management.” Risk managers from many countries have approached the society about joining its ranks and taking advantage of its resources. “The world is looking to RIMS” to be an example of best practices, especially for middle market companies. While the world’s biggest companies stack up well with their North American counterparts in terms of risk management expertise and execution, there is a big gap in resources for small to mid-size companies, Mair observes. These companies “could really benefit from RIMS’ resources”, particularly when it comes to education and information sharing.

Risk managers in North America will also benefit from the expanded reach of RIMS in the future. The new focus is very much a response to the fact that RIMS’ member companies more than ever are operating in the global economy. As companies growth their operations into new countries, risk managers are challenged with new issues that require fresh approaches. RIMS hopes to “gather a greater research base” for it existing members. As Mair observes, practices that work in one part of the world may not be suitable for another country, especially given a variety of regulatory frameworks within which companies operate.

Love affair

Despite the emphasis on moving beyond North America’s borders, Canadian risk managers can rest assured they will not be forgotten in the society’s future plans. Mair himself admits to having “a long-time love affair with RIMS in Canada”, which began even before his international affairs post.

He sees a bright future for the Canadian chapters, which he attributes to strong leadership from such people as RIMS past president Sue Meltzer, former CRMC chair Joe Restoule and his successor Wayne Hickey among others. Thanks to the influence of Canadian membership, RIMS “understands better today than ever the unique regulatory and legal differences between the Canadian and U.S. systems”. The society will be placing emphasis on providing programs that deal specifically with the different environment within which Canadian risk managers operate, for example different workers’ compensation systems. They society will also be looking at a unique model of program delivery in Canada, including using Canadian instructors and bringing more courses north of the border, “to enhance the value of chapter membership”.

Making a difference

Education, as always, is a cornerstone of RIMS’ activities in the year ahead. Under the theme “making a difference”, the society will be looking to increase its influence “in the lives of individual members, in the workings of corporate members, chapters and the society overall”, Mair says.

He is offering up a personal challenge to all RIMS members, to agree to complete 20 hours of educational requirements biannually. “Most of us can do it because, intrinsically, we know it’s the right thing to do.” While risk managers do not have continuing education requirements as in some other professions, Mair says lifelong learning is “one of the missing pieces” for the industry. To promote ongoing education, RIMS has decided to adopt the Canadian FRM model for its American members.

Another part of “making a difference” will be ongoing lobby efforts on behalf of risk mangers on both sides of the border. RIMS will be working closely with regulators, and Mair says it is imperative the society increase its profile as a lobby force. “We’ve been effective [as a lobby group], but we haven’t been very visible.”

Testing theories

Another way RIMS is giving members a voice is through the “Insurance Quality Score Card”, which asks risk managers to rate insurance services across companies. The study had drawn some criticism when it was last conducted, and Mair says the RIMS quality and research committees have been meeting with companies to discuss possible refinements. “A couple of companies at the last version were critical of the research and the nature of the data gathered,” he admits, and the committees are willing to listen to thoughts on how the process can be improved. But the score card has proven useful already, and will be conducted regularly, on a biannual basis, beginning in 2002.

The role of insurance in the risk management function could become increasingly important as rates begin to harden. At last year’s conference, Mair sensed the change was coming, but “didn’t want to be the first to say the market had hardened”. The turn to a tighter market in both Canada and the U.S. may not be a popular one with risk managers, but is to be expected following years of unsustainable results for insurers.

But how will risk mangers respond? For small to medium-sized companies, “the insurance market may not be the premier risk financing strategy for them”, Mair observes. RIMS, “without question”, has a role in educating risk mangers on possible alternatives to insurance buying, he adds.

One thing the society will not be doing, however, is changing its name. Last year it was proposed that RIMS become RMS (Risk Management Society), in part to reflect the more international scope the society hopes to have. But following a review it was decided that the existing moniker should stand. “There are still many members and potential members for whom insurance is a critical part what they do.”

Going seamless

Education, lobbying, stretching international boundaries. The missing link in all of these pieces is improved communi-cation. Technology, now the number one risk concern in the profession, is also the key concern for RIMS as it attempts to bring about a “seamless” transfer of information among risk managers, and with other partners, including brokers and insurers. Mair says he is proud of the RIMS membership for its efforts at information sharing. It is, he boasts, “one of the only professional organizations that shares information across industries, and across competitors…you don’t see that happing with companies’ marketing groups or their sales force.”

Now he wants to see that knowledge sharing extended beyond the profession to take in especially the insurance industry. With the advances in Internet technology and the need for greater efficiency in risk management departments, the goal of reducing manual data transfer is both attainable and necessary. To that end, RIMS is taking a “bold step” in developing data standards, in partnership with ACORD, the U.S. insurance industry’s technology arm. The first step is to address the portability of claims information, but ultimately the standards should take in claims across multiple lines and underwriting information, Mair predicts.

RIMS will be unveiling its new, improved website at the Atlanta conference, one more step to creating a “borderless” society. Included on the site will be a search engine that filters risk management specific information from throughout the Internet to make it easily accessible on the risk manager ‘s desktop.

Atlanta will also see announcements made on increasing RIMS’ worldwide reach, and Mair expects a large international delegation on hand for the conference. RIMS and its incoming president are waiting to welcome the world with arms wide open.