25 risks HR, risk managers and business leaders must tackle together 

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People are an organization’s most important strength, but can generate significant risk for a business if not properly managed.

Never before has it been more vital for HR and risk management to break down silos and work in concert to protect, equip, and motivate this critical asset.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, people risks featured heavily in C-suite and boardroom discussions. As the virus started to spread, many organizations rapidly re-evaluated their approach to supporting employees as it became even more clear how imperative they are to the overall health of a business.

The pandemic moved employer-sponsored health, risk protection, and well-being plans from a nice-to-have to being a central pillar of the employee value proposition. CEOs are recognizing the impact that well-being can have on business continuity, safety, the client experience, and even key person risk. In fact, according to our talent trends research, this is the top issue raised by people in the C-suite.

At Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB), people risk is our business. We have categorized 25 people risks into five main categories so that organizations are able to identify, prioritize, and manage the threats that are most pertinent to them and take the appropriate action.

While businesses need to consider each and all of these 25 risks, each firm will have different priorities. For example, environment and social is very important right now in consumer goods, while accelerated digitization is critical in financial services. We are seeing manufacturing and automotive focused on governance and financial while talent practices are hot in technology, life sciences, and retail/wholesale sectors. No matter the industry, as a result of the pandemic, health and safety is top of mind for everyone!

Conclusion

The pandemic has thrown workers’ physical, mental, social, and financial health into the spotlight. As such, a company’s ability to apply an enterprise risk management approach to addressing these threats, and to provide a safe and conducive work environment, will be crucial for protecting business operations, revenue, reputation, and talent acquisition.

The 25-risk framework is a great way to think about the macro forces facing your business and to explore the risks. It can also help HR and risk management teams articulate with business leaders and in in board-level conversations the consequences of not acting now when it comes to these risks.

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