ADDING VALUE BY ALIGNING RISK FUNCTIONS
A recent review of a charter revealed a lengthy section on risk management “through others”. This means that while a risk management person or department may exist, the degree of involvement in managing specific categories of risk can vary substantially. The risk team often plays a leading role in managing some risks, while serving in an advisory or more limited capacity for others. HR, compliance, information technology, financial reporting and certain other risk categories are among those frequently managed through other departments, with the risk management function being less active than with other risks.
These varying levels of involvement, with numerous departments playing important roles in managing risk, is the main reason why silos, gaps, inefficiencies and even ownerless risks can easily creep into any organisation’s risk management processes. Nowhere are alignment, communication and collaboration across functions and departments more important than with risk management. And that is the focus of the remainder of this article.
Alignment is often described as involving coordinated functioning or cooperation across groups with common causes. The term alignment is preferred for this reason and because it does not imply any level of control over functions or people, nor does it suggest doing things identically across departments. There is room for differences, as long as the resulting risk assessments and risk mitigation plans can be rolled up to provide an accurate and reliable picture of risk at the organisational level.
It takes effort to properly align risk functions in any organisation. This article focuses on five of the best opportunities for improved alignment through cross-functional collaboration.
Jan-Mar 2026 Issue
RiskTrek LLC