10 Key Skills To Be a Successful Risk Manager In 2024 [Updated]

Risk manager’s role is not to try to read a crystal ball, but to uncover the sources of risk and make them visible to key decision makers and stakeholder’s in terms of probability. Thus understanding the technical risk management skills is essential.

The traditional reactive approach to protect the asset of the organization must be replaced by a dynamic and proactive vision aimed at achieving the organization’s mission, goals and objective under any stress or surprise.

The goal is to stress the similarities of risk management in all organizations without undermining the specific of each, hopefully leading to a more open field of job opportunities for all risk management professional who could shift from one sector to another.

Risk management has rapidly evolved over the last decade and has become an indispensable function in many institutions. Modern risk management system cut across the entire organization.

With rapid evaluation of the risk domain comprising more non insurable risks, adopting new approaches has become necessary to be an effective risk manager. Defining the competencies required for this position is a daunting task, let alone finding the individuals that possess them.

Risk management is a skill that not only pertains to the sole position of risk manager rather it applies to every employee who wishes to have a contingency plan for the potential risks which they may encounter in their everyday work routine.

Furthermore, it is also important to understand that risk management skills take years of experience and hard work to become a master of the trait for future work.

The basic aspects of risk management skill is ability to identify risk, to measure it, to appreciates its consequences and then take action accordingly.

The 10 key risk management skills that every manager should have are as follows:-

1. Six Sigma Skills

Six Sigma is a tool and technique wielded by companies to improve production, operations, eliminate defects and assures quality. Six Sigma is the tool applied in many industries. Henry Harvin is the most renowned and recommended institute for Six Sigma certification.

Henry Harvin gives you opportunities to work on multifarious tools to enhance your skills.  Henry Harvin provides you a master training program to enrich your knowledge process management, analytical, and leadership prowess. Henry Harvin offers ultimate Six Sigma certification like a white belt, green belt, black belt, and master black belt certification etc.

Henry Harvin provides you e-learning access to revise the core concepts of Six Sigma. Henry Harvin gives you the best platform for an internship program to ramp up the skills and attain the pragmatic approach in Six Sigma. 

Trained trainers prop up the learners to procure the precise knowledge of Six Sigma tools and techniques.

2. Project Management Skills

Project management certification(PMP) is an industry discerned credential for project managers. PMP hones your skill, demonstrates the experience, education required to lead and direct projects. PMP certification course gives a novel approach to your career that is important in every industry. 

Henry Harvin offers 36-hours instructor-led core classes to elevate your prowess. Bootcamp sessions of Henry Harvin can infuse a clear picture of project handling in your mind. It offers internship programs and interview skills to get exposure to the practical world.

Henry Harvin provides a platform for hands-on training in the industry to expedite your knowledge in the enhancement of project management.

Henry Harvin Also Provide These Certifications

Six Sigma Green Belt Certification

Six Sigma Black Belt Certification

Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification

3. Business Analytics Skills-

Business analytics is the amalgamation of prowess, technology, and practices used to examine an organization’s data and performance. Moreover, it also helps to gain insights and make data-driven decisions in the future using statistical analysis.

Henry Harvin’s Business Analytics Course provides 32-hours focused facilitators-led extensive training and 

certification programs to accelerate your knowledge in business analytics.

Trainers foster technology in your mind to analyze, explore and solve business problems using advanced tools R & Excel. 

You can revise your concepts of business analytics with the industry-experienced facilitator with Henry Harvin. You will get the rewarding certification of a certified Business Analytics practitioner. Henry Harvin is a globally recognized institute in business analytics.

4. Analytical Skills

To collate and analyze data is the one of the key risk manager skills. Risk Management skills comprise of using the provided data to asses and predict the future risk. Rigorous analysis of data for finding the potential gaps in order to conduct further research for improvises the business.

The key risk manager skill is to evaluate potential effect of the risk and balance them as per the appetite of the organization. Where the work is delegate, an eye for details and sharp analytical skills come handy to abstract a big picture from smaller details.

5. Quantitative Risk Management Skills

Quantitative risk management includes data preparation and analysis. A typical quantitative risk management process involves Identifying the risk, quantifying the risk, communicating the risk, responding the risk and finally monitoring the risk.

Quantitative risk management skills are required to have the ability to measure risk, identify profitable opportunities and assist in making sound financial decision. Quantitative risk management skills include the knowledge of budgeting, mathematics, statistical probability, software application and operations management. Risk analysis requires using complex quantitative models and statistical software. Hence knowledge and comfort with these would be an advantage.

6. Technical Skills – Finance Modeling and Statistical Skills

Technical skills are the most fundamental skill among all the risk management skills to be acquired by a risk manager. This layer address to the tools and techniques of risk management. Risk analysis involves a lot of numbers – costs, estimated risks, probabilities and so on – and while you don’t need to be a mathematician, you do need to be comfortable and confident with calculations.

Technical skill helps provide a methodology to identify and analyze the financial impact of loss to the organization and employees. This may include how to perform a risk assessment including how to classify and score risks and record the results.

7. Endurance to Regulation

Coming as a surprise to many people endurance and adherence to the regulatory body of their industry and organization has become a most recommended key risk manager skills. It is crucial that risk managers dedicate time to work closely with the Compliance department and invest time in learning about the relevant regulations for the firm and industry they work for.

Finance domain has always being most exposed to risk leading to monetary loss. While the magnitude and speed of regulatory change it is unlikely to be uniform across countries, the future undoubtedly holds more regulation—both financial and non-financial—even for banks operating in emerging economies. Compliance is another important aspects of risk management.

8. Soft Skills – Communication /Negotiation/Leadership

A good soft skill and regular polishing of individual’s soft skills form important part of keys risk manager skills. Risk managers should build the soft skills to help manage risk and not just measure it. Risk mangers require to communication to different strata and functionality of personnel in an organization and they also need to interact with the stakeholders’ of the organization. Developing the right set of soft skills – the personal, emotional and social skills that allow someone to operate effectively – will be a big contributor to change.

Convincing and negotiating form a part of the job as a risk manager needs to liaise with staff, seniors, auditors and board of directors. Strong interpersonal and communication skills are imperative for risk managers to be successful. To keep updated on risk management best practices, risk managers always need to do research, reading and also a lot of networking. Risk managers have to have independence and integrity, integrity, integrity. A good risk manager must simply know what is right and what is wrong.

6. Work Under Pressure

As evident pressure often comes from unpredictable. With change in situation the requirement of organization keep changing. So one of the key risk manager skill is to stay calm and keep cool during a stressful situation. Part of working well under pressure is knowing how to avoid extra pressure.

Key risk manager skill is not just restricted to accuracy of work but also to complete  the work well before the deadline. This demonstrates a good emotional quotient balance during a stressful work pressure situation.

7. Planning and organization skill

Planning of steps and process and organizing the information to correctly and accurately fall in place for proper situation analysis adds to be a very important attribute when it comes to data analysis for quantitative risk management. Step wise planning of risk management process –  Identify risk, assess risk, evaluate risk, mitigate risk and control risk contributes to the successful implementation of risk management skills.

8. Strategic Business Expertise

Today’s risk professional not only needs to understand their domain but has to understand how risk management can empower the business it serves. Risk management is nearly similar to solving a jigsaw puzzle. Risk management is a strategic business. Risk management requires intense decision-making skills as there may be a very small slot to make the decision. Timely decisions are the entire key to being able to manage risk as if the time passes then the cost of time, labour and equipment may rise.

9. Holding academic credential in Finance and Risk

A risk manager should be comfortable and knowledgeable about the industry they operate in whether it is Finance, Insurance, Energy, Retail and others. Better understanding of the industry and market where the firm operates makes a risk manager more confident to identify the posing risks. But top firms seek individuals with strong academic credentials in finance. Holding academic credentials gets the attention of recruiters and hiring managers.

According to CIO, the top 6 Governance, Risk and Compliance certifications include

1. Certificate in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC)
2. Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGIET)
3. Project Management Institute – Risk Management Professional (PMI – RMP)
4. ITIL Expert
5. Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA)
6. GRC Professional (GRCP)

The leading certifications for risk managers in the financial services industry are:

1. Financial Risk Manager (FRM) by GARP
2. Professional Risk Manager (PRM)

10. Be Adaptable to Changes

Risk managers are not expected to be subject experts in all domains, but they do require a deep level of awareness and working knowledge of their allocated business domain and any new trends or technologies to be credible in performing their role. Control-by-design and compliance-by-design, for example, are critical components of the control environments of more digitized firms. Most risk managers should have adequate understanding of new technologies such as blockchain, big data and analytics and artificial intelligence, the products and services the organization offers and changing regulations. They should be involved at the start of innovations and be comfortable working in an agile environment.

Risk management is really about how firms actively select the type and level of risk that it is appropriate for them to assume. Most business decisions are about scarifying current resources for future uncertain returns.

The risk management professional is a manager who knows the risk management process and can effectively communicate and lead the process within the organization to ensure continuing risk evaluation and mitigation.

Birth of global risk management industry associations as well as a dramatic rise in the number of global risk management personnel, climbing the corporate hierarchy to become chief risk officers and report to CEO and board of the company, has increased the demand of risk managers in all industry

Recommended Reads

• Best Six Sigma Course in India
• Best Six Sigma Courses in Bangalore
• Best Six Sigma Black Belt Courses in Delhi
• Best Six Sigma Courses in Chennai
  • Six Sigma Black Belt Courses in India
  • Six Sigma Certification Costs