Five Frontline Employee Solutions for Risk Management Problems

We’ve all heard the saying, “If you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” This phrase seems truest in the world of risk management and insurance compliance where all work centers on preventing and combating trouble. Even in a field designed to handle bad news, everyone hates sending an email with the subject line “We have a problem.” Frontline employees: don’t wait for an issue before hitting send on your next email. Offer a solution instead. The next time your boss hears the email notification sound, let it arrive with one of these five subject lines.

Subject: “We Need Professional Development on Risk Management and Insurance Compliance”

Corporate strategy is set at the top of an organization but executed at the bottom. Yet a Harvard research study found that as many as 95% of employees cannot recognize their company’s strategy. Investing in staff development on corporate goals and job responsibilities helps resolve this disconnect. To align with risk management strategies, request training on insurance compliance, contract requirements, and handling claims. Education on insurance coverages, endorsements, and exclusions makes frontline employees the first defense in loss prevention. Most importantly, work with leadership to create a regular training program on ways every employee can mitigate risk. Development opportunities should help fellow employees understand how claims and litigation affect the company’s profitability and their own wallets. Creating a compliance culture delivers the best strategy for combating risk.

Subject: “Proposed New Project KPIs”

What gets measured, gets managed. Before starting your next project, work with leadership to create key performance indicators (KPIs) for risk management. KPIs should include metrics like third-party insurance compliance, number of loss incidents and cost, inspection defects, and project timeliness. Request leadership share the data with all project employees. Ask that team leads discuss performance openly and solicit feedback from the front lines for improvements.

(Read “The 5 Metrics Many Property Managers Aren’t Tracking” for more risk management KPIs)

Subject: “Let’s Do a Retrospective”

Often busy companies jump from one project to the next without stopping for review. Successful practices may be carried across projects, but then bad habits are too. Suggest to leadership that the project team do a retrospective. Review what went well and what needs fixed. Discuss the KPIs and how the numbers can be improved on the next project. Most importantly, retrospectives should identify opportunities for additional education and better processes. As the saying goes, “Don’t waste a good mistake. Learn from it.”

Subject: “I Think We Should Try a New COI Verification Process”

Allowing a vendor or subcontractor to start work on a project without verifying their insurance is always a mistake – and it could be a very costly one. Think of the best risk mitigation strategy for third parties like process bookends. Verify Certificate of Insurance (COI) compliance before work begins and validate compliance again at work completion before payment is issued. Project managers, compliance coordinators, and other frontline staff can institute this before-and-after validation process to prevent claims and stop problems before they occur.

Subject: “Check Out This Technology for COI Compliance”

New technology aids even the most comprehensive risk management strategy. Companies leveraging technology can increase work efficiency without increasing workload or headcount. Suggest your boss learn about myCOI. The platform automates COI tracking across all third-party companies and issues proactive non-compliance alerts. Risk insights inform key metrics and insurance experts provide third-party coverage reviews based on contract requirements. The system integrates with financial management platforms eliminating payments without compliance. When it comes to empowering staff to fight the problems of risk and insurance compliance, myCOI stands as any company’s best solution.

Okay, now go ahead and hit send.

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