“One Thing is Certain: 2017 Will Be the Year of Uncertainty for CEO’s’”
Shouted a recent Wall Street Journal article.[1]
Why?
Let’s look at the reasons at why we live in VUCA time (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity).
- President Trump is disrupting business rules and business models.
- Technological change is increasing.
- Mass immigration is resulting in political divisions.
- Climate change is real and increasing.
- Globalization benefits are unclear due to job and work transference.
BUSINESS RESPONSE
CEO’S want stability to forecast costs, market demand, and profitability. These are now all subject to uncertainty. The risks of poor decisions and failure will increase exponentially.
What types of failure will increase? Product development failure. Offshoring will be questioned due to the loss of jobs. Domestic sourcing risks will increase as new suppliers don’t have the competencies to make products. Margins will become tighter. Trade wars will erupt.
We believe that traditional business models and business assumptions will be questioned and tested. CEO’s and companies are trying to decipher the VUCA trends and find niches and segments that will provide opportunities for sales and margins.
Hence, the risk of the risk manager/director.
#2 BEST JOB IN AMERICA – RISK MANAGEMENT
Money Magazine last month determined that Risk Management is the ‘second best job in America’ of the top 100 careers with big growth, great pay, and satisfying work.[2]
According to Money Magazine, the risk management director was choosing as the second best job because:
- Median Pay: $131000.
- Top Pay: $200,000.
- 10-year job growth: 7%
The job director is now responsible for managing all the risks the organization may face, including financial, cyber security, and operational risks.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR COMPANIES?
Companies often don’t know what to do regarding today’s uncertainty. So, they are searching to the next big technical idea, such as big data, automation, or robotics.
We think that there may be a simpler solution. Each employee will become a risk manager.
So, companies will have to develop core competencies in risk based, problem solving and risk based decision making.
Bio:
Greg Hutchins PE and CERM (503.233.101 & GregH@QualityPlusEngineering.com) is the founder of:
CERMAcademy.com
800Compete.com
QualityPlusEngineering.com
WorkingIt.com
He is the evangelist behind Future of Quality: Risk®. He is currently working on the Future of Work and machine learning projects.
He is a frequent speaker and expert on Supply Chain Risk Management and cyber security. His current books available on all platform are shown below:
