RIMS' new president's view of the future

Clark emphasizes both traditional initiatives and new directions

By Michael J. Moody, MBA, ARM

Over the past few years, the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) has been working to arrange the transition of its officers' term of office to a calendar year, rather than the dates of the annual conference. Accordingly, on January 13, 2011, Scott Clark, risk and benefits officer for the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, took over as the new president of the Society. Like many of RIMS' current national officers, Clark has been actively involved with the organization for many years. And he is coming to this key leadership position at a time when RIMS is going through a number of significant changes.

Changes abound 

The most obvious of these changes is the introduction of a new logo for the organization. After many years, RIMS is abandoning the unicorn logo that has been so predominant in its market branding. Clark notes that this was a big step for the organization. However, he points out that RIMS has been "looking at this issue for over a year." He says that the issue became more pressing as RIMS began becoming more involved with enterprise risk management (ERM) and strategic risk management. He sums up the issue by noting, "How do we move RIMS and, for that matter, the whole risk management community, so as to position ourselves into a higher level of the organizations, while maintaining our current brand?"

Over the past year, RIMS has embarked on a number of surveys and analyses to determine the feelings of the membership regarding this issue. One key question, according to Clark, was, "Do you know why the unicorn was chosen as the logo?" Because few members knew the background, the board began to consider a number of new logo options. Clark says, "Today's risk managers are being placed in a different role than just a few years ago." So the board decided that it wanted a new, "more streamlined approach to the logo." He says that in the final analysis, "We wanted something that emphasizes RIMS' growth strategy and highlights the evolving nature of risk management." He says that the new logo "speaks to strategy and integration."    

An additional topic that was addressed during the logo conversations was the matter of the Society's legal name: the Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. Clark points out that insurance has historically been the major emphasis for RIMS and, although RIMS is de-emphasizing insurance, it chose to retain the current corporate name. He says that retaining RIMS' current corporate name is important. "Regardless of what type of corporate risk management an organization has—whether it's buying insurance or moving towards a more strategic direction—RIMS wants to be a resource for all levels of risk management." He states where RIMS is concerned, "There will be no children of a lesser god."

Attention to detail    

One of Clark's major agenda items is to establish a more comprehensive approach to chapter involvement. Having long been involved with his local RIMS chapter has given Clark an appreciation for the work provided by the locals. He notes that one of the most important aspects for the national leadership is to maintain a strong relationship at the chapter level. "They represent the backbone of the Society." 

As a result, he says, the national leadership "needs to work very hard to keep the flow of information going." At the end of the day, Clark believes, the local chapters are the key to growing the organization and, as such, "they need to be aware of what is happening" with the national leadership. But equally important, "They must be aware of what resources are available to assist them in running their chapters." To further this goal, Clark will embark on several new initiatives, including the "President's Corner" column at the RIMS Web site (www.rims.org) to address important issues, as well as periodic Webinars for local chapter officers.

Clark also points out the increasing role for RIMS regarding regulatory and legislative issues. In order to represent the RIMS membership, the Society started a successful program called "RIMS on the Hill" where members could meet their elected officials in Washington, D.C., to discuss insurance-related issues.  This program has been going on for several years now and, according to Clark, represents RIMS' increasing role in regard to regulatory issues.

One of the Society's primary goals for 2011 will be to follow closely the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Bill, Clark says. In that regard, "RIMS will be focused as an organization to make certain that Dodd-Frank does not get watered down." Implementation of this bill "must be as Congress envisioned it when it passed into law," Clark says. "We will work hard to make certain that we offer the correct support and provide the proper messages from RIMS, so we can continue to provide direction, support and our opinion about what should be happening."

He also indicates that, "Based on the success of the annual 'RIMS on the Hill' concept, RIMS will be expanding its involvement at the state level." The expansion "actually began a couple of years ago, with a pilot program in California." The purpose of these meetings, according to Clark, is "to make certain that RIMS members are being represented at the state level with regard to important local legislative actions." He points out that RIMS did a similar session in Connecticut last year and has scheduled a meeting in Tallahassee with Florida regulators for later this year. Additional sessions for this year are planned for Texas and California.

Clark also points out the importance of RIMS' global reach. "It is difficult to ignore the recent worldwide events and their long-term effect on the business community. Many of these events illustrate again just how international an organization like RIMS must be." He also indicates that these "global realities also were a factor in the decision to take the annual conference to Vancouver this year." The Society is well aware of the implications for businesses that operate on a global stage and, Clark says, "We are committed to equipping our members with the skills that they need to cope with the increasing international nature of the discipline."

RIMS is also continuing to foster a more strategic approach to risk management via enterprise risk management. For example, Clark notes that last year, RIMS established a new staff position located in the Strategic and Enterprise Risk Practice. The Society selected Carol Fox to head up this new position. "Carol will provide a lot of focus and a great deal of energy to this function," Clark says. Selecting her for this important role "bodes well for the organization. This is one more tangible evidence of our vision of where we think risk management is headed." Coupled with the numerous ERM sessions that will be presented at the annual conference, this illustrates the Society's desire to move risk management to a more strategic approach and support the evolving discipline of enterprise risk management.

Conclusion 

Like many associations today, RIMS is trying to keep pace with its members' needs. It has demonstrated a very responsive approach to the growing importance of risk management— walking a fine line between making certain that all of its members are able to use RIMS to represent their organization's approach to risk management, and still leading the way towards a more strategic view of risk management. Clark says that RIMS is working hard to change the traditional view of risk management from "Here comes the insurance person" to more of a "Here comes the strategic risk person." Based on the current president's agenda, it would appear that RIMS is well on its way to meeting that objective.