How Speed Has Changed The Game For Risk Managers

It doesn’t take long for comments that would be negatively received by the populace to go viral and that’s one of the newest challenges for risk managers and business leaders.

Andrew Bent works in Washington, D.C., but it only took until he woke up the next morning to know about Don Cherry’s recent comments and the controversy the former Coach’s Corner host brewed up.

“I was aware of this Don Cherry thing almost as soon as it happened. And I’m in the U.S. I like hockey but I don’t have a Google News Alert for ‘Stuff Don Cherry says,’” said Sage’s risk director.

That’s just one example of how quickly news spreads, primarily thanks to the social media age.

It puts risk managers and human resources professionals in an unfamiliar position, said Bent, who is a former risk advisor with Edmonton Police and Suncor in Calgary. In the past, companies had time to craft responses before controversies reached a boiling point.