Risk and Reward

Andrea Hirst-Gee

Harrogate Borough Council

Background• New CE and Assistant CE• Challenge old policies / assumptions• More outward looking• Major changes

– Structural (transfer of LMA)– Performance (review of ITD)– Shared services and management

• Transformation programme• Decision risk registers

Risk

• Risk aware or risk averse?• Risk perception and risk appetite• Risks as threats or opportunities?• ‘The risk of something going wrong’• Controls, controls, controls• Stop, prevent, mitigate …• How do the language and systems

we use to describe and analyse risk influence how we feel about it?

Reward

• If risk is simply anything that might prevent you from achieving your objectives, then what about– the risk of something going right?– risks from taking opportunities, being

innovative, transformation?– the rewards of taking risks?

Working Environment

• Credit crunch and budget cuts

• Increased efficiency targets

• Doing more for less

• Increased customer expectations

• No more quick wins

• Transformation

Transformation

• Innovation – no more comfort zones• Doing things differently• Doing different things• Organisational structures• Shared management• Simplifying systems and processes• Loosening control• Changing cultures• Innovation = risk

Transformation @ HBC

• Business Transformation Programme– 3 to 5 year programme– 20+ projects– 5 themes– organisational development– better value for money– new ways of working– improving customer service– collaboration

Decision Risk

• Cabinet approval– Do Nothing Option– Approval with limited support– Approval with full support

• Risks– of going ahead with the programme– of rejecting the programme– risk profile on Covalent

Summary

• Risk and Reward

• Threats and Opportunities

• Transformation and Innovation

• Risk Perception and Risk Appetite– past experience– knowledge– information presented

• Systems and Language