I am just sitting here!

Once there was a rabbit sitting in a field and sprucing himself up. He polished his nails, cleaned his whiskers and even put on some deodorant. An eagle, flying overhead, asked the rabbit what the occasion was. The rabbit replied that "tonight I have a date with the Lioness. The lion is out of town, and the Lioness has a crush on me".

A few minutes later, the Lion returned, his flight having been cancelled.

"What are you doing, Mr Rabbit", asked the lion as he passed by looking at the spiffy-looking rabbit.

Answered the rabbit, "N-n-nothing sir. I am just sitting here talking nonsense to myself".

That’s exactly what I am doing right now!

Right now, I am wondering if this is just the sign of the times. What do you do when at the last minute many people cancel to attend a Masterclass, that they wanted to attend, but now can’t due to operational requirements.

I guess operational requirements take preference over learning activities. So, what now?

I guess I will just sit here for a while. Little I can do, the matter is out of my hands.

I will have to reschedule with these delegates. Watch http://reputationdefence.invite43.com/ for the new date!

Technorati Tags: Masterclass postponement

Financial Institutions do not take Risk Management seriously

I just read an interesting article in the Business Report which stated that the global financial crisis is largely the result of financial institutions not taking risk management seriously.

The article contained a number of interesting pointers and is based on a KPMG survey on risk management in banks which was released on Monday.

See http://tinyurl.com/aqqaxg

The article states that risk management was just a support function and an interesting finding was that though risk management programmes exist, there were shortcomings in their approach.

This correlates with my experience in teaching understanding about reputation risk. Worldwide reputation risk is seen as the one risk that is the most difficult to define and manage. Therefore it is often left to chance and dealt with post event.

It just goes to show that if there are problems existing with traditional risk programmes, then reputation risk is even less understood and managed.

In my master class workshops I show the audience three ways to define reputation risk. It is only then that the reality dawns on them, how to mitigate it.

(If you are interested in learning more about Reputation Risk, and whether it is a strategic risk on its own or just a consequence of a risk, register for my next Reputation Risk Management Master Class).

Do you still trust a Lift?

I read an interesting article today about how on Monday, 13 people were trapped in one of the courts lifts (elevator) at the Johannesburg High court.

When the group were rescued, three people had passed out – two from the heat and one after suffering an asthma attack. A Few weeks ago the same thing happened at Johannesburg Hospital (now called the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital)

This poses some debatable questions. How can we put our trust in the courts, if we cannot trust the building in which it is housed?

Levels of maintenance creates perceptions, sometimes unwanted.

It also raises questions about risk appetite. The other day I was in a lift in a building,going from the 13th floor to the bottom. On our disembarkment, I asked the CFO about whether the company had a policy stating that key executives should not travel in the same plane or car together.

He stated affirmative, upon which I said: ”But we all got in the same lift together” – there were three of us.

Last year, the Department of Labour conducted spot-checks on lifts in Durban, discovering that in more than 55% of cases, they were not adequately serviced.

Now, some will say, that lift accidents do not happen often…the probability is low. Sure, but the organisation’s reputation is still tarnished.

Customers experiences in a lift creates anticipation for future assocations with the institution.  The mere fact that I read about the level of maintenance, says clearly that the reputation of the institution is being affected.

And that, can take longer to repair, than some maintenance schedule.

(For those interested to find out how an elevator works, go to http://science.howstuffworks.com/elevator.htm)