Risk Management As the Example of Professionalism in the Workplace

The topic of risk management was and remains relevantr - and this is one of the Risk management essays on professionalism in the workplace in which we will analyse it throught different perspectives. Risk management It is important to take risks in a business, but there should be awareness and an active plan for the variety of risks that exists as part of the everyday business operation and decisions that are taken. Risk Management can be defined as analysing the probability of an event-taking place and then pro-active planning to minimise the possible negative impact of the event on the business.

Risk analysis is important. Once specific types of risk are identified, the company needs to determine the odds of it occurring, as well as its consequences. The goal of the analysis is to further understand each specific instance of risk, and how it could influence the company's projects and objectives in which on the movie, the analysis was neglected.

Risk Management should be considered in every business function including environmental function. Threats cannot be controlled but necessary measures and strengths to overcome these threats. This was a point where Harrell orders the well to be flowed without the results of the analysis which causes the cement to collapse and where only one person decided without the board of directors.

The concept of enterprise risk management is founded upon a tone at the top set by executives who believe in and support a corporate culture that raises awareness about key risks and how to handle them throughout the organization. In BP’s case, while the CEO called for increased risk management, he never delivered. At the Deepwater Horizon well, the company opted for cheaper and easier solutions in order to save time and money both before and after the explosion in 2010.

1. Effective communication throughout an organization must be available to ensure the right people are informed about the right risks on a timely basis. This includes whistle-blower processes, a system that was ineffective at BP noted by workers who feared for their jobs for raising safety concerns.
2. Executives need to consider the “black swans” of potential risks; the ones that carry a low likelihood of happening but could destroy a company in one fell swoop. BP stands as the current day example with economical, ecological and reputational damage eating away at the company.
3. Scenario planning should be considered for identified risks where no current solution exists. If BP had already practiced emergency procedures for a burst oil pipe, the damage could have been less severe.
4. Board members should also provide oversight for risk management practices and serve in the investor’s best interest. It appears that BP’s board of directors was either comfortable with the extreme amount of risk management was taking or was uninformed about the practices that were going on.

What is important to take away from BP’s experience is that risk management isn’t about avoiding risks. Instead, it is focused on understanding the key risks a company faces then taking the right risks at the best time after using the most appropriate precautions.

Performance Management

Performance management is the process of creating a work environment or setting in which people are enabled to perform to the best of their abilities. Performance management defines your interaction with an employee at every step of the way in between these major life cycle occurrences. Skilled workers also improve the performance of the business.

Performance management can focus on the performance of an organization, a department, an employee, or the processes in place to manage particular tasks.

It is important that a manager understands the needs, motives and attitudes of the workforce while leading them. A good leader will make the following principles part of his/her approach to getting the work done. The business has certain objectives, but staff members have their own objectives. The manager must ensure that the business objectives are achieved, while the employees feel they are also able to achieve their personal goals (harmony of objectives).

Clear communication: The manager of each department has the responsibility to ensure all employees understand the plan, policies and procedures including their respective responsibilities. In that way, employees know what is expected of them and the performance of the business runs smoothly with both the employee and the manager happy. An example of such a scene was when a decision was made, and a risk identified but the employees weren’t informed of the decision and risk which put their lives in danger.

Unity of Direction means each employee is aware of who to report to and who will be giving instructions. If employees receive instructions of tasks to perform from more than one person there may be conflict and confusion if these instructions are not the same. A manager who really knows his/her employees will have a personal touch style of managing staff. The manager must be aware of challenges and difficulties which employees face. He/she must be able to make the necessary adjustments to the task or an employee’s skills to ensure objectives are achieved.

The process of following up on task delegated should not turn into a process of micromanaging staff, but rather to provide a support structure to assist where necessary. Effective performance management is essential to businesses. Through both formal and informal processes, it helps them align their employees, resources, and systems to meet their strategic objectives.

In Deepwater Horizon, board members were more focused on extracting profits and did not worry about the outcomes of not using risk management and the health of their employees. A strategy is to hire a risk analyst to analyse potential risks and try to adapt or minimise these risks.

Strategies

Strategies that they could have considered is that they should have ran an analysis and waited for the results. This was a point where Harrell orders the well to be flowed without the results of the analysis which causes the cement to collapse. They should have decided as a board of directors. Only one person decided without the board of directors.

Require additional back-up systems to shut down offshore wells automatically. In that way, if any threats would have been encountered, they would have been dealt with without any resources wasted and any employees from getting into any sort of accident.

Senior executives can and should be held accountable for the execution of the few priorities that they themselves have defined to be strategic. In the case of BP, that means that the senior executive team should be held accountable for the execution of the global strategy for being #1 in deep-water drilling. This is where Tony Hayward and his team failed miserably. They were duty-bound to define and drive the implementation of supporting operating policies for how this critical activity would be undertaken throughout the world.

The company should have defined and enforced compliance with a global operating polices for how this drilling would be conducted. The executives should have directed the appropriate risk analysis be undertaken.

Testing is a great way to make sure that the operations of the business run correctly and that all risks can be checked on how each machinery is getting conducted and ran.

Professionalism

The conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person, such as how the manager and the employees act when facing an issue or any situation.

A manager is challenged every day and how he/she reacts determines if he/she is professional and sets an example to employees. A professional work place with proper attitude and appearance allows the employees to take pride in their work and improve worker performance.

Professionalism in the workplace establishes boundaries between what is considered appropriate office behaviour and what is not. While most managers support an enjoyable and vibrant work environment, limits must be put in place to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings.

The concept of good business practice refers to the standard of professionalism, accountability, ethics and effective business practice that should be conducted. Unethical actions are not necessarily illegal, but all illegal acts will be seen as unethical. For example, a scene where they mentioned that the risk analyst was not going to be available. The program should have been delayed but they unethically continued the program.

Professionalism encompasses a worker's behaviour, appearance, and workplace ethics. Employees who have high standards of professionalism are frequently perceived as being more credible and reliable than their co-workers. As a result, professional employees are frequently regarded as their company's leaders.

Ethics

Ethics can be defined as moral values that direct a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity. Deepwater horizon members weren’t clear on how they would react in the situation they were in which resulted negatively for them. Ethical behaviour is likely to be good for business and includes demonstrating respect for key moral values.

The arrangement of moral and ethical beliefs that directs the values, behaviours and choices of a business organization and the individuals within that organization is known as business ethics. A strong work ethic recommends that the person places a higher value on doing a good job, as well as respecting others and operating with honesty. Ethics alarm an individual's moral decisions about right and wrong.

Decisions that are taken within an organisation may be made by individuals or groups, but whoever makes them will be influenced by the culture of the business. The principle-based theory states that a person’s principles, values, morals or ingrained set of rules about what is right or wrong, will determine if the person sees the action as ethical or not

The Consequence-based theory, the outcome of the action will determine if the action is ethical or not. The utilitarian theory refers to the decisions of ethical or unethical action based on what is best for the greatest number of people. A scene is when they knew that the risk of the drill pump bursting was high and would damage the machinery, but they did not think about their employees and that resulted in them getting injured or worse, death.

In any project, the company involved is bounded ethically to provide safe designs. This is especially important in industries involved in operations that could be potentially hazardous. Oil drilling is one such activity and, in this case, BP is oblivious to the imminent dangers that poor designs generates. In this case, BP has not passed the basic criteria for safe designs as the design did not comply under the applicable laws.

Ignoring internal whistle blowing. It was also revealed that many of the crew feared reprisals if they reported mistakes. In the rare occasion when such reports were made, they were largely ignored by BP. This is shown in the case where Barry Duff, a member of BP’s deep-water Gulf of Mexico Atlantis subsea team, warned the BP officials that the piping and instrument diagrams for the Atlantis subsea components were not updated. In addition, Barry Duff pointed out that documents that are not finalized amounts to thousands. Despite these administrative lapses, there has been no intention to prevent the normal functioning of the facility.

Despite claims by BP that it was striving to keep the public and the government informed, BP imposed restrictions and prevented journalists from documenting as well as refused to reveal information of the disaster. BP also stonewalled on releasing any data and video footage on the spill, repeatedly stating it is impossible to determine the size of the spill which is unethical.

Conclusion

Risk Management plays a big role in a business. Deepwater Horizon neglected taking any precautions and suffered the consequences. There was no professionalism and ethics in decision making. If they chose to play it safe instead of focusing on profits, maybe things would have turned out differently. No communicating occurred as decisions were not made as a collective. Risks can also result as a strength or an opportunity if handled well. Managing a business requires both manager and employee input. The awareness that needs to be pointed out throughout this review is that Risk Management forms in every business function. This action and idea states what every business needs to be considered