How a Risk Management Plan Can Safeguard Your Business

Every business owner must be vigilant in identifying new opportunities that can help make their business just that little bit different in order to stand out in the marketplace. 

Ongoing industry advances present great opportunities for introducing something new to entice and stimulate renewed interest for ongoing engagement with your existing client, as well as attracting new ones.

Strategic planning for growth is an important investment for evolving your business and continuing to identify ways of bringing value to your client. However, in their quest for growth, business owners often fail to examine the all-important areas of risk management. 

While this may be a less appealing issue to consider, it is nonetheless a fundamental issue to every business whose objective is sustainable growth.

How can risk management protect your business?

Risk management encompasses the identification, analysis, and response to risk factors that form part of the life of your business. Effective risk management means attempting as much as possible, to control mishaps by acting proactively rather than reactively.

It, therefore, offers the potential to reduce both the possibility of a risk occurring, as well as the damaging impact on your business that may translate as

• Financial losses

• Loss of reputation

• Stress and business disruption. 

In our constantly changing world, we sometimes fail to identify potential problems that may not be managed as well as they could be. 

This may not be because you have no risk management structures in place, but perhaps because of subtle changes that are happening, particularly with the impact of human behaviour – your clients and your staff.

Here are a few quick areas you may wish to review:

• Infection control: Are your infection control protocols strictly adhered to and consistently maintained?

• Equipment: Is your equipment performing correctly?
• When was the last time you serviced them?

• Documents: When was the last time you updated your Client Consultation forms? 
• Do they include Covid specific questions?
• Are all your Informed Consent forms up to date with the various procedures you perform?  Bringing these in line with recent changes is an important risk-management activity. 
• APAN resource documents can save you time and be of great value to you. 
• You can access there here

• Staff productivity and morale: Are your staff performing at their optimal?
• Are they maintain a good posture to minimise injury during their work?
• If their performance has dropped, have you investigated what may be causing this?

Client evaluation feedback:  When was the last time you re-evaluated client needs and changes in their expectations?

Are you aware that COVID long haul symptoms include ongoing fatigue, brain fog, poor sleep and depression? 

Studies confirm that up to 70% of individuals who have experienced COVID even after they recover, are experiencing debilitating symptoms that are affecting their productivity, yet many carry on in silence about these symptoms.

APAN is releasing a comprehensive guide on COVID Skin Manifestations and Solutions next week. 

Check it out in this newsletter. This will be an invaluable tool that will put you in the lead in effective client support.

Problem-solving tools

Risk analysis is a qualitative problem-solving approach that uses various tools of assessment to work out and rank risks so that you can solve them.

Here are four valuable steps to get you started:

Identify existing risks

Risk identification is an important component to improve a business. It mainly involves brainstorming. A business gathers its employees together so that they can review all the various sources of risk.

Introduce a Problem-Solving Brain Storming meeting with your staff. 

Ask each member to provide you feedback from their experience or observation on areas they believe could be improved, such as:

• Changes in client needs that are not sufficiently being met with appropriate services currently provided.

• Treatment areas they are struggling to gain better outcomes.

• Identified operational challenges and their recommendations for improvement.

• Ways that you can improve the client experience.

• Ways to support staff, increase their confidence and be more productive.

Assess the risks

In many cases, problem resolution involves identifying the problem and then finding an appropriate solution. However, prior to figuring out how best to handle risks, a business should locate the cause of the risks by asking the question, “What caused such a risk and how could it influence the business?”

Develop an appropriate response

Once a business entity is set on assessing likely remedies to mitigate identified risks and prevent their recurrence, it needs to ask the following questions: What measures can be taken to prevent the identified risk from recurring? In addition, what is the best thing to do if it does recur?

Develop preventive mechanisms for identified risks

Here, the ideas that were found to be useful in mitigating risks are developed into several tasks and then into contingency plans that can be deployed in the future.

If risks occur, the plans can be put into action.

The key to a successful risk management approach is to view it as a means of improving the workplace making it safer, more productive and more enjoyable for all parties concerned. 

When you associate risk management as a tool for minimising stress and creating a healthier and more joyous work environment it makes the exercise of discovering the risks more rewarding.  

APAN resource documents can save you time and be of great value to you. 
You can access there here