Based on a sample size of more than 1.3 million people across 200 countries and territories from executives to frontline staff, new research from SHL finds that on average one in eight people globally pose a high level of behavioural risk to their organisation.
“Considering recent events in the financial and media sectors, we are constantly seeing evidence that what people do or fail to do drives organisational risk which can impact share prices, break laws and catalyse industry reform,” said Eugene Burke, chief science and analytics officer at talent company SHL.
”Many businesses are blind-sided by not assessing behavioural risk and only focusing on policies and procedures. While risk cannot be eliminated, it has an upside and a downside and organisations need to be aware of their own appetite for risk so it can be managed in a constructive way.”
SHL’s research revealed that high risk staff are most likely to create issues through lower-quality decision-making and poorer communication.
However, behavioural risk decreases as seniority increases with only one in 15 executives posing a high risk. Further down the organisation, team leaders and individual contributors are the riskiest employees pose more than double the risk of executives (one in seven).
“What we’re seeing is an execution gap at the middle-manager level. They have a critical role to play as they are the interface between strategy and operational execution. On the one hand they have to manage compliance and commitment from frontline staff. On the other, they need to communicate decisions from leaders in a relevant way so the frontline workforce feels motivated and empowered,” said Burke.
“Organisations must ask themselves whether they have the right talent in place at the middle management level to manage risk appropriately and deliver the board’s vision to the frontline.”
