Page 158 - Risk Report 2024

IRMSA
158 RISK REPORT 2024/25

11.3 Risk Culture

Emotions should never influence fact-based, objective risk assessment and the related risk responses, but they
always do where human interpretation is required. Risk culture is informed by both social and organisational
culture, based on beliefs, perceptions and assumptions about risk, integrity, governance, leadership, decision-
making, empowerment, teamwork, responsibility, agility, and adaptability. Both social and organisational
culture are key parts of risk culture, because they affect how people think about risk. Building an effective risk
culture therefore must consider underlying social and organisational cultures.

RISK
CULTURE Beliefs, perceptions, and
assumptions about risk,
integrity, governance, and
decision-making about TRAINING IN BASIC RM
uncertainty.
RISK REPORTS
ORGANISATIONAL
CULTURE Shared values, beliefs,
behaviours, and norms that RISK COMMUNICATION
shape how people perceive
their jobs, make decisions, and
interact with their colleagues. RISK DISCUSSIONS

SOCIAL
CULTURE Predominantly moderate, RISK INCIDENTS
centrist, and pragmatic public
opinion with citizens who
value democracy, middle
class standards, and the right
to freedom of expression,
respecting each other across
race, class, history, and politics.

Aspects impacting risk culture include organisational maturity, risk management maturity, and the increasingly
volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. Organisations’ risk exposures grow daily and building
effective risk cultures become increasingly complex. Organisations must find ways to coherently train employees’
minds and hearts over time, to respond to uncertainties with decisions aligned to agreed organisational risk
appetite, risk tolerance, and risk bearing capacity levels.