program and process review
Introduction
What is a Program and Process Review?
Program and process review involves an in-depth analysis of the risk management mandate, needs and challenges of the organization, with a clear focus on client objectives. This review examines the business processes, capacities and operational tools required to ensure objectives are successfully met.
Who benefits from a Program and Process Review?
Successful risk management requires the involvement and commitment of all levels of the organization. Program and process review lays the foundation for ensuring organizational goals are met, by honing current practices in accordance with fundamental principles of risk analysis to support effective enterprise-wide risk management. A program and process review delineates the roles and responsibilities of organizational units and individuals, working together seamlessly to maximize efficiency.
Ultimately, a program and process review improves compliance with legal obligations and policy objectives; results in more effective engagements with partner organizations and stakeholders; and engenders greater satisfaction and confidence across organizations in their ability to fulfill risk management mandates.
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”
by Benjamin Franklin
The Service
RSI’s Program and Process Review offer, broadly
Program and project reviews can be applied to a range of risk management contexts. Though RSI works with many government risk regulators and is very familiar with their regulatory environments, risk analysis and management processes and challenges are common to many types of settings both in business and civil society. RSI approaches risk program and project reviews at the scale of interest to the client, including broad scale management system frameworks, analytical processes and capacities, process and function methodologies, and technical assessment and decision-making tools.
RSI’s Program and Process Review offer, in detail
Program and process reviews are designed and conducted to meet client’s needs. They may involve scans of current practices in other jurisdictions to identify best practices within the field. Building on this analysis, the review may continue with more focussed evaluations of the effectiveness of specific processes. Recommendations may be made regarding the adoption of certain best practices, the refinement and adaptation of existing processes, or the development of new analytic techniques and decision-making tools.
Client needs are clarified and documented in initial project meetings, following which the focus, approach, outcomes and deliverables are established. The timeline for the review is also confirmed, including scheduling regular meetings and progress reports to ensure timely completion of the review.
During the course of the review, RSI will examine materials provided by the client, as well as relevant information derived from a number of sources, including published material, grey literature and online sources relevant to the task at hand.
RSI will also consider all regulations and procedures governing client operations. Key informant interviews, both internal and external to the organization, may be conducted in order to gather additional information.
What are the benefits of a Program and Process Review?
Clients benefit directly from a program and process review through the greater effectiveness of their risk management approach. This can result from an enhanced understanding of their risk assessment processes, including clarity on objectives, and the use of tailored approaches and tools for achieving objectives. More generally, improved risk management programs and processes may enhance a regulator’s ability to focus on the most necessary risks and regulated firms, improve relationships with the regulated community, and encourage greater compliance with requirements. These improvements improve the management of the risk within society and help build and maintain public trust in the regulator and in the regulated sector.
What can you expect?
No surprises. The deliverables from a program and process review are determined in initial consultations with our clients. RSI provides a full report on the work undertaken, the methods that were used, conclusions reached, and, if requested, recommendations on improvements or next steps. Any detailed searches or interviews will be recorded, and detailed or summary notes are appended to the main report. If the review is to include proposed new or updated risk management processes, analytical capacities or tools, prototype versions may be developed for review by the client and finalized with client input. RSI also provides communications materials to support dissemination of the findings, either to management or enterprise-wide, as well as to external stakeholders.
What is our expertise in Program and Process Review?
Through its in-house and associate experts, RSI brings a wide range of expertise to program and process reviews. Specifically, RSI experts have extensive experience in regulation and regulatory practices that may impact upon client programs. RSI brings a unique risk assessment lens to program and process review, ensuring that client programs incorporate current best practices in risk sciences to their advantage. As experts in risk management and risk communication, the RSI team can help manage both organizational and program risks and outcomes. RSI also brings a wide range of subject matter expertise in both the basic and social sciences that is particularly helpful in evaluating scientific and technological programs. State-of-the-science decision support tools developed by RSI experts are also helpful in laying the foundation for risk-based decision-making with your organization.
Reviews conducted by RSI may include an evaluation of the extent to which scientific evidence has been used in support of regulatory decision-making; benchmarking current decision-making practices against those used by other jurisdictions in Canada and internationally; balancing regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to risk management; developing and applying key risk indicators for use in process quality control, monitoring and surveillance, and risk-based decision-making; and analysis of the circumstances waiting to unanticipated high profile risk events that could be avoided by strategic risk management planning.
Ultimately, program and process reviews conducted by RSI are customized so as to best meet client needs. With its broad expertise and experience in risk science, RSI will be able to design a review that will help meet long-term goals.