Subhashis Nath, is the Mentor of the Global Risk Management Institute (GRMI), Gurgaon, a pioneer in framing a curriculum for aspiring professionals in the Risk Management market, estimated to be upwards of USD 40 Billion and growing. In a comprehensive interview to OneYearMBA.co.in, he talks about various aspects of risk management and how GRMI aims to create the right type of professionals who would not only be able to advance their career in terms of good pay and profile but also contribute to enhancing productivity of personnel and organisations.
Q: What is Risk Management and what is its significance today?
Ans: Businesses across the world are in the phase of rapid growth, integration and globalisation. To continue to grow at a rapid pace, business requires taking risks. Businesses that manage these risks well are able to grow and remain successful. On an ongoing basis, businesses have to deal with the changing risk landscape including market volatility, geopolitical crises, widespread economic changes, regulatory reforms and cyber threats.
While such a situation creates many challenges, it also presents an opportunity to take advantage of the potential of risk. Today, successful organisations are those which are able to manage the risks effectively. Risk Management is beyond financial and regulatory risk mitigation, it looks at the overall business environment, and encompasses managing strategic, operational, regulatory, compliance and financial risk of an organisation.
Q: To which fields of business does Risk Management apply?
Ans: Risk Management is required across all industries–manufacturing, retail, telecommunication, hospitality, service. Risk Management also cuts across all business functions in an organisation like procurement, HR, payroll, sales and marketing, manufacturing, treasury and thus is beyond just financial and regulatory risk mitigation.
Risk Management team plays a critical role in all organisations, feeding key business information to the management teams, to enable them take risk informed strategic decisions, which carves the path of success.
Q: Are there job opportunities available afresh or would it mean continuing in the same company / job?
Ans: Risk Management roles open up great career opportunities for both – for freshers and those continuing in same job. In a critical role of ensuring business value maximization along with compliance to organization and regulatory policies, Risk Managers are needed in every organization.
Talking about the current scenario, a lot of time is being spent by companies to train risk management concepts to the resources hired –leading to lower productivity for the organization in the initial phase of employee career.
Thus, a talent pool of professionals trained on a world class Risk Management curriculum will lead to higher productivity for all – small, medium and large corporates.
Q: What is special about the course at GRMI?
Ans: GRMI strives to impart professional education in the ever dynamic discipline of risk management that proves necessary in the prevalent phase of business opportunity evolution across the globe. The curriculum for Post Graduation Diploma in Risk Management (PGDRM) at GRMI has been developed by a combination of corporate leaders from Fortune 500 companies and academicians from Leading B Schools in India like IIMs, FMS, MDI and IMT.
The Global Risk Management Institute offers a one year Post Graduate Diploma in Risk Management (PGDRM) offering exposure to the practical side with the inclusion of live case studies in their curriculum. Apart from the major focus in Risk Management the Institute also moulds the student multi-dimensionally with key subject papers like HR, organisation behaviour, applied cyber risk, strategic risk management and impact of digitization on risk management.
Q: Will a good placement be available? What will be the salary range and who will be the recruiters?
Ans: What’s also been called out by business leaders, is that professionals with specialized education in Risk Management are believed to have faster career tracks, as compared to their peers who join with more generic qualifications.
With a specialized risk management qualification in hand, large consulting and risk consulting organizations like Accenture, EY, KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, Protiviti, Grant Thornton, etc. and other large corporate organizations like General Electric (GE), Tata Group, PepsiCo etc. will now get an opportunity to induct trained students in their organizations at a much earlier stage.
The range of placements for a Risk Manager across industries : Services, Manufacturing, Insurance, Banking, Retail, Healthcare, Consulting and Entrepreneurship. Students with specialization in Risk Management may earn an attractive salary starting from an initial band of INR 6-8 Lakh per annum.
Q: Are there any scholarships?
Ans: Yes, GRMI believes in rewarding the deserving candidates. GRMI will be screening the candidate profiles basis proven track record–academics and extra-curricular, results of psychometric tests and interview, growth potential of a candidate and basis the output of the assessment, scholarships will be awarded to deserving candidates.
Q: What attributes should one have to do well in the course and succeed in the career?
Ans: Graduates from commerce, economics, statistics, arts, engineering etc. Anyone can take this up as a specialised post graduation option owing to the dynamic nature of the course. The few qualities that student shall have are – analytical bent of mind towards problem solving, ability to think out of the box – to design solutions, willingness to learn, extremely good communication skills and dynamic personality.
(Subhashis Nath is currently a Senior Global Partner and Executive Director at Axis Risk Consulting Services Pvt Ltd, a Genpact company. Founder partner of Axis Risk Consulting, he has also spent nearly 2 years with the Global Center of Excellence of Ernst & Young, and about 9 years with Arthur Andersen. Part of the core team that built Risk Consulting practice of Arthur Andersen in India, he is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He has been a visiting speaker on Risk Management and HR Management at reputed India Business Schools and also at multiple industry forums like NYSE General Counsel, CII, IIA, and others. He maintains a strong passion for education and training and is an avid sports and music buff).