RIMScast: Safety and International Risk Leadership with Franck Baron

Safety and International Risk Leadership with Franck Baron

Jul 3, 2023

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

Franck Baron is the Group Deputy Director for Risk Management and Insurance at International SOS, which is a recognized leader in security risk management. He is also the president of IFRIMA, which is the International Federation of Risk and Insurance Management Associations, which is the international umbrella organization for risk management, and he is the Co-Founder of PARIMA. He is its outgoing chair.

PARIMA and RIMS announced a strategic alliance at RISKWORLD 2023 to expand access for the RIMS-CRMP throughout the world and establish a global standard of knowledge and professionalism for risk professionals. PARIMA will market, promote, and deliver the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Workshop to Pan-Asia’s risk community while RIMS will deliver course materials, case studies, instructors, and manage administrative and certification duties.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMScast.

[:27] All about exciting, upcoming RIMS events! Registration is open for the RIMS Canada Conference 2023, which will be held September 11th‒14th in Ottawa! Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information.

[:48] On September 14th, the Spencer Educational Foundation returns to New York City for its Annual Funding Their Future Gala. The event will be held at the Cipriani on 42nd Street. A link is on this episode’s notes. You can also visit SpencerEd.org.

[1:05] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held October 4th‒6th in Vail, Colorado. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com for more information and to register.

[1:17] Head to the RIMS.org/Advocacy page to find information about The RIMS Legislative Summit, which is returning to Washington, D.C. on October 25th and 26th.

[1:31] We are very excited about the RIMS ERM Conference 2023, which will be held November 2nd and 3rd in Denver, Colorado! The theme is Elevate and Evolve. We are accepting submissions for educational sessions through June 30th. Check your inboxes and spam folder to see if that deadline was extended. There is a link in the show notes.

[2:01] About today’s episode with accomplished risk leader, Franck Baron. Franck Baron is the Group Deputy Director for Risk Management and Insurance at International SOS. He is also the president of IFRIMA, and the Co-Founder of PARIMA, and a really, really nice guy! We’re so happy to have him join us! Franck Baron, welcome to RIMScast!

[3:46] Franck is the head of Risk Management and Insurance at International SOS. He is based out of Singapore hut has a thick French accent, as he is from France. Franck joined International SOS in 2011; before that he was in the risk and insurance industry, mostly as a risk manager. He started at Mars, the American chocolate bar company.

[4:25] Franck worked for Mars in Europe where he was in charge of risk and security for Mars at the 1992 Winter and Summer Olympic Games. From there, Franck did Insurance brokerage for Aon and then Marsh, and then to Danone as a deputy risk manager. Franck moved next to a Swiss company, Firmenich, as a chief risk officer for eight years.

[5:31] Franck has had a fulfilling career. Risk management wasn’t much of a reality in Europe when he graduated with a risk management degree, but his career was in risk management. Danone was one of the first companies in France to launch an ERM program. Franck is passionate about risk management.

[6:34] Part of Franck’s job at the Barcelona Olympics was to join the guests to watch competitions. He got to see the NBA Dream Team in the stadium.

[7:50] International SOS was interested in starting a risk management department and they saw that Franck had created a risk management department at Firmenich. Both companies are family-owned. International SOS saw enough commonalities to invite Franck to interview with the owners.
[9:02] During the job interviews, Franck pitched to the owners the way he thought the risk management department should be structured and what it should be able to deliver. It was a fruitful conversation. The objective expanded through the job interview and he was hired.

[10:29] Franck has seven people in his department, in Paris, London, Houston, and Singapore. International SOS has 14,000 employees in 94 countries.They handle risk internally and have a captive insurance agent. Franck describes the workings of the department.

[12:01] International SOS is in the business of saving lives. Companies hire them to provide security for employees who may be traveling or involved in large events, including COVID-19 and the War in Ukraine. They are the world leader in this, purely dedicated to corporations and public organizations. They don’t do personal lines.

[13:11] Following risk management principles helps International SOS deliver the solutions they do to their clients. They are in countries where things are not simple. A lot of risks need to be managed there.

[14:04] The main difference Franck sees today from 10 years ago is the permanent crisis mode. Risks are ongoing and are not mitigating, are not reducing, and they are just piling up. Geopolitical uncertainties, the climate change impact, people risks, the growth of diseases, and cyber attacks are all interconnected in a permacrisis.

[15:16] We can’t be managing crises all day long, so how do we manage risk so that what we call a permacrisis situation is managed in a more controllable manner?

[15:35] RIMS plug time! Sponsor an episode of RIMScast! Contact us at pd@rims.org. For upcoming virtual workshops visit RIMS.org/virtualworkshops to see the calendar. The RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep is July 19th and 20th, from 9:00 am–4:00 pm EDT. August 15th through 17th is the RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep from 9:00 am–4:00 pm EDT.

[16:41] Join us on July 14th at 5:00 p.m. India Standard Time for a jointly presented webinar with Prudent Insurance, Brokers Private Limited, titled Trade Credit Insurance Managing Risk and Promoting Growth. A link is in the show notes. That’s early morning in the U.S. I, Justin, will be hosting it. Register and attend!

[17:22] Deaing with the interconnected crises of the world takes compartmentalization. Franck stresses the human element of how people cope with overwhelming crises. The biggest mistake is to try to ignore things. Be aware. Identify what you are facing. Then strategize about what you can do. For each risk there is a specific approach and plan.

[18:10] It’s about making sure the company remains agile enough to respond to any situation. It’s about collectively having a people and culture of knowing how to respond to a situation. International SOS knows the foundational reflexes that they need to have to manage situations and to raise the right risks to the decisionmakers for prevention.

[18:59] International SOS does periodic phishing campaigns to raise awareness of how very stupid things can be done by people with good intentions. Cybercrime is a constant battle. People need to be diligent and very aware of what’s happening. We are investing in automation but people still need to use their brain.

[20:16] International SOS handles crises for clients every day. Crisis agility is ingrained in the behaviors and people of International SOS. When they hire someone but the person doesn’t stay with them, it’s because the person can’t cope with their crisis management attitude. It’s part of the International SOS DNA.

[21:00] Franck makes sure risk management interacts with all functions of the company, from digital, financial, supply chain, and delivery. Franck reports regularly to the three company owners in terms of risks and the risk financing aspects. He has a seat at the table. There’s no lack of response. Franck needs to stay material to the conversation.

[22:45] Franck does not lead the International SOS ISO-compliance efforts but when they do ERM, he makes sure that what needs to happen to improve their efficiencies and delivery is properly done. He’s not in charge of internal audit or compliance. When they do enterprise risk mapping, he looks at what needs to happen, and how to fix it if it’s not.

[23:32] PARIMA is like RIMS for Asia Pacific. Franck moved to Singapore and looked for the risk management association to join. He didn’t find one. He had been an officer in the French and Swiss associations and European federation. He met with peers in Asia who had tried before. With Franck’s pedigree, they founded PARIMA and it took off.

[24:32] PARIMA is headquartered out of Singapore. They have operation in a few countries. They capture all the risk and insurance managers of Asia-Pac from India to Japan. There are about 3,000 members in about 20 countries across the region. Like RIMS, they are starting to create local chapters. It has been a rewarding adventure.

[25:22] After being Chairman and Founding Chariman of PARIMA for 10 years, Franck is stepping down. A new president has been elected, effective January 1, 2024. Franck takes this opportunity to accept the presidency of IFRIMA the International Federation of Risk Management Associations. RIMS and PARIMA and other societies are members.

[25:51] Franck holds these positions pro bono, to give back to a profession that has been extremely rewarding to him. The breadth of the connections with experts and peers he gets from these organizations gives him the opportunity to learn a lot. It makes him a better risk manager to invest time into these organizations.

[26:42] Franck explains how he divides his time between International SOS, IFRIMA, and his family. He doesn’t sleep a lot. He makes it work because he really loves risk management and doesn’t see it as a job. The most time-demanding part of his IFRIMA work is finding the right people to work with him. Franck publicly thanks his family.

[28:14] About PARIMA and the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Workshop. There is a strong appetite in Asia for better education for risk professionals. They tried with an education partner in Asia to develop a curriculum and certification. The content was adapted to Asia but the vendor partner was incapable of sustaining the relationship with PARIMA.

[29:00] PARIMA has six permanent staff after starting from scratch. Franck invested his money into it as the first money it had. They quickly found out that to continue to deliver education and certification to all members, they needed to partner with somebody who was already doing a good job. RIMS was a good fit with a structure and content in place.

[29:50] RIMS generously opened the book for PARIMA and about 80% of the content worked for Asia. About 20% needed to be replaced with business cases for Asia. Now they will work with RIMS and help to develop the Asia content. Franck wants the members in Asia to get to a certification that makes sense in Asia and around the world.

[30:35] It should not be an ego contest between the Europe version and the U.S. version of risk management certification. The 80% relevancy between the U.S. version and the needs of Asia is more than enough to give it a shot and provide to members something that makes sense to them. They are just starting the work for delivering the solution.

[31:14] That solution will be co-delivered by RIMS Commission Chair Ward Ching. Franck is also interested in how far PARIMA can be involved in a review of the content to make it a proper international certification. As President of IFRIMA, Franck has no conflict of interest. He is happy RIMS and PARIMA can work together.

[31:59] Looking at the universe of risks we are in, risk management associations have to collaborate together. There is so much to do. We can’t waste time or money to compete or not to collaborate the way we should. That’s Franck’s motto for IFRIMA. Franck looks forward to working with Ward Ching in this collaboration.

[33:41] Franck shares words to inspire new risk professionals. “You are not making a mistake; that’s a wonderful career; that’s a wonderful profession. And there is still a lot to do; a lot to create; a lot to invent. I think it can’t be a better time to do this! When you look at all the things that can be done with data, for instance!”

[33:59] “Don’t be shy. Leave your office; work with your colleagues; do not hesitate. Do everything you can to train yourself to be material to the conversation with the C-suite and to be the right person to talk on the shop floor with people. Use intellectual curiosity, openness, and enter the meeting room even if you are not invited.”

[34:30] Justin thanks Franck Baron for joining him on RIMScast and he looks forward to seeing Franck at future RIMS events and seeing what develops in the partnership between PARIMA and RIMS-CRMP and RIMS.

[34:48] “Special thanks again to Franck Baron for joining me here today.” See the links to International SOS, PARIMA, and IFRIMA in the show notes, as well as coverage of Franck’s appearance at RISKWORLD 2023 where we announced the strategic alliance between PARIMA and RIMS for the RIMS-CRMP.

[35:11] You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are on our show notes. RIMScast has a global audience of professionals, students, and business leaders, and more. Contact pd@rims.org for more information.

[35:57] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information. The RIMS app is available only for RIMS members! You can find it in the App store.

[36:23] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today’s risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data and more.

[36:40] Read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com and check out the blog at RiskManagementMonitor.com. Email Justin at Content@RIMS.org. Justin thanks you for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! Listen every week! Stay safe!

Mentioned in this Episode:

NEW FOR MEMBERS! RIMS Mobile App

RIMS ERM Conference 2023 — Submit an educational session.

RIMS Canada 2023 — Sept. 11–14 in Ottawa!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Funding Their Future Gala — Sept. 14, 2023

Contribute to Risk Management Magazine
RIMS Western Regional — Oct 4–6, Vail Colorado

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

Risk Management Monitor: “Charting Risk Management’s Future at RISKWORLD 2023”

RIMS Newsroom: “RIMS and PARIMA Alliance Leverages the RIMS-CRMP Certification to Establish a Global Risk Management Standard”
Upcoming Virtual Workshops:

“Risk Appetite Management” | July 12–13

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep