In a previous post, I mentioned evidence-based management and I thought additional information would be helpful. Evidence-based management is best defined as gathering all the information possible to make an informed decision. We make decisions in our personal and work lives through a wide variety of lenses. For example, in our work lives, decisions are made based on our professional experience and training. Being trained in legal knowledge, decisions will be made through that lens of being a lawyer. Being trained as a salesperson, decisions will be made through the lens of wanting to make the next sale.
There is nothing wrong with these decision-making processes. However, they can create a conflict. The conflict could be that a risk manager who is trained as a lawyer might not agree with some of the actions and decisions a salesperson may be making. The salesperson is under pressure to deliver sales results and can view the policies and procedures of the risk management department as a hindrance, or restrictive on their ability to make a sale. The risk manager may be uncomfortable with some of the actions a salesperson may take to close out a sale. Through using evidence-based management, this conflict can be greatly reduced and even used to develop a trusting relationship between sales and risk management.
Evidence-based management is a decision-making process based on the combination of critical thinking and the best available evidence. Critical thinking is based on the personal experience of each party involved as they look at the decision process independently of professional training. Best available evidence is the information, facts or data that support or deny assumptions or hypotheses. Using critical thinking and best available evidence results in a decision-making process that is more academic and less made of personal opinion. To be evidence-based, risk managers should be looking at the information being used to make the decisions and ask:
- Is the information from a reliable source? Is it fact or fiction?
- Is all the organizational information being used, or is there some information being omitted or held back?
- Have stakeholders and external professionals been consulted? If not, why?
- Has there been any scientific literature or empirical studies referred to? If not, why?
As risk managers, we need to be aware of the information being used to make decisions, both in the risk management department and other departments such as the sales department. By being aware and making decisions using our own professional training and others’, the conflict between risk managers and salespeople can be greatly reduced and help in the process of creating a trusting and collaborative corporate culture of compliance.
I have a question for you. In your role as a risk manager, have you ever sat in a strategic planning session with the sales department?
Here’s a great place to get additional information: https://cebma.org/faq/evidence-based-management/