Risk Management: What Team Members Need to Know
The last few years will go down in history as some of the most memorable in the last half-century and it’s fair to consider the recent volatility will continue impacting Associated Food Stores in the near and distant future. Within the last two decades, there has been a dot-com crash, the attacks of 9/11 and the global war on terror, the worldwide financial crisis and now a pandemic. Extraordinary events are becoming much more common.
No individual or company can completely predict specific risks. But organizations can prepare for an uncertain future that includes many challenges including climate change, technological disruption, geopolitical risk, threats to the global supply chain, and issues related to cybercrime, data protection and privacy.
Associated Food Stores (AFS) recognizes the need to increase its attention on managing and strategically planning for risk. As this is a key initiative for AFS, Jared Memmott, who has served as the AFS pharmacy compliance manager for over six years, has recently received the assignment to lead the company’s risk management efforts. As the director of risk management, Jared will work with individuals and teams throughout the company to mitigate and strategically plan for company risks that may affect the organization’s reputation and stability.
In the upcoming months, Jared Memmott, along with key team leaders and third-party resources, will help to identify and analyze risks across the company and its footprint.
“We want to partner with each department to help assess our current circumstances and then work together to take the identified next steps to solidify our position as a safe, protected and thriving organization,” said Jared.
In connection with that risk assessment, AFS is asking for ongoing team member help and participation. In the fall, AFS will launch a digital hotline for team members to anonymously share concerns, observations, and ideas. While more information regarding the hotline will be communicated in the future, all team members are encouraged to get involved through this medium and help improve communication organization-wide.
In the meantime, a FAQ has been developed to answer many of the most common questions about AFS’ risk management plans. It can be accessed by clicking here.