Why Link Incidents and ERM?
Incident Tracking and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) are both key practices for high-performing organizations. This article explains how linking the two can improve both.
Understanding the Difference
Enterprise Risks are uncertain future events that may affect strategic objectives.
Incidents are real events (or near misses) that have already occurred.
ERM is built around prevention and mitigation. Incidents provide concrete data and real examples that can inform future risk assessments.
What Qualifies as an Incident?
Incidents can include:
Cyber attacks, lawsuits, data loss
Discrimination, harassment, bullying
Theft, fraud, client loss
Environmental spills, legal violations
Positive contributions and suggestions
Near misses and unsafe conditions
Incident management typically includes:
Tracking and responding to events
Performing root cause analysis
Taking corrective actions for the future
1. Better Risk Assessment and Decision-Making
Past incidents provide real-world data
Linking them to risk assessments improves accuracy
Helps reduce guesswork and subjectivity
Closes the loop between qualitative and quantitative risk analysis
Even small incidents, when grouped and analyzed, can signal larger patterns or brewing risks.
2. Greater Buy-In for ERM Programs
Business users already own incident response
Showing that risks = potential future incidents builds relevance
Encourages more active participation in ERM processes
3. Stronger Executive Support for Incident Management
When linked to ERM, incidents gain strategic importance
Incident tracking becomes a tool for better decision-making
Highlights the broader business value of operational incident data
Challenge: Signal vs. Noise
The key difficulty in linking incidents with ERM is managing high volumes of data and identifying what matters. Prioritization and analysis are essential to gain meaningful insights.
Keywords: incident tracking, ERM, risk assessment, event data, decision-making, business incidents, buy-in, risk linkage