Risk Management

Wider application

The advice given here for project managers applies equally to the management of risk at the organisation level. The same process of planning, identification, evaluation and control should take place in relation to the organisation's strategic plans. HEFCE has produced some useful good practice guidance.

Risk management for developing employer-led training

Engaging with the provision of demand-led higher level skills courses is a high risk activity. Between 2006 and 2011, three regional HEFCE-funded higher level skills pathfinder projects enabled significant course development in this area by mitigating the financial risk for HEIs through the provision of funding.

This provided a test bed to trial the demand and response processes in a manner that encouraged the activity to become embedded more firmly in the region's HEI strategies.

Research led by Universities South West focused on key lessons learned through the pathfinder projects and other higher skills initiatives in respect of identifying and exploring failure and success factors for engaging in the development of new employer led training courses. In particular, it explored the inherent common risks, their indicators, their financial and reputational impact and the probability of occurrence through the provision of an exemplar risk register.

As well as this detailed exemplar risk register, the project also produced a blank risk register template (with various algorithms and transformations embedded within) and detailed guidance notes on how to use it. These resources, along with a final report, are all available to download from the case study wiki.