ALL
GLOBAL HOMEPAGE
(/)
people risk 25 risks HR, risk managers and business leaders
must tackle together

People are an organisation’s most important strength, but can generate significant
risk for a business if not properly managed. Never before has it been more vital for HR
and risk management to break down silos and work in concert to protect, equip, and
motivate this critical asset.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, people risks featured heavily in C-suite and boardroom discussions.
As the virus started to spread, many organizations rapidly re-evaluated their approach to supporting
employees as it became even more clear how imperative they are to the overall health of a business.
The pandemic moved employer-sponsored health, risk protection, and well-being plans from a nice-tohave to being a central pillar of the employee value proposition. CEOs are recognizing the impact that
well-being can have on business continuity, safety, the client experience, and even key person risk. In fact,
according to our talent trends research, this is the top issue raised by people in the C-suite.
At Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB), people risk is our business. We have categorized 25 people risks into five
main categories so that organizations are able to identify, prioritize, and manage the threats that are most
pertinent to them and take the appropriate action.
Health and safety
+
Talent practices
+
Accelerated digitisation
+
Environment and social
+
We use cookies to optimize the performance of this site and give you the best user experience. By using the site, you accept our use of cookies.
Okay
Manage Cookies
Governance and financial
+
While businesses need to consider each and all of these 25 risks, each firm will have different priorities. For
example, environment and social is very important right now in consumer goods, while accelerated
digitization is critical in financial services. We are seeing manufacturing and automotive focused on
governance and financial while talent practices are hot in technology, life sciences, and retail/wholesale
sectors. No matter the industry, as a result of the pandemic, health and safety is top of mind for everyone!
Conclusion
The pandemic has thrown workers’ physical, mental, social, and financial health into the spotlight. As such,
a company’s ability to apply an enterprise risk management approach to addressing these threats, and to
provide a safe and conducive work environment, will be crucial for protecting business operations,
revenue, reputation, and talent acquisition.
The 25-risk framework is a great way to think about the macro forces facing your business and to explore
the risks. It can also help HR and risk management teams articulate with business leaders and in in boardlevel conversations the consequences of not acting now when it comes to these risks.
 Speak with a Mercer consultant
* First Name:
* Last Name:
* Email Address:
* Company Name:
* Job Title:
* Phone Number:
* Location:
Select...
* Tell us about your business needs:
I would like to receive communications about products and offerings from Mercer Marsh
Benefits* or its affiliates.
By clicking Submit, I agree to the use of my personal information according to the Mercer Privacy Statement
(https://www.mercer.com/privacy.html). I understand that my personal information may be processed outside
my country of origin and transferred to one of Mercer Marsh Benefits’ affiliates to enable them to follow up with
locally.
Okay
We use cookies to optimize the performanceme
of this
site and give you the best user experience. By using the site, you accept our use of cookies.
Manage Cookies
*Mercer Marsh Benefits is the brand name used by both Mercer and Marsh, who are affiliates of Marsh and
McLennan Companies.
Submit
Related
Hide 
Turning health risk
into value: well-being
(/our-thinking/health/mercermarsh-benefits-workforce-healthwell-being.html)
MMB Health Trends:
2020 Insurer
Perspective | Mercer
2020
(/our-thinking/health/mmb-healthtrends-2020-insurerperspective.html)
Mercer Global
(https://www.mmc.com/)
Marsh (https://www.marsh.com/) GuyCarpenter
(http://www.guycarp.com/) Mercer
(https://www.mercer.com/) OliverWyman
(https://www.oliverwyman.com/index.html)
People Risk
Management
(/our-thinking/health/mmbmanaging-risks-for-workforce-andbusiness-resilience.html)
© 2022 Mercer LLC, All Rights Reserved
We use cookies to optimize the performance of this site and give you the best user experience. By using the site, you accept our use of cookies.

(https://www.linkedin.c
 (https://twitter.com/m

(https://www.facebook

(https://www.youtube.c
Events (/events.html)
Surveys and products (https://www.imercer.com?
utm_source=mercer&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pay&utm_content=globalfooter)
MMC investors (http://news-investors.mmc.com/)
Office locations (/about-us/locations.html)
Contact us (/contact.html)
Careers @Mercer (/mercer-careers.html)
Terms of use (/terms.html)
Privacy notice (/privacy.html)
Lines of business
Cookie notice (/cookies.html)
Accessibility statement (/mercer-accessibilityHealth and benefits (/what-we-do/health-andstatement.html)
benefits.html)
Manage Cookies
Investments and retirement (/what-we-do/wealth-andinvestments.html)
Workforce and careers (/what-we-do/workforce-andcareers.html)
M&A advisory services (https://www.mercer.com/whatwe-do/mergers-and-acquisitions/mergers-acquisitionsadvisory-services.html)
Okay
Manage Cookies