Corporate Governance for Risk Managers Training Course

Course overview

Risk managers are expected to provide boards and executive committees with a clear view of material exposures, control effectiveness and emerging threats. In practice, risk information is often fragmented across registers, assurance reports, incidents and business-unit dashboards. This makes it difficult to distinguish management accountability from board oversight, escalate issues at the right point, or show whether risk appetite is being observed. This course equips risk professionals to make governance mechanisms work as an operating discipline rather than a set of policies and committee terms of reference.

Participants examine the governance structures, decision rights and reporting practices that connect board oversight to day-to-day risk ownership. They learn to map governance responsibilities using RACI and three-lines models; define risk appetite, tolerance and key risk indicators; design risk committee charters and escalation thresholds; assess control and assurance evidence; and produce board-ready risk reporting. The course also addresses governance failures, conflicts of interest, conduct risk, regulatory expectations and the governance implications of strategic change, third parties and digital risk.

Teaching combines instructor-led briefings with governance case analysis, risk committee simulations and practical design workshops. Participants work with a realistic corporate scenario to diagnose weaknesses in an existing governance framework, redesign reporting and escalation routes, and challenge risk information as a board committee would. Each participant leaves with a tailored Corporate Governance and Risk Oversight Action Plan, including a governance map, proposed committee reporting pack, escalation criteria and 90-day implementation priorities.

The course is designed for experienced risk practitioners who need to influence senior leaders, strengthen the interface between risk and governance, and demonstrate the value of risk management in strategic decisions. It is equally valuable for managers sponsoring risk-function improvement who need staff able to convert governance principles into repeatable operating practices.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Map board, committee, executive and first-line risk accountabilities using a governance RACI matrix
• Design a risk appetite statement with measurable tolerances, limits and key risk indicators
• Construct a board risk committee charter covering mandate, membership, decision rights and reporting cadence
• Evaluate control effectiveness and assurance evidence using the Three Lines Model and assurance mapping
• Build a board-ready risk dashboard that distinguishes exposure, trend, limit breaches and management action
• Define risk escalation thresholds, issue-routing rules and decision logs for material risk events
• Assess governance weaknesses through root-cause analysis of a corporate failure case
• Produce a 90-day Corporate Governance and Risk Oversight Action Plan for a live organisational priority

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Risk Managers — who must turn enterprise risk data into decisions that boards and executives can act on
• Enterprise Risk Managers — who design risk frameworks, appetite statements and reporting across business units
• Head of Risk and Risk Function Leaders — who need to strengthen board oversight and risk-function credibility
• Operational Risk Managers — who escalate control failures, incidents and conduct concerns through clear governance routes
• Internal Audit Managers — who coordinate assurance coverage and communicate independent challenge to audit committees
• Compliance and GRC Managers — who align regulatory obligations, controls and management accountability

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience of risk management, compliance, internal control, audit, or business assurance in an organisation. They should understand basic concepts including risk registers, inherent and residual risk, controls, risk owners, key risk indicators and management reporting. Familiarity with their own organisation's board or committee structure is useful, as participants will apply the methods to a realistic governance scenario. A laptop with spreadsheet and presentation software is recommended for workshop activities. Prior board-level experience, legal training, audit certification, formal knowledge of corporate law, or prior use of specialist GRC software is not required.

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor-led modules to establish governance principles, followed by applied work on a continuing corporate case. Participants analyse committee papers, challenge weak risk indicators, map decision rights, draft escalation protocols and conduct a simulated risk committee meeting. Small-group workshops compare alternative governance designs for incidents, strategic investments and third-party exposures. The instructor provides structured feedback against recognised governance and risk standards. On the final day, each participant converts course outputs into a focused action plan for an issue or governance improvement relevant to their own organisation.

Course outline

Day 1: Governance architecture and risk accountability

• Corporate governance purpose, fiduciary oversight and risk-management obligations
• Board, committee and executive decision rights
• The Three Lines Model and assurance responsibilities
• Governance RACI matrices for material risk processes
• Risk ownership versus control ownership versus oversight
• Risk committee mandates, membership and meeting cadence
• Diagnosing governance failures from documented corporate cases

Workshop: Participants analyse a governance failure case and produce a RACI matrix identifying unclear accountabilities and missing challenge points.

Day 2: Risk appetite, controls and assurance

• Risk appetite, tolerance, capacity and operating limits
• Translating strategic objectives into measurable risk thresholds
• Key risk indicators and trigger calibration
• Control design effectiveness versus operating effectiveness
• Control self-assessment and evidence standards
• Assurance mapping across management, compliance and internal audit
• Residual risk evaluation and treatment decisions

Workshop: Participants develop a risk appetite and KRI set for a strategic business objective, including thresholds and escalation triggers.

Day 3: Board reporting and escalation discipline

• Board-ready risk report structure and narrative
• Risk dashboard design using trend, heat-map and limit-breach views
• Materiality criteria for risk and incident reporting
• Escalation paths for emerging risks and control failures
• Management action tracking and overdue-action governance
• Decision logs, challenge records and audit trails
• Communicating uncertainty, assumptions and data limitations

Workshop: Participants redesign a weak committee risk pack and produce a one-page dashboard with an escalation recommendation.

Day 4: Governance under scrutiny and change

• Root-cause analysis of governance breakdowns
• Conflicts of interest, conduct risk and speak-up arrangements
• Third-party governance and outsourced-risk oversight
• Governance of strategic projects, acquisitions and transformation programmes
• Technology, cyber and data-risk reporting to boards
• Regulatory expectations for risk governance and board challenge
• Scenario analysis and reverse stress testing for governance decisions

Workshop: Groups run a risk committee simulation for a major supplier incident and produce the committee decision record, actions and communication route.

Day 5: Embedding an effective risk governance operating model

• Assessing governance maturity and prioritising remediation
• Designing risk committee charters and annual agendas
• Integrating risk reporting with strategy, performance and capital decisions
• Using RSA Archer workflow concepts for issue and action governance
• Using Microsoft Power BI concepts for executive risk visualisation
• Stakeholder engagement with directors, executives and risk owners
• Ninety-day implementation planning and success measures

Workshop: Participants present a Corporate Governance and Risk Oversight Action Plan containing a governance map, reporting improvements, escalation rules and 90-day milestones.

Tools & standards covered

COSO Enterprise Risk Management Framework, ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management Guidelines, RSA Archer, Microsoft Power BI

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions