RISKWORLD panel: Inside Utz's ‘Avengers’ approach to risk

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The risk team at Utz Quality Foods, LLC (Utz), an FM client, partnered with FM on an unusual tabletop exercise. They hid a file somewhere in the computer system. Then they told the IT team to find it. The exercise simulated a breach.

"It was real-life experience for them," said Staci Smith, vice president, risk manager at Utz. "If something does happen, your teams know what to do."

Smith shared the example during a RISKWORLD panel on risk management in manufacturing and supply chains. She joined Jennifer Reno, vice president, risk manager at FM, for a conversation moderated by Emma Lalovic, FM senior vice president, operations manager. Here are a few of the key takeaways from the panel:

Disruption as the baseline

Smith described what makes today's risk environment different. Utz manufactures a variety of snacks under brands, including Utz, Zapp’s, Boulder Canyon and On The Border, across the United States with 3,000 employees.

"What's fundamentally different is that right now, disruption is the new baseline where we see change and risks happen constantly," Smith said. "You need to be planning for those assumptions."

Reno agreed disruption defines the environment. "It's really, ‘what are we doing to learn from loss?’" she said. "Carrying that resilience through your business is important, and applying those lessons learned."

Navigating together

Smith described embedding risk into commercial decisions. The challenge is access.

"The risk management team needs to have a seat at the table," Smith said. "A lot of people are hesitant to bring the risk team in because they're afraid we're going to say no and ruin all the fun."

Smith sees her role as an educator. Her goal is helping people understand the risk and the options available to address it. "It really helps give them a different perspective," she said. "It empowers them to make confident decisions."

Reno emphasized the partnership dynamic. "The biggest part of our job is we have to influence without authority," she said. "People in accounting don't report to me. But every day you really have to work with these people. The power of partnership is so important."

The Avengers model

Smith co-leads a cross-functional group at Utz called the Avengers. The team includes leaders from legal, regulatory, marketing, sales, human resources and finance. When someone identifies a potential issue, they bring it to the group.

"We decide, ‘do we need to set up another working team to address this issue?’" Smith said. "It gives cross-functional awareness and gives executive leadership and the board comfort that when something happens, we identify it as a potential issue, evaluate the risk and work to address it."

Reno connected prevention to measurable outcomes. "Prevention is working when people escalate rather than allowing things to cascade," she said. "Are you looking at your near-misses? Are you updating standards and revising training? Fewer repeats with lower severity, faster recovery. That's resilience in the culture."

Practice and capital

Smith talked about practicing through tabletop exercises. The IT scavenger hunt helped teams realize the importance of internal communication and clarified roles.

"Everybody knows what their specific roles are, what systems they should be checking just to have a more efficient process," Smith said.

She also shared her approach to capital conversations when budgets are tight. She starts with three scenarios.

First, the baseline: If you do nothing, what could happen? Losing a plant, a financial impact, a brand reputation situation.

Second, the Cadillac: If you got everything on your wish list, what would those items be? What would the cost be? What would the risk reduction be?

Third, the middle road: "Some improvement is better than nothing," Smith said. "Look at a program that you could possibly build. We could do this in year one and then do this in year two."

She stressed persistence. Just because leadership says no today doesn't mean the answer won't change in three or six months. Keep discussing the risk so when funds become available, the foundation is already built.

Smith's closing advice: "To get a culture of prevention, you need leadership support and leadership wanting that to happen. It's not just call out a problem, it's let's call out a problem and talk about solutions we have to possibly solve it."

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