Interview with Debbie Rodgers - Global Risk Manager of Aramark

Dear valued readers, today I have the honor to share with you the second interview for this blog -- I am very pleased to introduce you all to a dear friend, an inspiring mentor, and a seasoned professional... Debbie Rodgers. I was honored to partake in the tribute video for the Insurance Society Gala dinner where Debbie was awarded the distinguished Leadership Award in November 2014 and the video link is as follows: http://bit.ly/1EVowWC 



“Photo courtesy of Michael Marcotte / Business Insurance”

  Debbie serves as the Global Risk Manager of Aramark. For those of you who might not be familiar with Aramark. It is a multinational that "offers innovative services in food, facilities management, and uniforms. It provides award-winning services to healthcare institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses in 22 countries around the world. In 2013, FORTUNE magazine again recognized Aramark on its list of “World’s Most Admired Companies. Since 1998, Aramark has been consistently ranked as one of the top three most admired companies in its industry as evaluated by peers and analysts. Additionally, and also in 2013, Aramark was honored as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute " – Summary extracted from the company's official website and for additional details, please visit http://www.aramark.com/AboutAramark/

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I would like to share a Bio that was published in the Business Insurance Magazine in 2011

Debbie Rodgers joined ARAMARK in 2003 to lead the insurance risk management function, which role subsequently expanded to include the safety & risk control and claims management functions for the global operations of the company. ARAMARK is a leader in professional services, providing award-winning food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses around the world. The company had sales of $12.6 billion in 2010. ARAMARK has 254,000 employees serving clients in 22 countries. Before joining ARAMARK, Debbie was the Director, Risk Management for Saint-Gobain Corporation. Prior to her employment at Saint-Gobain, she spent four years teaching and later worked as a legal assistant. She received the ARM designation in 1995. She has a MBA from Villanova University and a B.S. in Education from the University of Delaware. In 2009, Risk & Insurance Magazine awarded ARAMARK and specifically the Global Risk Management team with the 2009 Theodore Roosevelt Workers' Compensation and Disability Management Award for the company's success in reducing the frequency and severity of work-related injury claims. More recently, Debbie was named the 2010 Risk Manager of the Year by Business Insurance. Debbie is active in many professional associations. She chairs the Board of the Insurance Society of Philadelphia and also participates on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Risk Management and Insurance at St. Joseph University. She is a member of the Philadelphia Area Risk Managers Association; the Willis Global Client Advisory Council; the ACE USA Client Advisory Board, the ACE Bermuda Advisory Board and the M200. She has served in multiple capacities for the Risk & Insurance Management Society including on the Board of Directors of RIMS (2002 – 2005); on RIMS Education Committee (which she chaired); as a member of RIMS Fellow Advisory Council; on the Spencer Foundation Risk Manager in Residence Committee (2005-2007) and as a mentor to Spencer Scholars. She is presently Vice Chair of the Student Advisory Council of RIMS and is a member of the Delaware Valley Risk and Insurance Management Society. Ms. Rodgers is a frequent speaker at industry events and also speaks regularly to university students studying risk management and insurance.

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS:

Debbie and her team have been privileged to receive a number of awards. In 2009, Risk& Insurance Magazine awarded Aramark with the Theodore Roosevelt Workers’ Compensation and Disability Management Award for the company’s success in reducing the frequency and severity of work-related injury claims. In 2010, Debbie was named “Risk Manager of the Year” by Business Insurance. The Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the American Red Cross recognized her with its “Beyond the Glass Ceiling” award in 2012. The Aramark risk management team received the 2013 Excellence in Workers’Compensation Risk Management award from National Underwriter.

THE INTERVIEW:



 Debbie and I the morning she received the "Beyond the Glass Ceiling" Award in 2012

Good morning Debbie. I would love to start with a quick overview of your background and professional journey to-date.

 I am a trained educator. I started my career as a teacher, initially in the elementary school, then in a middle school teaching mathematics. As a result of declining school enrollments and a lack of employment security, I changed careers completely to become a legal assistant. Initially I worked in a law firm, but later moved to a corporation – CertainTeed.

Recognizing that my teaching degree probably wouldn’t be a good stepping stone for future career growth, I enrolled in a MBA program. While in that program, I was approached by CertainTeed’s then risk manager to join his team. I was in an entry-level position, but it afforded me exposure to all areas of the department. This was a particularly exciting time because the company was acquired by a French company, Saint-Gobain, so there were many new opportunities. I progressed rapidly in my career at Saint-Gobain, ultimately

becoming Director of Risk Management. I held that role until I was recruited to join Aramark as the Vice President of

Risk Management in 2003.

 What does a Global Risk Manager really do? (Mostly for those readers who are not familiar with our industry)

That is not an easy question to answer, in part because risk management is defined differently at different companies. When I worked at CertainTeed / Saint-Gobain, the role was largely focused on insurance procurement and management. The team was also involved in managing claims. My role at Aramark began similarly, but grew to include safety & risk control, risk analytics, risk financing, claims management and, of course, insurance procurement / management. While there are many areas in which the safety & risk control team focuses, three of the big areas are occupational safety, food safety and environmental safety. Our team is involved in a host of other activities, including but not limited to contract review, new business opportunities, and risk evaluation and mitigation. If you ask another risk manager, you may get an entirely different response!

Did you always know that you will become a Risk Manager or did you, as we say, “fall into it” by coincidence?

I absolutely fell into it! I am eternally grateful to a former risk manager of CertainTeed who took a chance on me and introduced me to the field. I’ve never looked back since then.

What skills should a global risk manager have?

Whether someone is a global risk manager or one that is focused on domestic operations, there are core competencies that a person should possess. First and foremost, the risk manager must have intellectual curiosity to learn the business and ask the right questions. Leadership skills are also critical to be able to influence and move an organization on the right path. Other important competencies include, but are not limited to, team building, strong communication skills, the ability to motivate others to act, developing people, strategic thinking and decisiveness. Of course there are many other skills, including specific business skills (as finance, claims, safety, security, etc.) depending upon the specific role the risk manager holds in the organization. RIMS has an excellent competency model that could provide additional insights into personal and professional skills that are necessary.

What are some of the biggest challenges and the biggest rewards of your job?

One of the biggest challenges for me has been instituting organizational change. The larger the organization, the more challenging it is to make change. Our organization has multiple business operations across a large geographic base. It isn’t always easy getting all businesses on board. Getting a change through the entire organization is one of the biggest rewards.

Every successful person faces hurdles at some point in their career path, but many new comers just presume that successful professionals somehow were just lucky to have everything lined up for them. Could you provide some color with respect to adversity?

 I’d like to meet the person who has NOT faced adversity at some point in his/her career! It’s just part of the business world. What’s important is not the particular adversity you face, but what you learn from the situation and how you use the experience to grow professionally.

Do you have any professional and/or personal role models who have inspired you?

I’ve had 2 professional role models in my career and one very inspirational personal role model. From a professional perspective, the French risk manager of Saint-Gobain really influenced my career. Not only did he help me understand how to become an effective risk manager, he also encouraged (well, really, forced) me to speak French when I worked with him. I studied French as a minor in college, but never used it until I worked with him. The second professional role model was the Treasurer of Saint-Gobain Corporation. I credit him with helping me make the transition from being a legal assistant to a business person. He was a great sounding board and advisor as I worked through my professional role as well as my MBA studies.

From a personal standpoint, my mother was a really strong role model. Though I doubt she would ever have admitted it, she was a feminist before such a title existed. She believed I could achieve whatever I wanted and encouraged me to do so. Then she would say she didn’t know where I came from, to which I would respond – I’m just like you!

If you have one advice that you like to give to all the youth that is interested in risk management or just in business in general -- something that you feel you learned through years of experience, and that you might not have learned otherwise, what would it be?

It’s difficult to think of just one piece of advice, but I guess I would say whatever you choose to do in life, make sure it is something you love. You spend most of your life working, so enjoy what you do. If the career choice you make does not make you happy, consider making a change. I changed my career path twice before I found a career that was intellectually challenging AND made me happy.

A few years ago, you shared with me a pertinent book about self-analysis and finding individual strengths. I was thrilled to do the little exercise, which helped me tremendously in terms of learning how to work better with various personality types. That was one of the best things I learned from you... Can you talk a little bit about your experience with it, how you actually tried it with your team and the outcome of that experience?

The book you are referring to is entitled Strengths Finder by Tom Rath. It is a quick, simple-to-read book that includes a skills assessment. We gave copy of the book to everyone on the Global Risk Management team and asked them to take the assessment and share their results. We compiled the results and shared them with everyone. We used this exercise to help people to (1) understand their own strengths, as defined in the book, and (2) understand the strengths of others on the team so they would work more effectively together.

What are some of the things that you learned from traveling around the world through your job. Is it easy to adapt to new business cultures? And how do you manage being frequently on the road while also managing home-office responsibilities.

One of the great advantages of traveling internationally is you have an opportunity to see the world through a different lens. You really appreciate how culture, geography and history influence the way in which people react differently to a situation. It’s a very valuable life lesson.Travel can be challenging, especially when you do it often and for large stretches of time. Such travel really challenges one’s ability to keep up with the work on your desk and the myriad responsibilities at home. I’m fortunate to have an outstanding team of people working with me at Aramark. That helps enormously when I’m traveling. I’m equally fortunate to have a husband who understands the demands of the job and is willing to jump in to do whatever it takes to help when I’m traveling.

How about Debbie Rodgers outside of work? People might think that being successful means not having a life. Do you have any hobbies that you like to do when you are not evaluating insurance coverages and making risk management decisions?

 I really enjoy the outdoors. When time allows, I enjoy bicycling, water sports, tennis, skiing, etc. I live in an especially beautiful spot, so I also enjoy reading and relaxing in our garden when the weather allows. Sometimes you’ll even find me doing some gardening.

My husband and I also enjoy personal travel. We take several trips each year, often to new destinations though there are a few favorites to which we return with some regularity.

  

You are a great example of someone who has successfully balanced the personal and professional lives. How did you do it and what advice do you give to the newcomers who want to follow suit?

There is no secret formula here. If you like your job, you really must balance all the pieces of your life so that it works for you. That said it’s really important for me to find down time. Sometimes I just have to say no to an invitation recognizing that I need down time. I also find that exercise helps me to balance my life and re-energize the battery.





Thank you VERY much Debbie.







Photo taken during a trip to Wyoming