Compliance management isn't a new concept. But as the world continues to move into the digital age and business systems and operations increase in complexity the burden of maintaining compliance is ever-increasing.
Just as countries have legal systems that citizens have to abide by, organizations also have to follow specific regulations set by the governing bodies in their industries. Doing so not only helps them safeguard their interests but also ensures that their stakeholders can safely navigate complex business environments.
This is why your business must ensure awareness and adherence to legal processes, making compliance management a vital aspect of your organization. While compliance isn't necessarily a new concept, establishing a dedicated compliance department to detect violations is. Companies across industries worldwide spend an average of $5.47 million on compliance. This is all in an effort to stay true to the tenets of compliance management.
So, what is compliance management? Sine has compiled an all in one guide to help you understand what compliance management is, why it's important, and the possible compliance risks for your business.
Compliance management refers to a set of processes that businesses use to plan, structure, and control business activities in a way that ensures adherence with relevant laws.
For organizations, these regulations can refer to government legislation, as well as internal (or external) rules and regulations. Also count in any written values, employee handbook, ethics policy, and legal obligations such as corporate reporting and taxes.
Compliance management aims to protect a business against compliance breaches. These processes include:
Compliance breaches have wide-ranging implications that can quickly compel businesses to rethink their approach to legal issues and take effective measures to remain within the confines of laws that govern them. Depending on the nature of your business, compliance breaches may even cause harm to your stakeholders and company property. The economic cost (hours, wages, fines, and lost revenue) alone are unimaginable, with an estimated $1.9 trillion annually spent in the economic effects of federal intervention.
Aside from that, businesses also have to consider the damage it has on their brand. Many organizations operate in the public eye, so violations of any nature can destroy trust and consequently impact revenue.
Furthermore, if your business relies on investors, donors, and creditors, it's important to assure them that your business processes comply with all applicable rules and regulations.
Ultimately though, compliance management helps businesses define the values and ethical principles that guide their practices. When done well, it not only increases the efficiency and effectiveness of your staff, but it also helps your organization navigate ambiguous situations.
Thus, compliance management cam help drive long-term change in the organization and conduct of business practices.
Assessing the risk profile of compliance measures not only helps to understand your vulnerability to frequent violations but also offers insight into how they might occur and the severity of its impact.
While some risks appear in the form of people with malicious motivations, others are unavoidable, and some even accidental. For example, between January 2019 and July 2019, organizations across the globe reported approximately 4,000 data breaches, which exposed over 4.1 billion records to unscrupulous individuals.
But at the same, the time-consuming nature of traditional paper documentation procedures can make compliance monitoring practices burdensome for the staff, leaving your data vulnerable to human error.
Here, an effectively designed internal compliance audit can help organizations prioritize compliance issues and risks, map them across the organization, and allocate resources to fill the gaps.
The modern business landscape mandates conforming to stringent business practices and industry regulations across public, private, and corporate environments to enhance your chances of success.
Here at Sine, we work with organizations in all industries, streamlining their compliance processes to ensure their requirements are met. Our team is well-versed in the compliance challenges specific to different industries. For example, we work with St Andrews Lutheran College to help streamline their reporting arrangements by ensuring that attendance reports are automatic and accurate.
The results so far, have been spectacular:
“This compliance solution has moved us from the ice age (carbon copy sign-in sheets) to something flexible, future proof, and simple to use. Parents of the College love it (so do we), our compliance levels have increased, we know who is on-site at all times, who they are here to see, and when they leave. The developers are always looking to ensure that the compliance management system meets our needs. Great concept, excellent application.”
Hence, investing in effective compliance management can help your organization protect your business operations against breaches and maintain your brand reputation. Compliance managers at Sine can help you automate and digitize regulatory compliance procedures such as document collection and verification.
Not only can Sine save your staff time, but we can also help you create an immediate audit trail. With this, you can prevent non-compliant individuals from entering the site. Benefit from automatic reminders that alert you when compliance documentation expires. In addition to prompts that provide the latest documentation on the status of your compliance systems.
