Compliance

Compliance is a daunting challenge to organizations because they are faced with a mountain of regulatory obligations. In the past, organizations tackled compliance as islands of projects scattered throughout the organization, leading to inconsistent approaches and a duplication of efforts. To achieve sustainable compliance, firms must develop a process and management function. In line with government guidance, sustainable compliance must encompass and sustain good working habits.

COMPLIANCE INVOLVES POLICY, PEOPLE, PROCESS, AND TECHNOLOGY

When building a highly effective compliance program, keep in mind it involves:

· Policy.
Policies provide the governance for controls; it is through policies that expected
ethical and compliant behavior is defined. While policies are part of the documentation in
the first habit, they permeate all of the other habits, providing the behavioral foundation
for each of them. Organizations must ensure that policies are well-defined and understood; without this effort, all else fails.

· People.
Ultimately, compliance violations come down to people. Whether malicious or
accidental, it is the people element that introduces uncertainty into the compliance process.
Effective compliance program managers focus on developing a culture of compliance in
which individuals behave ethically and responsibly. 

· Process.
Achieving effective compliance requires ongoing compliance processes.
Organizations should avoid compliance islands and aim for consistency by approaching
compliance as a process as opposed to individual projects.

· Technology.
Technology is an important foundation for automating, consistency, and
achieving economies of scale in compliance management. However, technology is not
the complete answer — organizations must be wary of the multitude of “false prophet”
technology vendors proclaiming the answer to all of your compliance needs. In fact, there
is no single technology answer for compliance problems.