Corporate compliance programs are complex in nature, and they consist of many moving parts. To make sure your business has its ducks in a row, it is a good idea to have a checklist with which you can track the different areas of your business. One thing you will want to have as part of your checklist is information that tracks the changes of your company. As your company grows and evolves, you will be met with new compliance challenges. Tracking the changes of your organization will help you stay on top of new compliance risks.
- Structure, Control, and Size
You need to track any significant changes in the structure and control of your organization and adapt your compliance program to these changes. For example, has the size of your business changed? New offices require management that is up to date on compliance risks, and there are geographic compliance considerations as well. Furthermore, any change in the control of your company could mean that you need to change your compliance program so the leaders and various levels of management know how to implement best practices and lead their subordinates.
- Evolving Regulations
In addition, you also need to stay current with the latest regulations. These can change rapidly, and you need to address new regulations during each audit of your corporate compliance program. A failure to do so could mean that you are leaving yourself vulnerable to harsh consequences.
- Potential Claims and Actual Claims
Your organization must also consider any potential future claims as well as claims that have already been made against your organization. Think about why the claims happened in the first place, create a plan to avoid them in the future, look for ways to improve, and change your corporate compliance policies accordingly.
- Be Mindful of Complaints
Whether internal or external, complaints are a valuable tool used to identify areas of weakness. Though external complaints are valuable, internal complaints can shed light on your compliance processes and best practices. Have all your complaints been dealt with accordingly or do you have loose ends to tie up?
- Manage Internal and External Compliance Personnel
Has each individual who in some way works for your business been briefed on compliance threats? Your audit staff, stakeholders, and contractors need to be aware how their actions affect your business. Contractors are frequently overlooked because they are external, and you need to make sure that everyone has received appropriate compliance training to effectively mitigate compliance risks.
- Training
Your training needs to be up to date, but you also need to check that every employee and contractor has either been trained in the past or has attended your own internal training sessions. Whether you use in person training seminars or digital eLearning training methods, each and every employee needs to be up to speed on the latest threats. Without communicating the latest threats and how to deal with them, your business could be setup for disaster.