Compliance is a crucial aspect that can sometimes be overlooked by fast-growing companies amidst challenges such as scaling operations, maintaining a competitive edge, navigating pandemic-related issues, weathering recessionary pressures, addressing the scarcity of skilled workers, and ensuring the well-being of their workforce. As these companies flourish, the importance of honing their compliance and risk management initiatives cannot be overstated, especially in an era marked by geopolitical tensions and an unpredictable economic landscape.

Although technological innovations have provided a robust platform for enhancing Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) management, compliance challenges persist. The contemporary business landscape mandates adherence to a myriad of regulations spanning taxation, commerce, energy, environment, cybersecurity, and workplace safety. These regulatory obligations translate into significant compliance costs, which could potentially stymie growth if not adequately managed.

This article endeavors to assist fast-growing companies in navigating the intricate world of compliance. It aims to shed light on common compliance challenges while offering pragmatic solutions to surmount them, thereby fostering a conducive environment for sustainable growth and resilience against unforeseen adversities.

What are the compliance challenges fast-growing companies face?

Fast-growing companies often encounter a multitude of compliance challenges necessitating their attention and strategic planning. These challenges stem from the rapid expansion and evolving nature of their operations, leading to complexities in adhering to various regulatory frameworks and industry standards governing areas like financial reporting, data protection, and workplace safety.

1. Adoption of Emerging Technologies

Today’s business risk landscape is undeniably more intricate, necessitating modern techniques like Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and machine learning to keep pace with regulatory demands. A comprehensive GRC tool is indispensable for maximizing access to compliance-related data, controls, and testing. The ideal solution should encompass clear analytics, data sharing and integration, automated processes, and cutting-edge technology. Big Data plays a pivotal role in compliance technology, enabling data evaluation and the automation of security actions. By leveraging Big Data, organizations can swiftly identify hazards, provide guidance, and proactively mitigate threats in automated systems.

Solution:

• Ensure your risk management strategy is clear, efficient, and adaptable, keeping your compliance team abreast of any changes in legislation or technology.
• Employ an active regulatory change management platform to facilitate horizon scanning and notifications for anticipated legislation.
• Utilize Regulatory Artificial Intelligence to discern optimal methods for risk reduction and quicker recovery, leveraging the advanced analytical capabilities typically inherent in compliance technology solutions.
• Establish a system of records that is accurate, secure, and easily accessible.

2. Managing multiple jurisdictions and laws

Effectively managing multiple jurisdictions and laws is a complex task that necessitates a comprehensive understanding of legal frameworks and a strategic approach. Each jurisdiction has its own unique set of regulations and reporting requirements, such as data privacy laws or financial reporting standards, making compliance management a complex and time-consuming task. A thorough understanding of regulatory requirements in each location and the ability to ensure compliance across all jurisdictions are essential.

Solution:

• Create a robust compliance program capable of handling numerous jurisdictions and laws. Building a team of compliance professionals familiar with each jurisdiction's legislation is necessary. These experts can handle compliance and ensure the company's operations comply with local legislation.
• Employing technology is necessary for multijurisdictional compliance. Compliance management software centralizes data, automates operations, and provides real-time compliance insight. This technology simplifies compliance, reduces manual labour, and ensures regional consistency.

3. Managing compliance cost

Cost constraints pose a significant challenge for numerous businesses concerning compliance. The tendency to approach compliance management from a departmental standpoint rather than adopting an enterprise-level perspective contributes to the negative impact of compliance costs on financial performance. This segregated approach results in inefficiency and significantly higher expenses.

Solution:

• Encouraging collaboration among team members is essential. In order to meet compliance requirements, it is essential for all functions to collaborate rather than operate independently.
• It is imperative to implement a comprehensive approach that encompasses risk management, compliance, and audit functions in order to prevent compliance mishaps and reduce costs.
• The automation of risk and compliance management offers several benefits, including cost savings, resource optimization, and time efficiency. This approach eliminates the need for manual management of compliance risks, resulting in significant savings in terms of costs, resources, and time. Exploring automation tools like Regulatory Technology (RegTech) solutions could further streamline compliance processes.

4. Risk and Governance

Due to economic, social, geopolitical, and environmental issues, the compliance and risk function is more uncertain than ever. This instability makes it hard to prevent economic crimes like fraud. As businesses adapt quickly to new circumstances, fraudsters look for opportunities to exploit potential security holes. Businesses encounter common forms of fraud including cybercrime, third-party risks, money laundering, and misuse of assets with losses often reaching thousands of dollars if not millions. These schemes incur monetary costs but also pose risks to community cohesion and people's sanity.

Solution:

• Implement a zero-trust security approach that requires authentication, authorization, and validation for each digital interaction.
• It is essential to conduct risk-based due diligence at the start of a business partnership and consistently throughout its duration.
• To enhance the ability of employees to identify potential threats like phishing, ransomware, Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS), and more, it is advisable to invest in employee training.
• Encouraging a shared responsibility for cybersecurity across the organization and prioritizing cyber and digital resilience in preparation for new security mandates by authorities can further strengthen the company's defense against economic crimes.

5. Responding to potential violations or non-compliance incidents

Addressing potential violations or incidents of non-compliance is a crucial challenge faced by rapidly expanding companies. The company could incur financial penalties, reputational damage, and legal action as a result of incidents. Non-compliance incidents can undermine trust among stakeholders, such as customers, investors, and partners. This can result in missed business opportunities and damage to the company's brand reputation. Furthermore, the company may face stricter regulations and heightened scrutiny from regulatory authorities, which could result in potential fines.

Solution:

• Having a clear incident response plan in place for minimizing the negative impact on the company's reputation and financials, demonstrating compliance and appropriate business practices.
• An incident response plan clearly defines the necessary steps to be followed when an incident occurs. This includes identifying and resolving the problem, investigating internally, and informing stakeholders. It also includes protocols for reporting incidents to regulatory authorities, as required.
• It provides employees with guidance on how to handle potential violations or non-compliance incidents. This facilitates a unified strategy for handling such circumstances by establishing clear lines of responsibility. It fosters a culture of compliance and emphasizes the significance of following regulations and ethical standards.

Leveraging Compliance Automation for Continued Business Growth

Compliance automation is a key tool for fast-growing companies aiming to keep up their growth pace. As businesses grow and face more complex rules and regulations, having efficient compliance processes is crucial. Compliance automation helps streamline and automate these processes, reducing manual work and the chance of mistakes. It also improves risk management and operational efficiency. Using reliable compliance software like TED (The Engineering Dashboard), an Automated Compliance Management (ACM) tool, can help companies reduce the risk of non-compliance incidents and deal with them effectively. This software helps in identifying and resolving potential compliance issues early. Investing in compliance automation is a smart move for the future of growing companies.

Introducing TED, an ACM tool designed to simplify compliance and make it easier for companies to set up and manage their compliance programs. With TED, companies can set guidelines and get real-time updates, making sure they follow the latest rules and regulations. TED also allows experts to create customizable and strong workflows to meet each business's needs, ensuring the best efficiency and effectiveness. But compliance automation is more than just using new technology. TED provides ongoing support throughout this journey, from solving problems to training and sharing best practices.

Investing in compliance automation with TED turns compliance from a daunting task into a strategic advantage, helping fast-growing companies stay ahead in meeting regulatory requirements. Our solution lets businesses focus on their main operations while keeping up with regulatory standards and building a good reputation. By using compliance automation, companies can confidently handle complex compliance requirements and keep growing. Interested in learning more about how automation can improve your compliance processes? Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] and discover how TED can change your compliance approach.