Which Zone Are You Operating In?
Regulatory designs of which there are four primary types spanning micro-means to macro ends, demand different operational capabilities for compliance. In fact, at least half an organization's obligations are non-legal requirements having more to do with outcomes and performance rather than rules or controls.
Meeting all these obligations requires measures of conformance, measures of performance, measures of effectiveness, and measures of assurance.
To establish these capabilities organizations must transform how they address compliance. They need to take on operational principles and practices that help ensure that essential functions, behaviours, and interactions are working at levels sufficient to create the outcome of compliance.
However, many organizations are caught in a prescriptive, reactive, and reductive trap where audits, complaints, and incidents are the only drivers for change.
They are operating at the edge of uncertainty; one violation, one injury, one defect, or one mishap away from mission failure. They are in operating in the:
REACTIVE COMPLIANCE ZONE.
It’s here that compliance functions as a guardrail;
the last line of defence at the end of the line.
Instead of operating at the edge of uncertainty, ethical and forward-thinking organizations operate in the:
PROACTIVE COMPLIANCE ZONE.
It’s there where compliance functions as an offensive force ensuring that organizations are always between the lines and ahead of risk.
Instead of a guard rail, compliance is a dynamic enabler of compliance outcomes, proactivity, and holistic improvements triggered by the presence of uncertainty not only incidents that happened in the past.
Operating in the PROACTIVE COMPLIANCE ZONE creates a strong compliance culture ensuring not only compliance success but also mission success.
