Effective compliance requires
not just an understanding of what needs to be
done but also the system to make sure that it
actually gets done - Process Management. In compliance
there is no value to knowledge for knowledge's
sake. Company procedures and activities must
be designed in accordance with the acquired knowledge,
ensuring that compliance is an actual outcome.
Closely tied with this is the need to ensure
appropriate staff training and evaluation, after
having identified who needs to know and what
they need to know. The ultimate goal is to instill
a culture of compliance throughout the organization.
Organizations must also have in place effective
monitoring (audit) mechanisms to ensure that
the intention is in fact being fulfilled. Where
problems are identified, corrective action plans
must be implemented to bring the organization
back into compliance.
So why do things still go wrong? Even simple
mistakes can be costly. Sometimes the consequences
can be serious or even tragic. What is worse
is that the lessons that arise are often not
built back into the business processes and the
likelihood is that history will, proverbially,
repeat itself.
Why does this happen? The information on how
to carry out the process resides with the company.
But where? Sometimes it isn't even recorded.
It exists in peoples’ heads. Sometimes it is
recorded. But often in static forms in procedure
manuals that are hardly ever updated and rarely
referred to. Some companies have even invested
millions of dollars on knowledge management systems
to collate this data and to make it available
online. But still there remains the problem that
the knowledge exists as a separate layer rather
than being integrated into the day to day activities
of the organization. The key is to bring compliance
knowledge and compliance processes together.
But what does a compliance process look like?
Well, in fact most business activity makes use
of standard frameworks. These frameworks, although
often packaged differently, in almost all instances
make use of what are fundamentally processes
or checklists, which lie at the heart of Optial.
Optial is unique in its ability to bring together
all components of the 'compliance circle'. By
activating knowledge and turning compliance into
a live, interactive process, Optial encourages
every level of the organization to take responsibility
for compliance and risk management. In today's
regulatory environment, effective compliance
and quality assurance systemsare essential. Optial
provides business with a clear understanding
of the issues and the confidence that risks are
being effectively addressed and managed. |
