The First of the Five C’s of Compliance: Change

Change is a term that has a unique ability to evoke a wide array of emotion because it can be disruptive, yet it can produce positive outcomes. Whether you deem it good or bad, it is something that all companies should be ready to experience. Really, it should be embraced. It is easy to get stuck in a routine and a comfortable place that is familiar, but without cherishing change and encouraging ourselves to evolve, we are building barriers, making improvement come to a halt. With our rapidly changing technological world, it is time for us to seek change rather than have it forced upon us due to a problem.

Change applies to compliance and GRC on multiple levels, including the obvious stress on standards and regulations that constantly change. HSE organizations have continuous pressure to apply government principles around change so that things become predictable. Each year, companies are held to higher levels of standards. This requires the company to take more actions, effectively increasing safety and providing their employees with an environment that allows the business to flourish. These ever-changing regulations are normally seen as a negative because of the baggage they carry, but the reality is that they are always being adjusted to make work and life a safer place. When a regulation is altered, every employee has to be made aware, comprehend the change, and potentially undergo training to follow through with the updated standard and achieve compliance.

How do you ensure that your company is ready? This updating process can only be made simple through the help of Regulatory Compliance Software, PREDICT360 an all-encompassing platform that integrates compliance tools, expert advisory, content, and training. All these systems, including:

• risk management
• audit management
• policies and procedures
• corrective and preventative action
• case management
• competency management
• and incident management need to be connected and absorb change so that the company can easily modify itself.

If we are not always ready to welcome change with open arms, we are doomed to fail. In the world of sports, every athlete or coach has to take the general practices of a sport and put his/her own spin on them. One of my favorite examples of this is Dick Fosbury, who revolutionized the track and field event of high jump by being the first person to go back-first. Who would have thought that throwing yourself back-first would increase the height of your jump? The Fosbury flop was a seemingly scary technique that modernized high jump, and Dick Fosbury was the brave one who found the right change and made himself a winner.

It is time to attack compliance back-first and be ahead of the changes. Let’s PREDICT the future and be ready for whatever may come.