Compliance culture

How does your organisation view compliance? Is it a tick and flick exercise, a cumbersome bureaucratic process or is compliance positively embedded in the culture? 

A strong compliance culture helps to shape the behaviour of staff throughout the organisation, not just to avoid compliance risk, but to contribute to the organisation’s sustainable future. The ISO 37301:2021 standard recommends compliance be viewed not just as what an organisation ‘must’ do, but more towards what it ‘should’ do, that is, going beyond minimum requirements.  

While there are several elements to assessing and improving an organisation’s compliance culture, one area attention can be given to is the expectations given from the beginning of a person's journey with the organisation. A thorough and consistent staff induction program should convey your organisation’s approach to what it ‘should’ do, providing a solid and consistent footing for staff from the get-go.

Some tips to improve the effectiveness of your compliance induction: 

• make it easily accessible, clear and consistent 

• use case studies and scenarios to link the obligation to tangible business as usual examples the learner can relate to 

• employ a variety of delivery methods, i.e., online modules, videos and short quizzes, individual and team on the job learning, as well as group workshops or induction sessions (which are a great opportunity for leadership to participate and demonstrate the compliance culture from the top). 
  

I would love to know how your organisation is strengthening its compliance culture. Contact rachel@thegovernanceguide.com.au if your organisation may need some guidance.

Photo by Mark Duffel on Unsplash