Companies cannot operate in a vacuum, and there is a well-defined legal framework that monitors every move made by them.
As a corporate compliance officer, you need to ensure that the organization’s policies and procedures are formally laid down so that any legal or regulatory violation can be detected and prevented.
When you formulate a corporate compliance plan, there are consequences involved, and it is no longer just a code of ethics.
As a legal professional, automating the corporate compliance process not only saves you time but also improves decision making since you don’t need to focus on the routine aspects of compliance.
The non-disclosure agreement, which is part of the corporate compliance contract, is already automated.
6 Benefits Of Technology For Legal Professionals
Technology improves your efficiency as a legal professional since your administrative work comes down. All the research data you need is available online, and you can access it 24/7.
You can benefit from technology when it comes to corporate compliance in the following areas:
1. Managing Risks On An Ongoing Basis
With automated risk management, the risks faced by the organization can be managed on an ongoing basis. The risks would include regulatory risks, geographical risks, third party risks, and more.
Risk profiling can be a time-consuming process. With technology, the factors affecting the overall risk profile of the organization can be assessed faster.
The measures needed to prioritize and minimize these risks can then be taken.
The compliance program becomes a dynamic real-time resource where risks will be detected as they arise.
There will be a shift from annual risk assessment to risk mitigation that will yield higher benefits for you and the organization.
2. Tracking Employee Engagement
With corporate compliance software, you can use your compliance plan to check employee adherence to the organization’s policies.
The software collects signatures automatically from each employee so that you can monitor employees who are reading the policy. These signatures are then stored in a central repository for policy records.
When you have an e-repository of data through signatures, accountability among the employees goes up.
Employees whose signatures have not been collected can then be detected. When there are allegations of misconduct, you can track the employees easily.
You can easily track exception requests with automation. An exception request arises when a policy or standard cannot be met by the automation compliance program.
3. Calculating Risk Score For Due Diligence
Risks can be assessed and evaluated using due diligence. Areas where due diligence is applied include anti-corruption regulations, procurement law, regulations for international data protection, and bribery.
The initial assessment and database search results are required for the calculation of the risk score. The third-party risk score will define the scope of the due diligence to be conducted.
An external questionnaire will be required if the initial assessment indicates that the third party is high risk.
When the compliance program is automated, you won’t need to search for the right external questionnaire for the third party.
The automated compliance tool will make the process simpler by ensuring that the right external questionnaire and the proper due diligence flow are followed once the questionnaire has been completed.
4. Training
Sorting employee groups to ensure that training is mapped to the right employees is an important part of a compliance plan.
When training is properly implemented, all employees will be covered, and there are fewer chances of non-compliance.
There are various types of training in a compliance plan like information security training, diversity training, healthcare training, workplace safety training, workplace harassment training, and more.
Managing the training of the entire workforce is quite challenging, especially for large organizations.
With automation, the training is conducted on an integrated platform, and the group training results can be seen immediately. Employees who have not completed their training can immediately be sent notifications.
This reduces the time taken to train the employees, and they can retake the exams if required.
5. Classification Of Allegations
Automation helps to classify risks into high, medium, or low categories. This will help you determine the urgency of action required for each risk and create a risk prioritization schedule.
There should be a whistleblower hotline in your company where employees and third parties can report any malpractices or unethical behavior.
This hotline fosters trust among employees, and you can take appropriate action against any possible misconduct in the initial stage. It also discourages anyone from committing any act of fraud or harassment.
With automation, you can have a digital whistleblowing hotline. This web-based service keeps the identity of the whistleblower anonymous. Whistleblowers can attach text and image files as evidence.
This will help you comply with GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation, as all the data is stored in a single place, and there is complete security.
Some whistleblowing software has an in-built compliance system making compliance easier. Redressal of complaints or the case management process is explained clearly with a whistleblowing hotline system.
The case management process includes the follow-up of complaints, escalation, and investigation.
6. Reporting And Monitoring
To ensure the success of a compliance plan, prompt reporting of malpractices is essential. Siloed solutions made it impossible to gather and analyze data on time.
Automation ensures that not only do you get the data you need on time, but also in a consolidated manner. You can forward these reports to the different levels of the organization for review and necessary action.
When you have all the data in one place, you can monitor broader compliance issues to detect and correct any gaps. Making the required changes to organization policies becomes easier.
Technology For Seamless Compliance
When you use corporate compliance software, a major part of the compliance plan is automated. You don’t need to spend time on the collection of data for analysis and action.
You can keep yourself updated about employees’ training status on organization policies and track those who have not completed the mandatory programs immediately.
Whistleblowing, a component of compliance, can be effectively carried out and malpractices reduced with automation.
Let technology help you look at the bigger picture!