Compliance is a complex concern for many business owners. No matter which industry you operate in, there will be regulations and laws you need to follow. Failure to adhere to these guidelines doesn’t just put you at risk of legal action and fines, it can also destroy your brand’s reputation. Unfortunately, preserving compliance isn’t always as simple as it seems. Companies need to implement comprehensive measures to ensure they’re living up to expectations. To make matters worse, as technology and the world around us evolves, regulations are growing more confusing. Fortunately, there are ways you can improve your chances of success and protect your company from unnecessary risks. Here’s how you can enhance your compliance strategy in a few simple steps.
Know Which Frameworks Apply to You
Compliance is a broad term, which covers a wide range of laws and regulations, as well as organizational governance and security requirements. Different types of guidelines are designed by industry and federal groups for different kinds of businesses. If your company deals with transactions, you’ll need to be compliant with PCI regulations. Companies in the healthcare industry need to understand HIPAA restrictions, and businesses managing consumer data in Europe need to be familiar with GDPR. A comprehensive risk analysis can help you to understand where threats exist in your business, and what kind of regulatory guidelines you’ll need to follow. You can also speak to compliance experts in your industry for additional guidance.
Perform Regular Audits
Maintaining high levels of compliance requires a comprehensive approach to collecting data and insights throughout your business. Regularly monitoring your accounts, documents, and data can help to ensure your business remains fully compliant. It can also ensure you can take quick action to rectify any problems that might emerge over time. Regular audits will also ensure you have plenty of data to give the authorities if they decide to check on your business. Some companies are even required to conduct reviews on an annual basis, which includes a complete audit of all their internal systems. Staying up to date with your information could save you time and effort in the long term and reduce your risk of having to deal with expensive fines.
Implement Data Protection Strategies
While there’s more to comprehensive compliance than simply protecting business data, most frameworks will require companies to have a strategy in place for preserving the information they collect. As digital transformation continues to take place on a massive scale, it’s crucial to ensure you’re implementing strategies that keep your business and consumers secure. At the very least, you’ll need to ensure your information, documents, and digital files are safely encrypted on an end-to-end basis. You may also need to think about your access controls for specific documents and tools. Implementing specific permissions for different users in your workforce can reduce your threat landscape by making sensitive information less accessible.
Some businesses even invest in comprehensive security strategies, such as using multi-factor authentication for all online software and logins.
Use the Right Technology
Technology can make a huge difference to your compliance strategy. There are many kinds of software and tools that can assist with different regulations. You can leverage tools to help you monitor data compliance in the contact center, ensuring personal information is automatically redacted from call recordings. If you’re a government company running a fleet in California, you’ll need to be familiar with the state’s smog check rules, and you’ll need to leverage the right tools to ensure you can conduct tests quickly and efficiently. There are telematics systems available that can reduce the time and effort it takes to conduct smog checks, helping to boost both compliance and efficiency at the same time. Some tools can even help you to monitor your compliance with security, safety, and environmental regulations in real-time, with customizable alerts and notifications.
Mastering Compliance in the Modern World
Compliance is a complex topic, and it’s something many businesses struggle to manage effectively. Unfortunately, compliance isn’t something companies can think about once and then ignore. Just as you need to stay on top of your finances you need to stay on top of compliance related tasks as well. As regulations and guidelines continue to evolve, and your business processes change, you’ll need to ensure you’re updating your strategies regularly. The steps above can help you to implement a plan for compliance that protects your business from fines, reputational damage, and even legal action.
