Effective policy management has always been critical to the success of corporate compliance programs. The events of 2020/21, however, have been a powerful reminder that policy management is becoming even more critical to the success of compliance programs, and to business performance overall.
Corporations have endured pandemic, recession, social justice protests, and climate disruption—immensely powerful forces that demonstrate the importance of responding to changing circumstances in a disciplined, thoughtful manner. Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department published new guidelines for effective compliance programs, where one primary message was that compliance programs must evolve with a company’s changing risk profile.
All of this underlines the need for effective policy management. Without it, corporations won’t be able to meet regulators’ expectations for compliance programs, or respond to disruptive external events in an efficient manner. To put matters in terms the CEO and the board would appreciate: effective policy management is a strategic advantage for the modern enterprise. It helps the business to achieve its objectives even in today’s highly regulated and highly unpredictable world.
That said, policy management is a complicated process, and one that increasingly depends on wise use of technology to succeed. To build an effective policy management program, compliance officers should focus on the following six points:
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