Vital to increase focus on adaptability and empathy in compliance conversation

REFLECTING on the volume and pace of change one year on since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, perhaps all technology leaders can agree on what a challenge it has been for organisations to adjust and run simultaneously in the past 12 months.

From a sustainable growth perspective, digital initiatives rolled out over the past year not only need to be well thought out but also reflective of new business priorities. Compliance, in particular, has always been a challenge for organisations in the Asia-Pacific pre-pandemic, with almost four in 10 seeing local and global regulatory requirements as a hurdle. Compliance commitments, compounded by the intense pressure to maintain business continuity, underpin the need for an effective yet empathetic approach to enforcing regulatory requirements throughout this period and beyond.

In today's high-stress, high-stakes business landscape, the focus on adaptability and empathy will help steer the compliance conversation in the right direction, thus giving organisations the support they need to transform with confidence.

CULTIVATE AN ADAPTABLE MINDSET

A key challenge for the modern-day organisation is unravelling the complexity of regulations pertaining to their business across the board, followed by ensuring full compliance. This is not a simple task, especially for multinational corporations that have operations in multiple jurisdictions, and so are subject to multiple regulatory regimes.

Covid-19 has played a big role in upping the technology governance challenge, introducing new requirements, and making it more difficult to enforce organisational compliance, especially in a remote or hybrid work setting.

This problem presents an opportunity for organisations to collaborate with technology partners to unpack complex regulatory issues so as to build a sustainable compliance programme anchored by adaptability. As new regulations are often a result of new risks, external demands, operating procedures or tools, organisational and business leaders need to regard compliance as necessary progress - evolving and responding to new market conditions, going beyond the legal aspects.

Adaptability, when cultivated at the leadership level, will play an important role in mitigating internal challenges pertaining to employee compliance. As opposed to an organisation that resists change, a company that is open, honest, and clear in its compliance expectations for the employees will find itself with more internal allies.

With the help of technology experts, chief technology officers and business leaders can optimise internal protocols and tap the right communication channels to cultivate an adaptable mindset, thereby effecting change at the operational level.

MORE EMPATHY IN THE COMPLIANCE CONVERSATION

If compliance is already a tough challenge to tackle during business-as-usual times, the pandemic certainly adds to the complexity of the problem. An empathetic approach might be the answer to this issue.

On an organisational level, there needs to be a cultural shift in how companies engage their employees moving forward, to drive efficiency and compliance, while staying empathetic towards their needs. The difficulties that arise from collaborating with a highly dispersed team, coupled with complex internal systems, could very much cause policies and procedures to fall off employees' radar. To change long-term behaviours and help internal stakeholders follow protocols more diligently, the compliance team needs to be deemed as helpful and approachable, open to questions, suggestions, and assistance. This will foster more effective training and implementation programmes to ensure best practices.

On a macro level, many organisations have been positioning themselves as enablers, or strategic partners, of consumers and businesses through this period of change. This spirit of helping has been most evident last year, manifested in a series of support initiatives. But to stay true to that positioning, organisations need to be more mindful of not only urgent customer needs, but also their pain points and considerations.

Technology, while providing global communities with the tools they need to enable life to go on, has also made it much more difficult to ensure the privacy and security of personal information. One key cause lies in the ubiquity of digital devices that constantly collect and distribute user data. There has been a rise in customer awareness and sensitivity towards data privacy, so organisations need to address this issue with understanding, meaningful conversations, and mindful considerations. A careful look at consumer demands will help brands systematise and improve their compliance guidelines, on top of achieving the goal of offering their customers reassurance and comfort.

The pressure to develop proficient and sustainable compliance programmes for organisations in Asia-Pacific is mounting, calling for a high level of engagement and collaboration with key stakeholders - employees, third-party partners, government agencies - to keep pace with new regulations. In navigating this shifting landscape, it will do organisations well to anchor their brand compliance strategies around core values, customer commitments, and the fundamental willingness to empower and support.

• The writer is president, Asia-Pacific & Japan, at Micro Focus.