Every business knows what it is like to work with external requirements. There are always factors that work from outside the organization to shape the way teams operate that include tax laws, safety standards or legislative constraints.
Standards organizations, like the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), take matters a step further and specialize in providing frameworks for compliance to guarantee customers that the right standards have been met.
In recent years a new set of requirements have arisen that have affected almost everyone in some fashion. With the emergence of the pandemic, health and safety protocols have taken into account a whole new approach to keep employees and customers safe.
Concepts like social distancing, mask or vaccine mandates and sanitization standards have impacted operations, as well as the internal workplace and the way teams function.
The key difference is that these expectations have been a very fluid field. While the general principles have not changed, various mandates and recommendations have come and gone over the last two years and more approaches may come to light.
Create processes that support compliance
Businesses do not need to reinvent the wheel every time parameters shift. By implementing sound processes that recognize the shifting landscape, they can successfully navigate any number of changes.
That is because good business processes are containers for compliance, not straightjackets woven from it. They enable your business to execute effectively within the guidelines given and, when those rules change, move with them to continue to operate efficiently and effectively.
There are three key steps to ensuring your processes support this kind of compliance.
Identify the requirements
Not every new rule, legislation or mandate is going to apply to every business. Just because your office has a kitchen does not mean that you need to meet the government health standards a restaurant does.
There are some that will apply to everyone, however, and those are the requirements you need to make yourself familiar with. Consider what is actually required from your organization, and in what areas.
Once the expectations are clear, match those with your operational processes. Identify where the requirements will impact them and what elements of your business will be affected.
It is very possible that, with the development of additional health and safety protocols around the pandemic, there will be aspects of your business that do not have processes in place but will now need them. Pull together key stakeholders in these areas to draft new processes that can be implemented to ensure you meet your obligations.
Distinguish the compliance and completion
Good business processes capture the breadth of business knowledge, from the overarching path of operations to the minutiae of practical actions and steps. That information should exist in a layered structure so users can access the level of detail they need to complete their work. The problem with some compliance approaches is that the requirements are elevated to activities when that is not always necessary.
Compliance actions and steps should be integrated into the processes at the detail level where possible. That is not always an option, as some regulations require new activities, but even these should be identified as steps that conform to the externally applied constraints.
Where the new protocols impact existing steps, include the relevant information in notes and as tasks in the activities that are affected. Link or embed the relevant documentation and requirements for easy reference so it is easy to find these points.
If the terms of compliance change, it should be easy to search out those documents or key terms that you have tagged the steps with and make the changes. By retaining the overall process shape, you also do not have to reinvent the wheel when the rules change and can simply swap out the important details. Your processes will remain recognizable and effective and you can ensure you still meet the expectations.
Practice continuous compliance
Continuous improvement is a core tenet of good process management and it is especially effective for managing a shifting compliance landscape. When new rules or regulations come to light there is an opportunity to examine your processes for effectiveness as well as compliance.
Practice making audits of your processes when applying new constraints or guidelines. Consider whether the existing rules are still in effect, if there are redundant steps or outdated protocols still being applied and how can you integrate the compliance requirements with the minimum impact yet maximize the effectiveness of the change.
Using new rules as a touchpoint for process improvement ensures you are not only meeting your obligations, but ensuring you are constantly doing the best you can across all your operations.
Finally, make sure those changes are known. A good process management platform will highlight recent changes and notify responsibility assignment matrix (RACI) stakeholders of updates to their relevant processes.
Make sure it is easy for your teams to access your processes and see where the new procedures or practices are implemented. Ensure the people who are affected can see that and know what to do with the information.
We have all seen how quickly the world can change and felt the ripple effect of shifts in public policy, legislation and expectation. Compliance will ensure your business keeps functioning and empower your teams so they know how to execute at every step.
What are your thoughts on the need for continuous compliance in response to shifting regulations? Let us know in the comments below.