By Adam Zoucha, MD EMEA and SVP of FloQast
The work of compliance teams is changing. Today, compliance is about more than following rules and aligning with regulatory requirements. When done right, compliance can become a critical business function that establishes a foundation for safe, sustainable growth, enabling organisations to move forward decisively through a fast-changing market.
A new paradigm of strategic compliance, “risk orchestration” involves protecting the business through risk mitigation with a strategic outlook, enabling compliance teams to play a more central role in their company’s forward trajectory.
However, compliance teams face significant challenges in adopting this strategic way of working. Understanding and overcoming these hurdles will enable teams to improve their job satisfaction and redefine compliance as a key advisory function.
Obstacles to risk orchestration
To understand the opportunities and challenges facing compliance teams, FloQast surveyed 445 compliance professionals, who split broadly into three groups.
The survey reveals that nearly half of the respondent compliance teams (47%) felt weighed down by legal requirements, often seeing compliance as an administrative burden or chore that must be fulfilled. These individuals are also more likely to handle compliance tasks as part of their broader responsibilities rather than as their primary role.
A slightly smaller group (37%) approached compliance as primarily a risk mitigation exercise. Seeing compliance as a reactive process, primarily to protect the company by adhering strictly to rules and taking action only when necessary. This group also considered compliance to be a reactionary, administrative task rather than a strategic one and lacked the proactive processes to mitigate unforeseen challenges, making them potentially more vulnerable.
But it’s not all bad news, the smallest segment, just 16% of respondent’s companies said they had adopted a strategic approach to navigating risk – the next frontier for compliance. Among those who viewed risk strategically, 84% were focused on maintaining their company’s ethical market reputation and 79% on driving improved performance.
This more strategic mindset is facilitated and enhanced by the deployment of effective technology. And with thorough processes in place, proactive alignment with senior management on compliance initiatives is more streamlined and efficient – making for a more integrated, holistic approach that supports broader organisational goals.
Embedding compliance
Compliance teams that take on a strategic risk navigation approach can prepare organisations to make big changes, such as pivoting internally or externally and refocusing on emerging opportunities to succeed in dynamic business environments.
It seems that risk orchestration is not just good for the business as a whole but also job fulfillment. We found that people working in a role focused on legal requirements reported lower job satisfaction – but the opposite was true for those who view compliance strategically.
Although the three groups who shared differing attitudes to compliance did not vary significantly in their sentiments around career potential, work-life balance, and use of technology, our survey found that professionals working in strategic risk navigation roles were more likely to be satisfied with their income, the value they add to the company and the respect they receive from leadership or peers.
Moving towards strategic risk management
Implementing the right tools to support and automate compliance tasks is crucial for advancing strategic risk navigation. Although just 16% of compliance professionals currently take a strategic approach to risk, these roles are typically better equipped with effective resources that help them do the job. We found they scored 10 points higher in “having the right technology” than those in risk navigation roles and 28 points higher than those focused solely on legal requirements.
Organisations that view compliance as merely a legal requirement are less likely to report having the right people, processes, technology, and relationships in place. Furthermore, many organisations struggle with fragmented compliance efforts due to the absence of centralised collaboration tools, which undermines audit readiness and control visibility. These insights highlight that leaders need to focus on all of these four areas when shifting to strategic risk navigation.
Reducing administrative burdens created by complex legal requirements is also of great benefit. Streamlining processes and adopting technology to automate routine tasks can not only help shift the view of compliance from a hindrance to a valuable asset, but it can also free teams to play a more strategic role. It can also greatly enhance collaboration and information sharing, helping teams to shift from reactive to proactive and being better placed to face emerging challenges.
Investing in centralised collaboration platforms helps unify efforts across teams, enhancing both efficiency and control oversight and positioning compliance as a supportive function to wider business goals.
Compliance is at the forefront of change for many businesses. Understanding and approaching risk strategically will help teams become key assets in their company and responsible for much more than mitigating risk and adhering to legal requirements.
