From the editor
Building compliance
without jeopardising
your business
I often get asked what “compliance” really is; whether there is a definition. Most
of the time when people define compliance they talk about managing risks or
managing a potential failure to meet obligations. This is missing the point, totally.
Mindsets like these are the reason that compliance professionals are still not being
taken seriously in the business world – I bet that there were no compliance people
invited to speak at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos last month.
In my view, compliance is not about managing risks, but about taking more risks.
It is about taking more risks by developing into emerging markets, pushing more
sales to government and working through more agents, resellers, distributors and
intermediaries. It is about pushing the business to higher limits. A compliance team’s
role is to support the business to take more risks and help the business achieve its
objectives.
To use an analogy, a compliance team is like a Formula 1 team. They need to give
the driver education and training, build safety controls into the car, and ensure
the emergency services are nearby, the car is well maintained and the tyres and
engine are at maximum capacity. The aim of the team is not to slow down the car
to a safe speed; it is to make it go faster. Of course, every team member strives to
ensure safety through driver training, car management and technology, thorough
monitoring and watching for small changes in the environment to correct the
smallest of issues. There is a culture of risk management in every pit crew and in
every Formula 1 team; however, their overwhelming role is to make the car faster
and more competitive and make the driver just as comfortable driving at 200 miles
an hour as they would be at 60 miles an hour.
Compliance is about taking more risks. It is about building better, simpler processes,
not more complex ones; about making it easier and faster to do business, not harder
and slower. Hopefully with a correction in mindset we can add more value and enjoy
the Davos meetings in years to come.
Scott Lane
Editor in Chief, Compliance Insider®
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