Compliance Management issues are at the forefront of many organizations today, leaving many companies buried under a mound of paperwork and the employees staff at the mercy of many change and process requests that don’t seem to readily connect to them. There are not too many organizations that would be able to match requirements or take advantage of the good management practices that prove many benefits.
Organizations today are inundated with regulatory mandates and guidelines which include: Privacy Mark (complies with JIS Q 15001:2006 [Personal Information Protection Management System - Requirements]), SOX, COBIT to name just a few. Our compliance management support service helps domestic companies or local branch offices join the trend toward the globalization of management and supports the implementation and the following-up of ISO series management systems such as ISO9001 (the international standard of quality management systems) and ISO14001 (the international standard of environmental management systems).
The main challenge is to understand each regulation system, identify the requirements to be implemented, and provide the necessary means to ensure compliance. But in order to maximize the benefits of these compliance upgrades, many companies need help in setting goals and establishment of a culture development program. Cultural change is as important a requirement as is the development of a communications strategy to shepherd the change in company culture. A good communications plan is necessary so that the removal of blame, helplessness or frustration from within the organizational structure is facilitated and problems are seen as opportunities to improve.
Benefits of Certification
At the end of the day, many organizations feel that although compliance required an organizational reorganization and cultural change, the direct and indirect benefits helped the company become a self determined, strategy vendor and alliance partner to their respective industries.
- Increased efficiency, reliability and security: Companies undergoing certification spend some time rationalizing their processes and how to maximize quality and efficiency. Main processes (including automated information systems) are reviewed and controls are put in place that maintain process/system availability and reduce the risk of vulnerabilities being exploited. Once certified, the processes are established and guidelines in place for anyone to follow easily, making training, transitions, and trouble-shooting easier.
- Increased Revenue/Profits: Companies that commit often experience increased productivity and improved financial performance which in turn change their clients’ perception of the overall quality of service received. Privacy Mark clients report that business improves because they can be trusted to secure our customers’ data, as well as our own. Contract compliance clients reported that because of their proactive awareness and process efficiency specified in their contracts, they were put in a position to return service savings to their long-term client which surprisingly resulting in the client awarding them a vendor consolidation project.
- Better human relations: Defined roles and responsibilities, accountability of management, established training systems and a clear picture of how their roles affect quality and the overall success of the company, all contribute to more satisfied and motivated staff.
- Improved management control: Any process that can be measured and monitored, also facilitates information gathering and decisions making based on the data which in turn offers improved management control with less effort.
- Cost-effective and consistent operations: As a matter of operations, all major company processes from .i.e. research and development, to production, to shipping, including account payments and receivables are defined, outlined and documented, minimizing room for error. Even the process of making changes to a process is documented, ensuring that changes are well planned and implemented in the best possible way to maximize efficiency and maintain security.
