What is compliance culture? A new approach to compliance

Aaron Hoare Date published: Jul 17, 24

As any business owner knows, one of the biggest pressures in today’s highly regulated commercial environment is consistently achieving and maintaining excellence in quality and compliance.

Compliance is a legal requirement and crucial for success and sustainability in a competitive world where reputation is everything. Quality standards such as ISO 9001 have been developed and implemented to ensure that organizations operate safely and meet all necessary regulations. Unlocking compliance is simplified by establishing a quality culture.

A true compliance culture ensures safety, integrity and ethical behavior across all organizational levels. However, a modern notion is that of “compliance fatigue” where compliance is seen as a tick-box exercise that can create frustration. This is one of the biggest barriers to push past when creating a compliance culture. To overcome this, businesses must shift from traditional approaches to a cultural strategy where employees at all levels are invested in and accountable for building a robust compliance culture.

Understanding compliance and compliance culture

Compliance takes different forms, which are essential for businesses to function safely and effectively. Regulatory compliance involves adhering to external governmental laws, while corporate compliance may relate to internal policies and rules. Essentially, compliance relies on individuals aligning their actions with specific standards and requests and understanding the positive impact of doing so.

Being proactive about compliance, rather than just avoiding penalties, offers significant benefits. Creating a compliance culture is, in essence, “proactive compliance.” Organizations that exceed minimum compliance requirements not only avert costs associated with non-compliance, but also gain a competitive edge by fostering trust and reliability.

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The cost of non-compliance and compliance culture neglect

Non-compliance with standards and regulations can be incredibly costly, both directly and indirectly, across different industries. From a legal perspective, non-compliance may result in costly financial penalties, and in addition to this, the damage to trust and reputation may be difficult to recover from.

Life sciences

• Regulatory delays: This may affect the time to market, directly impacting revenue growth and profits.
• Product safety risks: In a pharmaceutical environment where patient safety is paramount, non-compliance could represent a direct threat to life and has severe moral and ethical implications.
• Reputation damage: Loss of trust in your industry and with stakeholders could cause loss to revenue and customer retention.

Financial services

• Financial penalties: Consequences of non-compliance can be severe. There can be hefty and damaging fines and prison sentences can also be imposed.
• Productivity loss: Disruption in business operations can lead to revenue loss that can be difficult to recover from.

Manufacturing

• Market share loss: Reputational damage can affect an organization’s standing within its industry, affecting competitiveness.
• Operational costs: Increased incidents and costly supply chain adjustments can significantly affect an organization’s bottom line.

Moving beyond traditional compliance

Regulatory demands have surged over the past three decades, leading many organizations to adopt a risk-averse monitoring approach. This "tick-box" mentality can undermine long-term value creation and foster a negative compliance culture. Employees may seek loopholes, rush through compliance tasks, or try to avoid detection. This is the opposite of what a strong compliance culture should achieve. 

Building a strong compliance culture

At the core of a strong compliance culture is the total engagement of employees in actions and behaviors, placing quality and compliance at the heart of the business.

To foster genuine compliance, reduce misconduct and enhance your reputation, organizations must take steps to cultivate a culture where compliance is valued and rewarded. No more thinking about top down or bottom up approaches to compliance: a compliance culture is fully embedded at all levels.

Compliance culture definition

A culture of compliance starts with an organization that is true to its mission and core values, where senior managers lead the way by expressing their commitment to compliance policies and encourage open communication and honest feedback.

At its core, compliance culture is a process that is guided and supported by many people to create an environment in which everyone can say and do the right thing. Compliance should therefore be an intrinsic part of all businesses processes, rather than an attempt to circle back and tick it off at the end.

Although it sounds simple enough, creating this compliant culture can be difficult. This is evidenced by the many well-publicized instances of corporate wrongdoing; Boohoo, Nike and Volkswagen are just a few household names that have been entangled in scandal in recent years. Addressing this challenge requires re-adjusting many of the learned behaviors that are deeply entrenched in organizational psychology, such as habit formation, motivated blindness, and compliance fatigue.

A strong compliance culture starts with an organization that upholds its mission and core values. A commitment to compliance should be modelled by a strong leadership team that promotes open communication and honest feedback. Compliance should underpin all strategic and operational decisions, not bolted on as an afterthought.

Overcoming challenges to compliance and compliance culture

Creating a compliance culture within an organization is a complex and ongoing process. Challenges may arise that can make establishing and maintaining a strong compliance framework difficult, especially at the start of the journey.

Some of the most common challenges are:

• Resistance to change: Long-standing employees may resist new measures and established organizational habits can be difficult to break.
• Lack of strong leadership: If senior management is not invested in compliance initiatives, it can demotivate employees at all levels.
• Communication barriers: Poor communication strategies can prevent a clear understanding of compliance policies and procedures.
• Lack of support: To implement an effective compliance culture means ensuring employees are trained and given adequate time and resources.
• Technology and data management: Integrating compliance management systems with existing technology infrastructure can be technically challenging, and managing vast amounts of data requires robust systems and protocols.

Strategies for building a compliance culture

1. Understand behavioral influences: Recognize the social and psychological factors that impact employee motivation and behavior to engage staff and make them accountable for compliance.
2. Promote open dialogue: Encourage employees to speak up and provide feedback without fear of retribution.
3. Lead by example: Ensure that senior management visibly supports and practices compliance.
4. Integrate compliance into daily operations: Make compliance an integral part of every business process, not just a box to be checked during audits.
5. Continuous education: Regular training and awareness programs to reinforce the importance of compliance.
6. Investment in technology: Support the process through software solutions and tools that make integration of management systems with existing infrastructure stress-free.

Achieving a successful compliance culture relies on understanding the mindsets and behavioral norms that determine how an organization identifies and manages risk. Understanding human behavior and its impact on compliance is an integral part of creating this culture. Often, penalties alone are not enough to deter wrongdoing.

To truly change organizational approaches to compliance, we need to consider the social and psychological influences behind behavior, such as behavioral biases, groupthink, and social norms.

Building a strong compliance culture is an ongoing journey that requires commitment and the right tools. At Ideagen, we offer comprehensive solutions designed to help you achieve and maintain compliance, ensuring safety and integrity at every level. Learn more about our solutions for compliance today or request a personalized demo with our team to see how we can support your compliance journey.

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