GRC Insights for the C-Suite
- September 8, 2023
- Quantivate
Business leaders are navigating unprecedented uncertainty, from operational disruptions and shifting economic conditions to rising cybercrime and an active regulatory agenda.
Get insights on meeting these demands with five perspectives on how executives can approach governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) management to support organizational success and risk awareness.
Risk & Compliance Management Best Practices for CXOs
GRC as a Competitive Advantage
Leading a business through times of change requires forward-thinking GRC management strategies. Executives can equip their organization to remain competitive and resilient with effective governance practices and a holistic approach to risk and compliance.
Management initiatives must consider both top-down and bottom-up changes to avoid siloed GRC data and processes. Effective data management and reporting is key in helping managers make better decisions at operational and policy levels and can also have a direct impact on the bottom line.
The benefits of implementing an integrated approach to risk and compliance management are virtually unlimited. Investing in GRC program capabilities and visibility delivers returns in:
⢠Improving information flow through shared data and standardized processes
⢠Avoiding hefty fines for compliance failure
⢠Strengthening cybersecurity
⢠Reducing employee headcount and time allocated to GRC management
⢠Improving data access and accuracy
Considered from this perspective, implementing GRC best practices becomes a competitive advantage, enabling your organization to be more agile and transparent.
Learn more in GRC Best Practices for CEOs.
GRC as a Value Center
As executives grapple with top-of-mind risk and compliance focus areas including cybercrime, climate risk and regulation, and digital transformation, leading institutions recognize that an effective GRC strategy creates value through improved performance and reduced losses, among other benefits.
âWhen properly carried through, the focus on value becomes a powerful lever for business simplification, helping to rationalize processes and controls, reduce unprofitable products and services, and consolidate risk assessments. The path ultimately supports better institutional performance, including fewer losses experienced and reduced capital requirements for potential large, idiosyncratic events. Successful institutions able to focus on positive outcomes are more productive and more responsive to all stakeholdersâcustomers, investors, and regulators.â
Learn more in CROs Weigh in on Risk Priorities.
GRC as an Interconnected Discipline
Risk and compliance functions can’t be effective when they’re siloed within a certain department. Risk management is everyone’s job, and financial officers and controllers can contribute to an integrated GRC strategy by supervising risk areas under their purview, including process risk, compliance risk, third-party risk, and capital risk.
Organizations canât afford to look at risk and financial operations as departmentalized units. Financial management and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) functions must adhere to a unified model that enables the entire company to move cohesively in the face of change and uncertainty.
The modern CFOâs role has now expanded to contribute to risk management strategy. With myriad changes in the compliance and operational management environment, the CFO and financial managers must understand how far the scope of interconnectedness goes. Pull a thread here, and youâll find itâs attached to the rest of the world.
Learn more in Where the CFO Meets GRC.
GRC as a Compliance Enabler
Inadequate compliance management practices â particularly those that rely on manual or spreadsheet-based methods â can result in risk exposure and hefty fines. To keep pace with regulatory change and address compliance risks, executives recognize the importance of using âdata, analytics, and technology to improve the compliance function and capture untapped potential.â However, many organizations still struggle with âabsence of a technology strategy or perspective on how to drive digital change in compliance,â according to a compliance benchmarking survey.
As compliance requirements change, so does your organizationâs risk landscape. Without an integrated governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) program built on a common information architecture, CCOs will struggle to manage the compliance requirements and data spanning the organization and its operations.
A system that coordinates risk assessment and management across departments helps compliance officers and their teams:
⢠Break down data silos
⢠Support informed decision-making
⢠Increase awareness of emerging compliance risks
⢠Improve change management processes
⢠Understand how risks may impact the organization and its objectives
Learn more in âWhy CCOs Need Agility in Compliance Processes.â