Businesses and often employees can talk about compliance with a groan or an eye roll. Compliance isn’t a glamorous part of doing business, nor is it particularly fun or easy, but it’s necessary. Non-compliance can destroy a business in many ways. Also, as the software solutions provider Reciprocity puts it, “non-compliance just looks bad, period.”
It’s important for businesses to look at compliance as not just a necessary evil, but something that makes good business sense, and is valuable in multiple ways.
The following are some ways compliance can and does bring benefits to a business.
Culture
In a compliant business, there is going to be a more positive company culture that’s likely to form. When employees are trained on issues of compliance, there tends to be more of a focus on ethical behavior, and that’s good from a cultural standpoint.
In a company where there’s non-compliance, it can bleed over into other areas and can diminish and damage culture as a result.
For example, if a company is non-compliant in one area, then employees might start to think it’s okay to fudge their expense reports a bit. That can then lead to a culture based on dishonesty and fraud. Compliance tends to encourage more ethical behavior in a business inherently.
Non-Compliance Is Expensive
Businesses might think about compliance is expensive. For example, it can include extensive training for employees, software solutions, and oversight. However, it tends to be much more expensive for a business to be non-compliant. Non-compliance costs can be direct financial expenses such as fines. There can also be indirect effects of non-compliance, like damage that can be done to a brand if something negative happens as a result of noncompliance.
Consider the issue of IT compliance as it relates to the protection of customer security and data. If a business doesn’t take these issues seriously, and there is a data breach that affects customers, it can destroy the entire business. A data breach can cost money in the short-term to cover damages, and in the long-term, it may erode customer trust in a significant and long-lasting way.
Customer Trust
This business benefit of compliance relates a bit to something mentioned above—the damage to a brand that can occur as a result of noncompliance.
A business that’s compliant is one that’s going to be better able to connect with customers and build a sense of loyalty. There’s going to be more of a sense of transparency and trust as well. These are essential for branding, and a business can’t be successful without these elements.
Customers in today’s modern environment also tend to want to do business with organizations that share their values, and dedication to compliance can reflect this.
Efficiency
Finally, the idea of compliance promoting efficiency in business can seem counterintuitive, but this isn’t the reality.
The truth is, when a company is compliant, they’re also probably following general best practices. By having a standardized way of doing things that follows best practices, companies actually improve efficiency and productivity.
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