For businesses, a key objective should always be compliance, but with that comes the constant need for monitoring because the regulatory environment across industries is always changing.

Just one example of the many ways regulations and compliance requirements can change was highlighted by Reciprocity Labs, when they wrote about the importance of regulatory changes from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is responsible for the creation of something called Special Publications, dealing specifically with computer security.

So how can businesses stay ahead of changes in regulations, and make sure they’re properly implemented in their organization, in a realistic way?

Enroll in Newsletters

Most organizations including regulatory groups and law firms send out regular newsletters, which are one of the best ways to stay ahead of changes and then make sure they’re properly integrated into your business.

Newsletters that are delivered straight to your inbox are a useful and frequently overlooked tool when it comes to compliance in any industry.

With newsletter updates, you don’t have to worry about proactively researching changes because they come to you.

Designate a Point Person Or Team To Keep Up

When it comes to staying up-to-date on regulations, it’s easy for it to become a thing where everyone believes the responsibility falls on someone else.

Employees may not be looking for changes or updates because they believe someone else is.

To avoid passing the responsibility, businesses should work on designating a point person or depending on the size of an organization, a team, whose responsibility it is to stay up-to-date on changes.

For very large enterprises, it may even be necessary to appoint people within each department to keep up with regulations.

Have the Necessary Technology In Place

Advanced compliance and risk management software is extremely important, because while it may not let businesses know of changes in regulations, what it does do is allow them to implement necessary changes quickly and efficiently.

Research shows that automation is one of the best ways to improve the overall execution of policy management.

With automated solutions, businesses can make sure everything is regularly reviewed and controlled, and there’s centralized visibility to ensure that key stakeholders have access to the most updated information as it becomes available.

Find an Effective and Efficient Way to Deliver Training

Employees need to be regularly trained on issues related to compliance, and this training needs to be updated as appropriate.

For this reason, it’s often not feasible to use traditional training methods, such as offsite training or in-person courses. It becomes taxing financially and in terms of time and productivity.

Businesses can combat these inefficiencies by looking for new, more modern ways to train employees on changing regulations.

e-Learning is an excellent way to do this because it’s scalable, streamlined and easy to update and change when necessary.

Finally, it’s also important to make sure that departments are regularly communicating with one another. This is another place where automation is excellent because it allows for more visibility and communication so that there is cross-organizational understanding of regulations.

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