Over the last decade, the business landscape has become complex, undergoing a plethora of changes to keep up with evolving consumer needs. From adopting rapidly advancing technology to retaining market value, organizations have learned how to stay at par with the competition. Additionally, there has also been a significant increase in fraud incidences, which has spurred unprecedented regulatory updates during this period of rapid growth. Compliance Management has become more than just a box-ticking exercise, and there is increased emphasis on proactive compliance that can act as a business differentiator. Already burdened compliance teams can struggle to track evolving regulations and implement and monitor new processes to ensure adherence. There is no arguing that compliance reporting needs to become a collaborative effort. In such a scenario, Human Resource functions can play a vital role in setting the tone for compliance efforts and ensuring policies and guidelines are being followed.
With evolving workplace dynamics, HR functions have leaped ahead from merely recruitment and employee management to take on diverse strategic and tactical roles that can safeguard organizations from legal and ethical pitfalls. They work in tandem with legal teams to curate comprehensive policy and its enforcement such that it can address emerging compliance requirements such as anti-discrimination, workplace safety, diversity and inclusion, and data privacy. Since they are the first point of contact for new employees joining the workforce, they can take on the responsibility of fostering a culture of compliance right at the beginning, building teams that prioritize adherence to guidelines.
Through regular training sessions and workshops, HR teams can inform the workplace about new regulations and their impact on business, the purpose they serve for organizations, and processes being implemented to ensure compliance. This process will help inculcate a compliance culture in the organization such that it becomes every employee’s responsibility. Employee compliance training will encourage proactive participation in the compliance process and lay a foundation of ethical decision-making, along with reducing the risk of inadvertent policy violations.
One of the more critical pieces that HR teams play in completing the compliance puzzle is during talent recruitment. Apart from complying with the employment law by keeping the hiring process unbiased, fair, and free of discrimination, HR leaders can help maintain the integrity of the hiring process. With employment fraud on the rise, the onboarding process is highly vulnerable to new age fraud such as exaggerated resume, interviews using deepfakes, submission of fabricated documents, misleading credentials, hidden criminal records. At this point, HR functions can use it for risk mitigation by hiring verified candidates with the right credentials and work history.