Governance, Risk and Compliance 2022 & Beyond
Risk is everywhere, especially for modern businesses. Now, understanding that there is risk associated with everything is paramount to risk management. Everything from the core of your business to what your employees do outside of work constantly gets scrutinized. Thus, more often than not, business owners find themselves mitigating risks instead of acting in the best interest of their companies.
Therefore, organizations must implement a Governance, Risk, and Compliance program that improves visibility into existing and emerging risks. This program streamlines the understanding and communication of risks in business terms, delivers actionable risk intelligence for faster decision-making, and guarantees preparedness for whatever may come in today’s highly turbulent business environment.
Nobody knows what the future will bring. On the other hand, companies can and should always prepare for potential risk events.
This article will look at the hotspot risks you should prepare for in your Governance, Risk, and Compliance framework.
Five Risks for Governance, Risk, and Compliance You Need to Prepare for in 2022
With a constantly changing business landscape, governance, risk, and compliance requirements constantly change. In order to successfully adapt to these changes, businesses rely on robust governance, risk, and compliance frameworks and prepare for future events. So, here are five aspects you need to include in your governance risk and compliance framework in 2022 and beyond:
Climate Change
According to a Risk in Focus report, climate change is now a major danger of the future. The study found climate change and environmental sustainability to be the most prevalent risk types, which surveyed 700 Chief Audit Executives (CAEs).
The strong message is that this is a hotspot in the risk management industry, and it’s worth paying attention to this issue.
Thus, companies should take action today to protect themselves from potential upheaval. Consider the following:
- How to prepare for climate-related hazards that could put your company’s future in jeopardy.
- Planning for the future of products and services through investing in projects.
- How to defend your organization’s reputation by reducing emissions and unsustainable activities.
Hybrid Work Environments
The notion that a more flexible work environment can be beneficial was one of the few positive outcomes of the pandemic that gained traction in 2021.
Employees who work remotely have proved that they can be effective and efficient in the last two years. According to numerous studies, employees prefer a blended work environment, while some work entirely from home. The world will begin to witness what this could look like in practice as offices should reopen fully in 2022.
Businesses operationalized the procedures they had hurriedly put in place in 2020 to secure the companies in 2021 as the hybrid work environment became what many thought would be the new normal. The significant growth in phishing assaults, the exploitation of access control flaws, and the staggering increase in ransomware attacks targeting businesses and the supply chain contributed to these efforts.
Businesses get advised to adopt strong risk, compliance, and security best practices for the following areas in 2022.
- Internal IT systems that support remote work.
- Hybrid cloud environments as more applications migrate to the cloud to support more than remote work.
- The digital transformation of processes across organizations.
Social Expectations
The next hot spot is ESG (Environment, Social, and Corporate Governance), which refers to the broader social and governance challenges that are rising and will get scrutinized in the future.
Stakeholders anticipate improvement in diversity, inclusiveness, labor standards, information privacy, and disclosure of human rights. Diversity is rapidly becoming legislation, and how firms achieve these expectations will be a challenge in 2022 and beyond.
Governance Risk Compliance standards must be maintained by legal and compliance specialists, and good governance requires a strong culture. Thus, you should discuss the following:
- Creating a human-centric culture in a hybrid world.
- Balancing employee and employer relationships in a hybrid work environment.
- Ensuring that third-party risk management and due diligence are in place to avoid the negative consequences of human rights violations and modern slavery.
- Investing in supply chain visibility and risk mitigation capabilities to ensure rigorous supply chain oversight.
- Find ways to work across an enterprise and not in silos to evaluate and track what you need to be.
Geopolitics
In 2022, geopolitical competition will be another factor influencing the top hazards that your systems need to counteract. Geopolitical tensions have risen due to shifting power relations and pandemic-driven volatility. This change will impact technology, data, intellectual property, supply chain rules, and risk management.
Businesses may have to examine both low- and high-impact threats. Thus, it would be beneficial for companies to:
- Evaluate the anticipated impact of geopolitical risks and give recommendations to manage, reduce, and respond to them.
- In times of change, focus on corporate resilience and find out how your company can quickly adapt and differentiate itself.
Cyber Crime
According to reports, cybersecurity will remain a top risk in 2022. This hotspot also links to the above-mentioned geopolitical issue because of the growing trend of cybercriminals collaborating with national governments.
Recent cases, such as those damaging the Irish healthcare system, have prompted the government to take action, but the attacks are still ongoing and will continue to do so. Your company may face legal action, reputational damage, and loss of confidence if essential customer or trade information gets disclosed as a result of a cyberattack.
In the year 2022 and beyond, businesses should be aware of the limits that may affect their digital operations, such as security and privacy protocols, along with Governance, Risk, and Compliance.
Conclusion
The risks and challenges encountered by companies will further rise with continued technology breakthroughs, a volatile economic and geopolitical landscape, mounting regulations, altering environmental and social considerations, and more. To thrive, taking risks is always a part of doing business.
An organization’s ultimate goal is to turn risk into a strategic advantage rather than avoid it. It is time for businesses to reflect on the lessons they have learned over the last few years, make some difficult decisions, develop, and truly become future-ready, that is: connected, purpose-driven, resilient, and agile.
Because of this, finding a service provider who will help you grow and thrive in the face of hardship is critical. Consider choosing iTech to help you with your Governance, Risk and Compliance project.
iTech works in every sector imaginable as a service provider for technology enterprises worldwide. There is no need to go to several places for architectural, software, implementation/configuration services, and post-implementation support: For all GRC requirements, iTech has expert resources.
With a suite of business solutions custom-built for you, iTech will usher you to new, bigger opportunities.