There’s an art to risk-spotting that differs across every profession. Seismologists study seismic waves to predict the next earthquake. Technical stock traders watch chart movement for tell-tale signs of a sudden plunge. In the corporate world, talent acquisition teams keep a close tab on attrition rates, quality managers watch out for product return rates, and sales managers monitor customer retention.
When the needle moves on any of these metrics, it is time to take action to avoid or mitigate the impacts of the coming risk. But risk management doesn’t need to have a sense of panic or urgency; with plenty of forward planning, companies can expect the unexpected and create a series of pre-determined plans to roll out as the situation requires.
Below, we explore some of the key indicators for workforce compliance professionals to monitor, measure and mitigate.
Emerging risks to look out for in workforce compliance
First, determine the key risk that needs to be avoided or mitigated for your organisation. From there, make a table of indicators that will alert you that the risk is becoming a reality.
For example, a key risk may be “Business revenue lost to workforce compliance process inefficiencies”. Risk indicators may include:
1. Worker frustration with the process
Confusing, slow and hard-to-use processes are frustrating for employees and contractors and can negatively impact the candidate experience. Needless duplication of effort and paper-based forms can lengthen the time spent on compliance and eat into business revenue. Amid an ongoing talent shortage, it may even lead to workers deciding to take their talents to a business with better processes.
How to measure: Survey all process users regularly and ask them to rate their experience and give feedback on what works well and what could be improved. Don’t forget to use the process yourself to get a first-hand perspective.
How to mitigate: Digitise your process with an end-to-end workforce compliance solution that makes it simple to onboard and monitor your direct workforce, contractors and suppliers. Importantly, choose a digital platform that prioritises the user experience (UX).
2. Process duplication
Being forced to endure multiple unnecessary checks, onboarding sessions and training provides a poor experience from employees and contractors. Imagine a contractor in the mining industry, for example, having to provide their trade certificate or High Risk Work Licence a dozen separate times in the space of six months. Non-portable credentials mean employers have to re-onboard, re-train, and re-check workers time and time again, even though they know the contractors have already done the training.
How to measure: Survey employees and contractors and ask specifically if they are experiencing needless duplication.
How to mitigate: Use portable and reusable verification. With Cited, this means that workers who hold a Cited account with valid verification can simply send that information on to other employers. The information an individual wishes to share is instantly available from the worker’s secure digital passport holding all their credentials.
3. Manual data entry
Manual data entry not only swallows up a significant percentage of your compliance team’s time, but it increases the likelihood of human error, leading to project delays and decisions made on bad data. Manual data entry also leads to disengaged employees who may leave the organisation to seek a more challenging role elsewhere.
How to measure: Survey your compliance team to understand how much time they spend on manual data entry every week. Consider using process mining for a more scientific and exact measurement of how much time is spent on a manual process.
How to mitigate: Speed up workforce compliance by implementing an end-to-end digital solution, making compliance self-service, slashing reporting time and boosting visibility.
4. Too much time spent chasing up workers
In large organisations, various worker certifications across the business are constantly nearing their expiry date, leading to compliance officers having to spend nearly all their time reminding employees to renew and update their documents. Back-and-forth conversations by email are very inefficient compared with shared platforms and modern collaboration tools.
How to measure: Use surveys or process mining to understand how much of your compliance team’s time is spent chasing people up for documents.
How to mitigate: Streamline this process through automated alerts and reminders sent to workers and to risk/compliance managers.