The work of a good compliance officer is never done. The challenges come thick and fast, and staying ahead of the game can be demanding.
To be a great compliance officer you need to be able to maintain your composure and focus even in the midst of stressful situations. Self-care and awareness play a huge role in being effective and successful.
In this blog we explore the challenges of being a great compliance officer, signs that you may be heading for burnout and ways to mitigate these risks so you can excel and enjoy your role.
The Challenges of Compliance
In the Thomson Reuters report – Cost of Compliance 2021: Shaping the Future by Susannah Hammond and Mike Cowan the three biggest compliance challenges were stated as:
- Keeping up with regulatory change
- Increasing regulatory demands and expectations
- Lack of skilled resources.
50% of survey respondents for the report expected personal liability to increase and 78% expect regulatory information to increase.
Alongside this, it is our job as compliance officers to:
- Develop and implement policies, procedures and training to meet regulatory requirements
- Monitor compliance in an ever-changing remote working environment
- Manage investigations into potential misconduct.
With 50% of respondents also expecting personal liability to increase, it’s a lot. And the weight of this responsibility can take its toll.
How To Be A Great Compliance Officer
There are behaviours you can put in place to ensure you can carry out your compliance role with ease and flow.
- Aim to have great relationships with colleagues. Motivating people to understand the importance of compliance awareness is going to be your secret weapon
- Develop strong communication skills
- Become a great listener – have regular touch points with everyone in the company
- Look for the pragmatic approach – be aligned with business growth as well as your responsibility as a protector
- Be open minded about new ways to do things – change is inevitable
- Stay up to date with the latest compliance regulations
- Conduct regular internal audits
- Take initiative to go above and beyond, be proactive and solution driven.
Implementing this may not be possible with your current resources, but great outsourcing solutions exist.
Are you ok?
While you are busy looking after the compliance needs of your company, you also need to look after your own health. Burnout is a real hazard in our industry, and we need to take care of ourselves.
It’s important to be self-aware and to look out for some of the following symptoms:
- Feeling more and more stressed every day
- Feeling like you’re not making a difference and that no one cares about what you do
- Lack of sleep or focus because your mind is always racing with thoughts of work
- Starting to resent your job
- Not taking time for yourself outside of work
- Deteriorating relationships with colleagues and family members.
These are all signs of burnout and if you are experiencing any of them it is time to recognise it, take notice and make a change.
In our line of work its crucial not just for your health but also your career, and your company.
Overcoming Burnout
Here are some things you can do if you suspect you are on the road to burnout:
- Take a break and some time to unwind. Get out of the office to recharge, whether it is for lunch or an afternoon walk around the block
- Take a step back and think about your priorities
- Make time to figure out exactly what is contributing to your burnout
- Make sure you’re getting enough sleep so your body and mind are rested. If you’re struggling to sleep it is past time to ask for help
- Don’t be afraid of asking for help, it’s okay to not know everything! It’s acceptable to not have enough time to do all you need to do, but you need others to understand.
- Remember, it’s ok to not be ok – seek professional medical help if you need to.
At Impact we work with compliance officers to help make their lives easier, ensuring they sleep at night.
As a trusted partner to Isle of Man Financial Services and E-gaming companies we:
- Support short and long term compliance projects
- Provide training at all levels
- Undertake health checks and develop actionable roadmaps for improvement
- Develop robust risk frameworks and compliance procedure documentation
- Embed risk frameworks and stress test controls
- Offer independent monitoring and oversight services.
It can be a lonely road as a compliance officer but it doesn’t need to be. We know your time is precious, so we only offer value when you book your free compliance consultation with us today.
