Compliance management in human resources: Five key strategies

Nationality is playing less and less of a role in the search for capable employees. Workforces are becoming increasingly international and work across different locations and national borders. This poses a number of challenges for HR managers at internationally operating companies. Compliance regulations in HR and workforce management often differ significantly from place to place and can also change at different times. Compliance with these regulations depends on an organization's ability to respond quickly to changes in existing laws and regulations - or even anticipate them - and then implement appropriate actions and adjustments. Five strategic starting points can help get a handle on compliance management in HR. 

Basis for Compliance Management in Human Resources: Effective Data Management System

The foundation for compliance at the international level is the collection of accurate data. To effectively organize HR data and identify gaps in your records, it is recommended to classify data into the following categories:

• Personnel master data: General employee information on age, base salary, place of residence, education and performance.
• Information on salary components: Records of bonuses, benefits and allowances
• Documents: Signed documents such as contractual agreements and other legally binding documents
• Personnel management data: Information on schedules, attendance and absences

The Data storage is another core issue for data integrity. For international operations, manually storing sensitive employee data in multiple locations is too insecure. This is a problem that many organizations face. Not to mention that this type of storage system often makes it nearly impossible to retrieve employee information in a timely manner. Modern cloud technology - for example, as part of an LMS or workforce management system - can increase data security and enable more efficient processes. If the system provides an audit trail of data changes, interventions in the data can be traced in an audit-proof manner. Ideally, such a system should offer configurable functions that can be adapted to a company's processes. In this way, a secure, cross-site data management system can be established that can be accessed by all responsible parties.

Implement a stable workflow process

Establishing an efficient workflow helps consolidate national and international compliance obligations and streamline work at each site. The resulting benefits include:

• Improved coordination and communication between subsidiaries and local support in each country
• Clearly defined roles and responsibilities that help all team members know who is responsible for what tasks
• Ensure work is consistent between global teams and stays on track
• Reduce operational inefficiencies, inconsistencies, and quality issues.

When teams around the world have clear visibility into the compliance status of the organization, they can better manage data and ensure its integrity.

Develop understanding of the laws and regulations of each country

Companies expect foreign organizations to comply with their laws and regulations. Each market has different challenges in doing so. An essential first step in navigating these waters is to understand local regulations.

To do this, first create a list of the domestic laws your organization complies with, and then identify the corresponding laws in your foreign markets. Flag requirements that exist only in those markets. When in doubt, working with a local expert is a good way to ensure you have captured all laws and regulations that relate to operations in that country.

To ensure compliance with all mandates worldwide, you need to understand the area in which your company operates. This means paying attention to local laws and cultures to ensure a deep understanding of what requirements exist and implementing strategies to engage your employees in the process. It also includes keeping an eye on current events and evaluating them in terms of your company's involvement.

Customize compliance training locally to appeal to employees

Managing employees at a global level requires expertise at a local level. When it comes to implementing compliance training, this is the surest way to gain employee buy-in or genuine participation. Organizations should therefore build programs that match local culture, local labor markets, and the needs of local business units.

Modern systems such as learning management systems (LMS) or a new generation of learning management experience platforms (LMXP) help to respond efficiently to training challenges. By systematizing and automating various aspects of training, global standards can be established and a central platform for program implementation is created.

Learning paths for better training adoption and more efficient evaluation

Developing a technical solution is only one piece of the HR and compliance training puzzle. If the process is completely automated, employees often feel they are not being addressed personally and are less motivated. Individualization empowers and makes them feel that their needs are being addressed in their own environment. For this reason, in order to develop global training programs that are well received and meet with genuine engagement, it is important to become familiar with local markets, cultures and employee needs. With an appropriate LMS solution, specialized learning paths can be established to provide employees with optimally tailored training and content based on their job roles and locations.

Also, when it comes to tracking training completion, such learning paths provide a great way to evaluate training success, as both participants and trainers get a clear snapshot of performance. Instead of having to manually combine and analyze data from multiple reports, the tools built into the learning path automatically aggregate data from all training into a single report. This makes the evaluation of employee training much more efficient.

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