Best Practices for Adhering to IAF Regulations
With regulations constantly changing worldwide, understanding Ireland’s Central Bank’s IAF (Individual Accountability Framework) instituted in March 2023 is crucial for business. StarCompliance (Star) provides the necessary tools for global employee compliance. Our intuitive SaaS-based software helps manage IAF processes by:
- Ensuring regulatory compliance
- Meeting the needs of small to enterprise-sized companies
- Scaling with business growth
- Providing effective business oversight
- Reducing or eliminating manual processes
- Requiring minimal maintenance by a small team
How does Star define and measure the effectiveness of these best practices?
StarCompliance leverages extensive experience in the employee compliance space, establishing itself as a leading RegTech partner for Individual Accountability regimes. Since launching the first SMCR solution in 2016, we have developed solutions for IAC in Singapore, IAF in Ireland, and FAR in Australia. Our team of experts, with decades of global experience, collaborates with clients to manage accountability processes and implement solutions worldwide. We stay current with regulatory changes to ensure compliance and continuously refine our processes based on feedback and updates.
Insights for Setting Up Processes
What specific recommendations does Star offer for setting up IAF processes to support an implementation of IAF?
It is essential to minimise the burden on employees at both the PCF and CF levels by ensuring the system is intuitive and easy to use, given that they may not interact with it frequently. Additionally, the process should be scalable to accommodate both small and large business sizes. Reducing manual touchpoints is crucial, as is engaging PCF holders to use the system effectively, minimising off-system processes.
When dealing with multiple legal entities, it is advisable to implement a single process across all entities to avoid additional administrative burdens. Leveraging the solution’s capabilities to their fullest extent can bring significant efficiencies, even if it requires changing existing processes. It’s important to avoid clinging to outdated methods simply because “it’s the way we’ve always done it.”
Are there any common mistakes organisations make when trying to systemise processes? How can these be avoided?
Organisations often make several common mistakes when systemising processes, but these can be avoided with careful planning. One frequent error is that their processes are too complex with excessive steps or levels of sign-off. Simplicity is key – it’s important to critically evaluate whether multiple levels of sign-off are truly necessary. Another mistake is not providing the correct inputs or data into the system from the start, leading to complex data problems later. Addressing data quality upfront can simplify the process downstream. Additionally, implementing different processes for various areas or entities can create training and maintenance challenges; a single, unified process is much easier to manage. Lastly, organisations often remain too attached to their current methods. It’s vital to rethink and streamline processes, eliminating unnecessary touchpoints and leveraging the solution’s capabilities to maximise automation and reduce manual efforts.
What does best practice look like for managing Fitness & Probity at large scale?
Best practices for managing Fitness & Propriety at a large scale involve a structured and efficient process. This process typically includes an employee declaration, followed by a line manager review and sign-off, with any escalations directed to compliance, culminating in certification. Implementing an annual certification period ensures consistency and thoroughness. Additionally, central teams should oversee the entire process to maintain compliance and standardisation across the organisation.
Compliance & Regulatory Considerations
How does Star ensure that its platform meets evolving regulatory requirements?
To ensure that its platform meets evolving regulatory requirements, Star enacts several key strategies. The company conducts daily horizon scanning for regulatory changes and utilises external experts to provide updates. Our partnerships with consultancies and legal firms further enhance our understanding and responsiveness to regulatory shifts. We maintain constant communication with clients to verify interpretations and understand the impact of regulatory changes. Additionally, we gather feedback from regulatory bodies and attend conferences and industry events to stay informed. Any platform changes driven by regulatory requirements are prioritised to ensure compliance and effectiveness.
IAF Scope and Requirements Checklist
Technology & Innovation
What technological advancements has Star integrated into their IAF platform to enhance functionality?
Recently, Star introduced digital sign-off for Statements of Responsibilities, streamlining the process for PCF holders. The Star platform features process-driven dashboards that provide real-time insights into an organisation’s progress within their annual F&P cycle. In addition, it offers the ability to generate organisation charts and includes IAF-specific templates for Statements of Responsibilities. The platform comes pre-loaded with PCFs, Inherent, and Prescribed Responsibilities tailored to different entity types subject to IAF, along with IAF-specific reporting capabilities. We also provide Secure Data Access, allowing clients to access IAF-related data and integrate it with their own data warehouses to create custom dashboards and reports.
User Experience & Training
What steps does Star recommend to ensure a smooth user experience on their IAF platform?
Star emphasises a collaborative implementation process for its IAF platform, advocating for the use of a “train the trainer” strategy. This method facilitates effective knowledge transfer within the organisation, ensuring that processes are intuitive and can be deployed with minimal need for extensive user training. Additionally, having a subject matter expert (SME) with deep system knowledge is key to encouraging user engagement and adoption.
How important is user training in the successful implementation of IAF best practices?
User training is crucial in the successful implementation of employee compliance practices, to ensure that all employees understand the regulations and their responsibilities, reducing the risk of violations. Investing in comprehensive training not only mitigates compliance risks but also fosters a culture of accountability and ethical behaviour within the organisation.
What training resources does Star provide?
Star offers comprehensive training resources to support the effective use of our platform. We prioritise training a select group of SMEs within your organisation, who can then guide others in managing standard processes on the IAF platform. Additionally, Star’s client service support team provides further training options, including both one-on-one and group sessions, tailored to meet different needs.
Customisation & Scalability
Can the platform scale as an organisation grows? What features support scalability?
The Star platform is designed to scale as an organisation grows. Keeping processes simple and consistent is crucial for effective scaling. Features such as workflow management, configurable forms, automated notifications, and comprehensive process oversight all support the platform’s ability to grow alongside the organisation.
How configurable is the Star platform to meet the unique needs of different organisations?
The Star platform is highly configurable to meet the unique needs of different organisations. While we recommend following our standard best practices, the solution is flexible enough to accommodate other processes, ensuring it can be tailored to fit specific requirements.
Future Trends & Developments
What future trends in IAF does Star foresee, and how is the company preparing to address them?
Star anticipates that future trends in IAF will include the expansion of Conduct rules to cover all employees within an organisation, as we have observed with SMCR in the UK. Additionally, changes to the Fitness and Probity regime may come as a result of a recent review conducted by the CBI. Star is preparing to address these trends by continuously updating its platform and ensuring it remains adaptable to regulatory changes and industry developments.
Integration with Existing Systems
How does Star ensure seamless integration of their IAF platform with an organisation’s existing systems?
Star ensures seamless integration of their IAF platform with an organisation’s existing systems by providing comprehensive and well-defined interfaces, supported by years of experience integrating with popular HR and GRC systems. Integration is a key part of the implementation process, meticulously scoped and defined in the early stages of the project to ensure a smooth and efficient transition.
What challenges might organisations face during integration, and how can they be mitigated?
Organisations might face challenges related to the quality or lack of data in upstream systems, which can be mitigated by conducting a thorough data cleansing exercise. Star can map data effectively to address gaps. Additionally, dealing with multiple sources of data, such as different HR systems holding employee information, can be challenging. However, Star’s platform can accommodate multiple data sources, and we have extensive experience in overcoming these challenges.
Customer Support & Feedback
What kind of customer support does Star offer to ensure ongoing success with their platform?
Star offers robust customer support to ensure ongoing success with their platform. After the initial implementation, our Professional Services (PS) team provides a period of hypercare to ensure a smooth transition. Following this, our Client Service Support team offers comprehensive ongoing support. We utilise a ticketing system to log all issues and maintain an audit trail, with well-defined SLAs in place depending on the severity of the ticket.
How does Star gather and incorporate user feedback to continuously improve their platform?
Star gathers and incorporates user feedback through several methods to continuously improve our platform. We conduct quarterly business reviews with clients and use NPS surveys to gauge satisfaction. Our well-defined Product Suggestion process allows clients to submit suggestions, which are reviewed by the Product Team and, if deemed valuable, added to the backlog, and potentially scheduled on the product roadmap. Additionally, we attend industry events and conferences and host our own conferences and webinars, such as our annual Synergy conferences. We stay updated on regulatory changes, perform market analysis, and consider internal suggestions from Star employees to ensure our platform evolves to meet user needs and industry standards.
