Businesses at the implementation phase of GRC technology should consider multiple factors when choosing the right solution for the organization. This includes cost, functionality, efficiency, ROI, and several other similar factors. One very important factor that often gets overlooked is convenience – how easy is the solution to use?

Convenience is often overlooked because most GRC users are risk and compliance experts with a command over software applications and data management. It is assumed that if the solution is a bit difficult to learn for some employees, but it will not be a problem for the others who are self-learner or get training from experts. However, these organizations often run into problems after the solution has been implemented – they observe that employees try to avoid using the new solution or try to minimize its use. Many employees continue using older, less efficient methods over the new technology.

Many end up blaming the employees – maybe they are luddites, or maybe they just do not understand the importance of the new solution. The real answer to why this happens is an industry concept known as adoption friction.

Adoption Friction and GRC

Adoption friction refers to the resistance found in employees towards a new technology being implemented in the organization. Organizations find out that even after the implementation some employees tend to avoid using the new technology. They may continue to work in the less efficient manner they are used to, or they may try to minimize their interaction with new technology.

This isn’t unique to GRC or even just technology implementations – adoption friction has been observed when implementing new policies or trying to change the organizational culture. Any organization that wants to ensure that it can avail all the benefits of the new GRC technology implementation, needs to ensure that they minimize adoption friction.

Combating adoption friction

If we want to minimize adoption friction it is necessary to ensure that proper steps are taken to ease everyone into the new business processes. These steps are:

  • Choosing an easy to use solution
  • Creating key stakeholders throughout the organization
  • Focusing on the big picture

Choosing an easy to use solution

It is important to look at the benefits and promises of the chosen GRC solution for your organization, and it is equally important to remember these promises will only be useful if the employees practically use that solution at the full potential. That is why it is imperative that the chosen solution has a user interface that enables employees to intuitively understand the logic and accomplish their tasks. Some GRC solutions require a lot of trainings to use, it makes difficult to adopt GRC solution.

There are many solutions which are easy to use, such that Predict360 is one of those solutions. While designing Predict360 we ensured that it could be used with minimal training. This was done by grouping together tools and features to make them easy to locate, and by introducing visual elements (such as charts, graphs, progress bars, and dashboards) that allow employees to quickly understand processes and figures at a glance.

Creating key stakeholders throughout the organization

Implementing new technology from the top-down can result in a lot of resistance. People may feel that upper management is imposing something on them and doesn’t understand the ground realities. That is why it is important to choose stakeholders of all levels and include them in the implementation process. Demonstrate the solution to all team leads and give them extra training so they can help other people in their departments.

Focusing on the big picture

A notion often seen in offices after a major implementation is ‘’Why did they even change anything? Things were absolutely fine”. This is very alarming because if the employees deem the benefits of the new technology to be superficial, they will avoid arguing it as much as they can. This problem is further compounded by the fact that some of the employees will not directly see any benefits of the new technology in their job role.

For example, standardizing data entry means that all employees will now have to use the same formatting and process when collecting data. They may not benefit from it directly, but standardized data is a great benefit to the organization, as it can be compared and cross-referenced. It is always important to explain the benefits of the new technology because it ensures that the employees grasp its importance to achieving organizational goals.

%%POST-CONTENT-DEMO-BANNER%%

Convenience is important

The best thing a business can do when implementing a new technology is that they must ensure, it is convenient to use for all users. If you want your employees take the full benefits of the GRC technology in your organization, make sure you choose a solution which makes their work easier. Compliance should become so convenient to use and it becomes embed in the DNA of the organization. Using a solution with an intuitive user interface ensures that a culture of compliance can be fostered within the organization.

Want to see why Predict360 has such high implementation success rates? Get in touch with us for a trial and a demo to observe it firsthand.