What It Takes to Build Stronger GRC Maturity
For small and mid-sized businesses, advancing governance, risk and compliance maturity is less about scale and more about structure. Progress depends on consistency, clarity and commitment – not enterprise-level resources.
That perspective guided the Five Moves to Accelerate GRC Maturity session at the Fall into Compliance event, led by Kara Rayburn, Senior Director of Product Marketing for the NAVEX One Platform. She was joined by Evren Esen, Vice President of Research and Analytics at the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI), and Sarah Wright, Associate Solutions Engineer at NAVEX.
Together, they explored how small and mid-sized organizations can move from reactive compliance to proactive governance by taking five deliberate, achievable steps.
These foundational moves help teams create structure, build consistency, and move from reactive tasks to proactive governance.
In this article, we cover:
- Policy management that people trust
- Risk assessment as an ongoing discipline
- Third-party oversight
- Employee engagement to sustain culture
- Continuous improvement commitment
- Start with policy management that people trust
Policies form the backbone of any mature program. Rayburn opened the discussion by emphasizing that policies must be relevant, current and easy to understand. “Policies should evolve with your business,” she said. “If they are out of date, people will stop trusting them.”
Esen, who helps organizations measure and strengthen program maturity through ECI’s assessments, noted that clear, consistent policies correlate strongly with stronger cultures of integrity. “Clarity builds confidence,” she said.
Wright added that smaller teams can make quick progress by focusing on visibility and accessibility. “Even simple version tracking and plain-language edits help employees know where to go and what to do,” she said.
2. Focus on risk assessment as an ongoing discipline
Esen explained that maturity begins with visibility. “You cannot manage what you do not measure,” she said. For SMBs, a lightweight, repeatable approach works best – start with a short list of key risks, rank them by likelihood and impact, and review the list regularly.
Rayburn built on that guidance. “The goal is to make risk management part of everyday operations,” she said. “If it’s discussed openly, it stays current.”
For smaller teams, consistency of conversation often matters more than the size of the system.
3. Strengthen third-party oversight
Third-party relationships can expand capacity but also introduce new risks and exposures. Rayburn noted that effective oversight starts with clarity. “Ask vendors to meet you halfway,” she said. “Transparency should go both directions.”
Esen added that the value of third-party oversight extends beyond risk reduction. “When your partners align with your standards, it strengthens integrity from the outside in,” she said.
Small steps – such as requiring compliance attestations in contracts or tracking completion dates – can help SMBs demonstrate diligence without adding unnecessary complexity.
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4. Engage employees to sustain culture
Employee engagement is what turns compliance into culture. Wright shared that shorter, focused learning sessions and manager-led discussions often make training more memorable for smaller teams. “Engagement drives ownership,” she said. “People need to see themselves in the program.”
Esen agreed, noting that feedback from employees often surfaces issues before metrics do. “Your people are your early warning system,” she said. “If they stop asking questions, something’s off.”
Engagement drives ownership – and ownership drives maturity.
NAVEX
Sarah Wright
Associate Solutions Engineer
5. Commit to continuous improvement
Rayburn closed the discussion by emphasizing that maturity is not a finish line but a mindset. “You do not need enterprise resources to reach maturity – you need purpose, consistency and the courage to improve.”
Esen reinforced that even minor improvements are significant when measured over time. “If you can show that each year’s assessment looks a little better than the last, that is maturity in action.”
You do not need enterprise resources to reach maturity – you need purpose, consistency and the courage to improve.
Product Marketing, NAVEX
Kara Rayburn
Senior Director
Bringing it all together
The Five Moves to Accelerate GRC Maturity session underscored that progress does not depend on scale – it depends on steady effort.
As Rayburn and her co-panelists demonstrated, SMBs can enhance their programs by focusing on clarity, engagement, and continuous learning. With structure and discipline, maturity becomes achievable, measurable and sustainable.
Assess your own program: Take the NAVEX and ECI Maturity Assessment to benchmark progress and uncover your next steps.
5 Moves to Accelerate Your GRC Maturity
Ready to move your compliance program from reactive to strategic? This webinar will walk you through a five-step framework for assessing your program and identifying what's next.
