Who are GRCReady?

GRCReady has been developed by industry experts to help organisations and their executive management teams to approach, control and advance their Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) agenda. GRC requirements impact every organisation, but the weight of regulatory obligations and increasing breadth and complexity of risks make it difficult for many organisations to effectively plan and systemise their response. Through a blend of self-assessments, products, access to training and advisory support, GRCReady makes it simple to diagnose problem areas, identify control mechanisms and assess the best actions to take in order to meet obligations and have a positive impact on the organisation’s bottom line. 

Our Story and Philosophy

Good governance equals good business. GRCReady is here to empower boards and business leaders with products, guidance and advisory support to make governance easier. As roles and responsibilities of the board of directors and company secretary grow, GRCReady seeks to provide cost effective and innovative products and services to meet the evolving governance needs of business.

GRCReady is more than an on-line governance service. The platform is an ecosystem for good governance, enabling boards and business owners to access content that meets the demands of their business in a way that is efficient, timely and cost effective.

We firmly believe,

  • Governance, risk and compliance are business issues that need attention, no matter what industry you operate in.
  • Managing governance, risk and compliance requires an integrated and pragmatic approach.
  • Business is looking for appropriate solutions that meet budget requirements and produce an effective outcome.
  • GRC products and services should be easy to understand, fit for purpose and affordable.
  • Sharing domain expertise and industry knowledge with our clients will help them succeed in business.

Why is Corporate Governance important?

Good governance is intended to increase the accountability of a company and to avoid disasters before they occur. Well executed corporate governance is as important to the organisation’s performance as its strategy and business plan. When executed effectively, it can prevent corporate mishaps such as fraud that can lead to civil and criminal liability. It also enhances an organisation’s customer and public image, for a well-managed company that conducts business responsibly, is worthy of public and private investment. There is ample research to show that shareholders, customers and consumers want to associate with organisations that operate responsibly.

An organisation without a sound system of corporate governance may lack environmental responsibility and a social conscience and intentionally avoid accountability for its actions and behaviour. On the other hand, successful organisations know that corporate governance keeps the business honest and out of trouble especially when there is shared philosophy, practices and culture amongst its employees. If this shared philosophy breaks down, shortcuts are taken, products can become defective and management can grow complacent. Often the end result is corporate failure leading to criminal and civil proceedings against executives and board members.

Benefits of Good Governance

There are enormous benefits for those businesses that engage in good corporate governance supported by a healthy corporate culture.  Having a system of policies, procedures and guidelines helps streamline business operations, promotes consistency and reduces risk.  Good governance helps define a positive corporate culture.  Delivering quality products and services, is good for business performance and can reduce safety, legal, performance and warranty concerns that can adversely impact an organisation and its stakeholders and/or interested parties.

Why engage with this platform?

GRCReady seeks is to enable business owners and their advisors to make an informed assessment of their governance arrangements and facilitate an open and frank conversation that will lead to activities that will improve organisational performance. By taking an informed approach, boards and business owners can better position themselves to take advantage of new opportunities and drive quantifiable returns.

GRCReady provides boards and business owners with a comprehensive suite of resources to satisfy the governance needs of any organisation regardless of their industry, size or complexity. GRCReady provides readily available access to policies, procedures, guidelines, checklists, tools and resources in a number of areas including Governance, Strategy and Planning, Operations and Infrastructure, Compliance and Reporting.

Good corporate governance starts in the boardroom by tackling issues such as product performance, innovation and disruption, diversity, information security or crisis management.  GRCReady has an extensive library of high quality technical tools and guidance that will help manage these issues and more by assisting you drive long-term sustainability and success.

Understanding what boards and business owners need today to meet their responsibilities, is at the heart of the GRCReady framework, which provides a fully integrated comprehensive governance solution. GRCReady is constantly evolving and provides a secure communication platform offering an ever growing library of new products and guidance in response to customer demand and the expanding complexities of governance, risk and compliance.

GRCReady has resources you can download and customise so that you never have to start from scratch and insights that will keep you informed and up-to-date on best practices and trends.  GRCReady does not seek to replace professional advisors, rather it provides a service that enables you to manage many aspects of your business without recourse to expensive professional support, but make it accessible if you need it.

Where do I start?

By registering your details (which is free) and creating an account, you can purchase documents immediately. After registering, we recommend you take the time to engage with the GRCReady maturity assessments and undertake any one of:

  • 16 Governance Risk and Compliance Evaluation Questionnaires (GRCEQ)
  • 24 Environmental Social and Governance Evaluation Questionnaires (ESGEQ)
  • 18 Information Security Management System Evaluation Questionnaires (ISMSEQ)
  • Cyber Vulnerability Questionnaire (CVA)

All of our self-assessments are free of charge. The results of each assessment come with a concise tailored report that will help you identify any obvious gaps in current arrangements and direct you to appropriate resources which can be purchased to bridge those gaps as required. We can also connect you with appropriate advisory support should you require further assistance.

About the GRCReady Maturity Assessment

To help you get the most value from using the GRCReady site, we have developed a number of bespoke maturity assessments. These are simple question-based mechanisms to enable you to easily recognise those areas where the board and business owners are typically challenged in terms of organisational performance and holding those in control to account.

GRCReady recognises that every organisation has strengths in different areas. Through the online maturity assessments, we have sought to provide an easy overview of these strengths and the tools and know-how to develop a common language and ‘how-to’ for improving current arrangements, which can be areas of concern and impediments to success.

By providing you with indicators of maturity, we hope to provide clarity on how to scale and improve the way your organisation works, how your organisation is structured, which areas of the business can make decisions, and when these decisions can be performed. An assessment of maturity is a measure of an organisation’s ability and capability to respond to and shape events as expressed through its people, ways of working, information captured and used, technologies and the consistent measurement practices that are in place.

Each evaluation questionnaire has been specifically designed to help you determine where your organisation currently operates in terms of readiness and capability. The questionnaires are aligned with an international governance framework (COSO) and allow you to obtain a quick diagnostic of the current state of your organisation’s arrangements on a number of key categories of governance risk and compliance and/or environmental social and governance. Key COSO elements tested include your organisation’s Control Environment (policies, procedures and standards), Risk Assessment practices, Information and Communication, Control Activities and Performance Measurement and Monitoring.

GRCReady’s maturity assessment approach contains a five step framework that ranges from ‘Reactive – an organisation with limited basic processes to ‘Advanced’ – an organisation with sophisticated practices. Movement across the maturity spectrum is staged, meaning lower level processes must be in place before higher levels can be achieved. Within each of these maturity levels are activities or processes that must be completed before moving to the next level. For instance, responding ’Strongly Agree’ to each of the questions would suggest the expected characteristics of highly mature processes requiring little additional attention other than perhaps a health check or benchmarking. However, responding ’Strongly Disagree’ might suggest that current arrangements could be further improved, in which case the organisation may benefit from further work in certain areas.

Organisations that tend to be more immature in terms of GRC or ESG practices, tend to find it more difficult to maintain current capabilities, struggle to get cost transparency and miss out on better practices that could drive improved ROI.

How much does it cost?

The GRCReady evaluation questionnaires are free for all registered users. Beyond that, simply search for the resource you are looking for – we have one of the most extensive libraries of documents, tools and guidance available on the Internet. Each resource has a table of contents detailing what is covered in the document, to enable you to decide whether it is relevant to your individual requirements. Select and pay for only those resources you need.

Can I provide feedback on the services?

Customer satisfaction is our utmost priority and this is supported by a money-back satisfaction guarantee. If you have any feedback on your experience using the GRCReady online service, please do not hesitate to leave us your comments through contact us, so that we can continuously improve our products and services.