Nhi Huynh emphasized how organizations can shift compliance from reactive “firefighting” to a strategic function that supports business objectives, urging HR leaders to balance day‑to‑day pressures with long‑term planning. She highlighted the need for compliance systems that evolve with organizational changes, the value of involving legal advisors early to translate complex regulatory developments, and the importance of clear ownership within compliance frameworks.
See an excerpt below:
Moving beyond checklists: how organizations can align compliance with business objectives
When HR partners with other leaders, compliance can stop being just firefighting and become part of organizational strategy
Treating compliance as an investment in culture, growth and resilience, rather than a chore or a cost centre, is key to aligning an organization’s compliance practices with its overall business strategy.
That’s according to Nhi Huynh, an employment lawyer at Williams HR Law in the Greater Toronto Area.
HR leaders know the pressure of managing compliance, because many feel that they’re “treating everything like everything’s on fire all at once and feeling quite overwhelmed,” says Huynh. However, the other extreme is where “compliance really isn’t on the organization’s mind because of the same thing where they’re overwhelmed in terms of their day-to-day operations until complaints or investigations force the issue,” she says.