SCA’s Policy & Procedure Enhancement Program
Policies and Procedures are the living frameworks that guide your daily operations, ensure compliance, and ultimately drives your success. But are they still reflecting how you operate today? Are they truly helping you execute your strategy effectively?
Your policies are the broad, overarching principles – your "what" and "why.” Procedures, on the other hand, are the detailed, step-by-step instructions – the "how." Additionally, you might have job aids, those user-friendly guides with screenshots that make the "how" even clearer. Understanding the differences and properly maintaining each requires a team commitment, and is often the first thing to fall to the wayside when workloads become overly burdensome.
Internal and External factors that necessitate a review
Consider whether any of these real-world examples have impacted you recently:
Strategic Shifts: New product offerings, target markets, or operational models.
Regulatory Changes: Recent updates or anticipated changes in lending regulations.
Technological Advancements: Implementation of new systems or digital processes.
Risk Management Evolution: Changes in risk appetite or identification of new risks.
Operational Inefficiencies: Bottlenecks or inconsistencies in current processes.
Audit Findings: Areas identified for improvement by internal or external audits.
Market Dynamics: Competitive pressures and evolving customer expectations.
To ensure your documentation is serving its purpose, the professionals at SCA work alongside you to evaluate and enhance your written policies and procedures. We use methods like Process Mapping (visually outlining the steps to identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies), Walkthroughs (observing the procedure in action to see if it aligns with the documented steps), or Staff Interviews (gathering feedback from those who use the procedures to understand their pain points and suggestions for improvement).
Partnering with SCA brings the invaluable benefit of an objective, external perspective with keen attention-for-detail. Combined with our collaborative know-how of industry best practices and a well-rounded team of experts on all things lending, we bring you the expertise to not only pinpoint what may be missing, and can effectively help you fill those gaps. Whether it’s knowledge, training, or people, SCA can support your need!
Through this process, we look at:
Relevance: Is the policy still aligned with your current strategic goals and operations? Does it address today's risks and regulations?
Accuracy & Completeness: Does it reflect the current and officially approved way of doing things? Does it cover all necessary aspects?
Compliance: Does it fully adhere to all applicable laws and regulations?
Specificity: Is the language clear, unambiguous, and easy for everyone to understand?
Accountability & Consistency: Does it clearly assign responsibility for each step in the process? Are tasks performed uniformly across the organization?
Effectiveness: Is the policy achieving its intended goals? How do you measure its success?
Regularly reviewing and updating your policies and procedures is a strategic imperative, not an administrative burden. Strong alignment between policies and their supporting procedures is essential for successful execution and effective risk management. A collaborative and structured approach to assessment and revision leads to more relevant and impactful documentation. By proactively evaluating and refining this process, you maintain powerful tools that drive efficiency, mitigate risk, and support your evolving business strategy.
