Just to clarify, I’m not talking about life threatening risks such as swimming with sharks (I have no desire to do this!), I’m talking about the types of risks that you will be exposed to throughout your Regulatory career.
Regulatory professionals are typically diligent and compliance-orientated individuals. While these traits are valuable assets, they often accompany perfectionism and over-analysis. When this is the case, it will be less likely that you are comfortable with taking (perceived) risks within your role – which in turn may lead to missed opportunities for growth and cause stagnation in your professional (and personal) development.
Although Regulatory roles fundamentally involve compliance responsibilities, they also require efficiency, innovation and contribution to organisational financial objectives. Senior management increasingly emphasises risk-based approaches that balance compliance with business needs.
Some examples of risk-taking opportunities include…
- Making a submission that may face significant scrutiny
- Making decisions without prior Health Authorities (HA) consultation
- Proactively seeking advice from the HA
- Challenging a decision or question of the HA, despite feeling underqualified
- Undertaking a regulatory procedure which you haven’t done before
- Insisting that the company de-brands a product to potentially save the company millions
- Reducing record taking which makes you 80% inspection ready, rather than 120%
- Making a decision when regulatory guidance isn’t clear
- Volunteering for a project outside your immediate experience
All too often, I see Regulatory professionals paralysed with doubt and fear when faced with some of these challenges. If you want to grow and become a dynamic Regulatory professional, you need to dig deep and ask yourself what could be the reason(s) that are holding you back, since this will no doubt be holding you back in other areas too. Could it be…
- fear of failure or making mistakes?
- operating within a risk-averse wider team?
- lack of guidance creating uncertainty?
- not understanding the consequences?
- concerns about increased workload?
If this has resonated with you, reflect on them when facing uncomfortable decisions. Some other blogs which may be of interest include How to make decisions when guidance isn’t clear and It’s OK not to know everything in Regulatory.
You can also reach out to discuss how our InFusion membership may be suitable, which can provide you with personalised assistance navigating these challenges and improving your decision making processes.
