Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) Best Practices Training Course

Course overview

Governance, risk and compliance were joined together for a reason: they answer the same underlying question from different angles. Who decides, what could go wrong, and what are we obliged to do. In most organizations they have nonetheless grown into separate functions with separate taxonomies, separate systems and separate reports, which arrive at the board describing what appear to be three different companies.

This course covers integrated GRC across five units: the foundations, governance practice, risk frameworks, compliance management, and integration for strategic advantage. It draws on ISO 31000, COSO, ISO 37301 and the Three Lines Model. It is educational and is not legal advice.

What integration actually buys you

Three things worth having. A single risk taxonomy, so a control weakness is described the same way by compliance and by audit and can be tracked to closure once instead of three times. A single view of residual exposure, so the board is not reconciling contradictory reports. And a considerable reduction in the burden on the business, which currently answers the same questions from three functions in three formats.

What integration does not mean is merging the functions. Independence between the second and third lines exists for a reason, and a GRC platform that reports everything to the same person destroys the assurance it was meant to strengthen.

Course objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Frame where ownership ends and independent oversight begins.
• Curb duplicate testing and conflicting reports across functions.
• Simplify the decision rights a board actually retains.
• Assign one owner to every policy, standard and procedure.
• Consolidate two framework vocabularies into one risk process.
• Rank risks on one taxonomy that three functions can read.
• Attest to obligations that carry a named owner.
• Aggregate coverage into one map of what no one tests.
• Publish one board view that all three functions sign.

Course outline

Unit 1: Introduction to governance, risk, and compliance

• Questions each discipline cannot answer alone.
• The Three Lines Model and the boundary nobody polices.
• A control that three teams tested in one quarter.
• Integrated GRC in practice and what it never means.

Unit 2: Governance best practices

• Committee mandates and the quality of board papers.
• Delegated authority and the exposure nobody signed for.
• Ladder from board policy down to desk procedure.
• Accountability as the evidence a control owner keeps.

Unit 3: Risk management frameworks

• ISO 31000 process steps and COSO enterprise risk emphasis.
• Identification, assessment and treatment on one taxonomy.
• Risk appetite and tolerance as limits that stop a deal.
• Key risk indicators nobody reviews between board meetings.

Unit 4: Compliance management

• The obligation register and its unowned lines.
• ISO 37301 duties that sit with named leaders.
• Compliance monitoring aimed at the riskiest obligations.
• Testing whether training and attestation changed conduct.

Unit 5: Integrating GRC for strategic advantage

• One control library and one issue register, not three.
• Assurance mapping and the coverage no one claims.
• GRC technology laid over a process already broken.
• Residual exposure and overdue actions in one board pack.

How the course is delivered

The course uses real artifacts: risk registers, obligation registers, monitoring plans, assurance maps and board packs, which participants critique and rebuild in discussion. Worked examples take a control weakness through the three functions to show where the duplication and the gaps appear. The course is educational, is not legal advice, and does not certify participants or assess any organization. Participants who want the full twelve-unit treatment should look at Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Frameworks.

Who should attend

• Risk, compliance and governance professionals working across the three disciplines.
• Internal auditors who assess GRC arrangements.
• Executives and business unit heads who own risks and controls.
• Company secretaries and board support staff preparing governance reporting.

About EuroQuest International Training

EuroQuest International Training was founded in 2015 by a team with more than 25 years of experience in professional development. We deliver over 1,000 courses and have trained more than 15,000 participants, from our head office in Bratislava, Slovakia, with hubs in Dubai, London, Barcelona, Istanbul, Vienna, Paris and Geneva. Courses are developed and reviewed by practitioners from the fields they teach.

Frequently asked questions

Do we need a GRC platform to integrate?

No, and buying one first is a common mistake. Integration begins with a shared taxonomy, agreed ownership and a common issue register. A platform then automates something coherent instead of preserving the confusion.

Does integration compromise internal audit's independence?

It must not, and the course is explicit about that boundary. Shared data and shared language are fine; shared reporting lines between the second and third lines are not.

Will this certify our compliance management system?

No. Certification against ISO 37301 is performed by certification bodies. The course is educational and does not certify participants or organizations.

Related courses

• Enterprise Risk Management Strategies
• Corporate Compliance and Internal Audit Best Practices
• Creating a Culture of Compliance and Accountability
• Ethical Leadership and Risk Governance

Register for this course

Select a city and date from the schedule above and register, or contact EuroQuest about in-house delivery for risk, compliance and audit teams together.