Many organizations fall into the trap of believing that their governance, risk and compliance (GRC) program is more mature than it actually is. Take automation, a core component of GRC maturity. While many companies claim higher maturity levels, Coalfire reports that 60% of businesses still manage compliance with spreadsheets.
A checklist-style GRC assessment can make it easy to confuse maturity with documentation. Such assessments may fail to capture the true state of GRC because documentation focuses simply on what exists, rather than what actually works. To help you avoid a false sense of confidence that leaves real risks unaddressed, here’s how to improve GRC maturity in practice as well as on paper.
Table of Contents
What GRC Maturity Actually Means
GRC maturity is the level of your organization’s ability to manage governance, risk and compliance processes. You achieve a high level of GRC maturity when you run a well-planned GRC program that results in effective risk management, productivity, cost efficiency and informed decision-making.
A mature GRC program helps you:
- Identify and prioritize risks so that you can act on them consistently
- Define internal controls that work reliably
- Cover compliance activities to reduce real exposure
- Provide business leaders with risk insight to guide strategy
You can thoroughly document your GRC processes and even pass audits but still have an immature GRC program if the documentation isn’t actively shaping behaviors and decisions.
GRC Maturity Levels To Assess Your GRC Practices
The GRC Maturity Model is a benchmark to gauge your organization’s GRC performance and guide your program’s execution. Many maturity models use five levels to track maturity progress.
| GRC Maturity Level | Characteristics |
| 1. Initial/Ad Hoc | Operate GRC practices in reactive modeMaintain little to no documentation of controls and processesRespond to incidents individually rather than following defined security policiesFocus primarily on meeting external compliance requirementsDocument actions only when prompted by a specific incident or regulatory need |
| 2. Repeatable | Document basic GRC processesStandardize core proceduresUse basic GRC technologyPerform defined compliance proceduresConduct periodic risk assessmentsBegin automating compliance monitoring and reporting |
| 3. Defined/Established | Formalize GRC processesClearly document policies, procedures and rolesIntegrate GRC into organizational operationsDevelop risk management frameworks to inform decisionsConduct regular audits to support GRC effortsAutomate ongoing risk assessment, compliance reporting and third-party risk management |
| 4. Managed | Monitor and measure GRC processesEncourage a culture of continuous improvementUse advanced risk management practicesOptimize compliance activitiesTrack real-time risk indicatorsIntegrate GRC metrics into overall business performance metricsUse GRC software to centralize risk management and compliance efforts |
| 5. Optimized | Continuously optimize GRC processes to function as a strategic assetInnovate GRC practicesRespond quickly to regulatory changes and shifts in the risk environmentUse predictive analytics to anticipate future risksApply adaptive compliance strategiesAutomate GRC workflows |
To honestly evaluate your current GRC maturity level, you’ll need to break down your assessment into three key areas: governance, risk management and compliance.
How To Assess Governance Maturity
Governance is how your organization makes decisions and defines accountability to achieve business objectives. It lays the foundation for effective risk management and compliance by setting how you enforce policies.
To assess your governance maturity, start by asking:
- Who owns each risk?
- Do governance bodies resolve issues or simply receive reports?
- Do departments consistently apply policies and procedures across the organization?
- Are escalation paths clear when controls fail or risk exceeds tolerance?
In mature governance, risk ownership is explicit, so decisions are timely. Yet only about 30% of organizations clearly identify risk owners, and just 12% explain which governance body has oversight of those risks, according to EY’s 2024 analysis.
When you establish clear governance benchmarks and assess their performance against organizational goals, you can identify gaps to support better-informed decision-making.
How To Assess Risk Management Maturity
Assessing the maturity of your organization’s risk management involves evaluating its strengths and weaknesses to identify areas for improvement. While your exact approach may differ depending on your company’s objectives, here are the main steps.
Step 1: Select a Framework
There are several models with clear maturity levels, such as ISO 31000 and COSO ERM, to guide you on best practices. Find one that aligns with your business goals to give your assessment a consistent rating.
Step 2: Define Your Assessment Criteria
Establish how you’ll approach the assessment. Are you going to assess how risk management is meshed into your company, or will you evaluate the existing processes? Will you pay more attention to how your people manage risk? This step will help you set the scope for the assessment and prevent inconsistent scoring.
Step 3: Choose Data Collection Tools and Collect Data
Once you have the framework and scope for your review, select appropriate data collection tools. You can use:
- Questionnaires
- Interviews
- Facilitated discussions
- Reviews from existing documentation
- GRC tools
Then use the chosen tools to start collecting data. The best practice is to centralize data collection to support evaluation.
Step 4: Analyze and Benchmark
Using your selected framework, assign a maturity level to every risk management practice you have. To get a balanced view, involve several team members to discuss differences in rating.
Step 5: Report Your Findings
Draft a report showing your scored results and clear improvement suggestions. You can provide extra context based on regulations.
How To Assess Compliance and Internal Controls
Once you’re clear on governance and risk management assessment, check if your internal controls meet compliance requirements. To assess, pick a compliance standard and measure your controls against its requirements.
Depending on your industry, you can compare your controls against standards such as:
- NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF)
- Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)
- COSO Framework for Internal Control and Compliance
- ISO 37301
- HIPAA Security Rule
Often, these assessments involve internal or external audits. You can do an internal audit to complete a regular evaluation as part of your organization’s risk management protocol. Alternatively, an external auditor may assess your internal controls in more formal audits.
Why Most GRC Maturity Assessments Go Wrong
Maturity assessments often go wrong because organizations treat GRC as a static compliance checklist, creating a disconnect between their GRC functions and operational realities. Other reasons include:
Focusing on Documentation Instead of Execution
It’s easy to assume that if you have written policies, risk registers and control descriptions, your GRC must be mature. While documentation is necessary, your organization’s controls have to be effective and consistently followed for true GRC maturity.
Equating GRC Tools With Maturity
GRC tools improve visibility and efficiency to contribute to maturity, but they are not a shortcut. You still have to define ownership and workflow for the tool to reinforce your strategy.
Build a GRC Strategy From Your Maturity Assessment
At Onspring, we’ll help you turn your GRC maturity assessment from a one-time, subjective exercise to a structured, repeated process that reflects how your organization actually operates. Get a platform that:
- Allows you to build assessments mapped to specific frameworks or your own internal maturity model, so scoring stays consistent and defensible
- Centralizes evidence collection and scoring so you don’t rely on manual collection methods
- Allows you to assign ownership and accountability so your governance and risk management truly operate beyond individual efforts
- Gives you visibility into whether your processes actually work in practice
Download our eBook Building Your GRC Roadmap today to learn more about how to translate maturity findings into a phased, realistic GRC strategy that delivers measurable outcomes.
