Association of Governance, Risk & Compliance (AGRC), in partnership with Risky Women and BEHAVES Academy, has launched a new global research survey exploring behavioural science capability in governance, risk and compliance (GRC) – and we want to hear from you.

The survey is short (around five minutes), but the answers could be meaningful for our industry.

Across governance, risk and compliance, we spend huge amounts of time designing frameworks, controls and policies. Yet when things fail – conduct breaches, culture issues, weak decision-making – the root cause is rarely technical. It’s behavioural. People misunderstand, misinterpret, cut corners, defer decisions, follow incentives, or act under pressure in ways systems didn’t anticipate.

Behavioural science helps explain why that happens, and how risk and compliance systems can be designed to work with human behaviour rather than against it.

Regulators are already using behavioural insights to shape disclosure, enforcement and supervision. Many organisations are experimenting with behavioural approaches to culture, controls and communications. But within the GRC profession itself, there is no clear picture of how behavioural science is currently understood, valued or used, or whether professionals feel equipped to apply it in practice.

That gap matters.

This research is the first dedicated study to examine behavioural science capability across governance, risk and compliance roles globally. It aims to understand:

  • how familiar GRC professionals are with behavioural science
  • where (if at all) it is currently being applied
  • what barriers prevent wider or more confident use
  • and what kinds of behavioural skills and learning would actually be useful in practice

All participants will receive a benchmarking report, allowing them to see how their experience compares with peers by role, seniority and geography, and where behavioural capability may become increasingly important.

Importantly, this is not about turning compliance officers into psychologists or adding another abstract layer to an already crowded profession. It’s about whether GRC has the tools it needs to influence behaviour, support good judgement, and design controls that reflect how people really operate.

The findings will inform future learning pathways, thought leadership, and collaboration across the GRC ecosystem – including work with Risky Women to elevate practical, human-centred approaches to risk and compliance.

If your work involves influencing behaviour, managing conduct, shaping culture or preventing things from going wrong, this research is about you.

Take the survey, add your voice, and help shape what behavioural science looks like in GRC | Available Here