As the Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission increase the number of investigations, corporations ask, “What can we do to prevent corruption?” The solution is… Create a Culture of Compliance to positively influence your employees. International laws such as the FCPA and the UK Bribery Act require companies to establish a compliance program and demonstrate efforts to prevent corruption. Does this mean every employee must attend a compliance course? Yes, however, it means a lot more than simply forcing every employee to attend a boring legal compliance training session. In order for a compliance program to be effective, there must be consistent and continuous activities to instill a culture of compliance.
Influence.
The best way to influence an organization is similar to the way marketing campaigns influence customer purchasing behavior. As a marketing leader makes an effort to directly attribute revenue through marketing activities, the compliance officer must use the same marketing approach to measure the events of the compliance program. To establish a culture of compliance, the program must be planned, executed, tracked, and measured on a regular basis to ensure a positive influence on employees.
Plan.
It is essential to create a compliance program for the entire year rather than react to mandatory requirements for a course. The big picture view of the entire plan should enable you understand how each compliance activity works in synergy with all the other compliance activities and thus ensures a consistent message throughout. Similar to a marketing campaign, the plan continuously brings awareness of proper conduct and ethical behavior. An effective compliance program will guide employees through repetitive events and activities to ultimately deliver a brand. The brand is the culture of compliance.
Execute.
The key to a successful marketing campaign is the ability to execute the events through to completion. To establish a culture of compliance, it is imperative for each legal compliance training activity to be executed with cumulative awareness. Any marketing manager will confirm the importance of the consistent and continuous message. A benchmark for a marketing campaign is to deliver 7 impressions to make an impact. It takes seven calls to get a response, or seven advertisements to accomplish name recognition. If you apply these marketing analytic to your compliance program you will succeed in bringing awareness to your legal compliance message and establishing the brand of a culture of compliance.
Track.
People respect what you inspect. Recording the compliance events and activities will demonstrate your efforts to influence and build respect for the expectations. Tracking emails, posters, webinars, games, and awards are just as vital to track as the annual compliance course certification. Every time an employee is exposed to compliant conduct and ethical behavior, they are influenced by the culture of compliance. Establish an online tracking mechanism to capture all of the touch points employees experience. Accurate measurement of the results will help determine which activities have the most impact and which need to be curtailed.
Continuous.
Every year, the compliance program should be planned, executed and tracked to continuously deliver the message and to establish the culture of compliance. Flexibility will take advantage of opportunities to develop new compliance activities while continuously incorporating the culture of compliance.
Culture of Compliance.
A culture of Compliance is not just training, it is utilizing a toolkit of legal compliance activities to positively influence the conduct and behavior of employees in an organization. When legal compliance is embedded into the company’s operating processes, it becomes a natural part of work every day, and generates a rhythm reinforced by a regular training cycle and ongoing communications. This rhythm assures employees are knowledgeable, aware, and committed to assuring a world class culture of integrity.
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2016-12-28T13:21:46-07:00March 29th, 2013|Compliance Blog|Comments Off on Culture of Compliance
As the Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission increase the number of investigations, corporations ask, “What can we do to prevent corruption?” The solution is… Create a Culture of Compliance to positively influence your employees. International laws such as the FCPA and the UK Bribery Act require companies to establish a compliance program and demonstrate efforts to prevent corruption. Does this mean every employee must attend a compliance course? Yes, however, it means a lot more than simply forcing every employee to attend a boring legal compliance training session. In order for a compliance program to be effective, there must be consistent and continuous activities to instill a culture of compliance.
It is essential to create a compliance program for the entire year rather than react to mandatory requirements for a course. The big picture view of the entire plan should enable you understand how each compliance activity works in synergy with all the other compliance activities and thus ensures a consistent message throughout. Similar to a marketing campaign, the plan continuously brings awareness of proper conduct and ethical behavior. An effective compliance program will guide employees through repetitive events and activities to ultimately deliver a brand. The brand is the culture of compliance.
People respect what you inspect. Recording the compliance events and activities will demonstrate your efforts to influence and build respect for the expectations. Tracking emails, posters, webinars, games, and awards are just as vital to track as the annual compliance course certification. Every time an employee is exposed to compliant conduct and ethical behavior, they are influenced by the culture of compliance. Establish an online tracking mechanism to capture all of the touch points employees experience. Accurate measurement of the results will help determine which activities have the most impact and which need to be curtailed.
