If there is one truism from the practice of law which translates to the practice of compliance, you are only limited by your imagination. This holds in the 360-degree realm of communication in compliance, as communication comes in many forms. Many compliance practitioners will well remember the 2012 Morgan Stanley declination. In this first declination made public, the Department of Justice (DOJ) recognized Morgan Stanley for emailing out 35 compliance reminders to Garth Peterson over seven years. Think about the power of 360 degrees of communication in the context of compliance reminders. Now imagine the power of short ethics and compliance video training clips going out over the same time and the effect it would have on your employees and the regulators.
- Podcast Storytelling
Why not tell the story of compliance through a podcast? I call it podcast storytelling, and it can be a powerful tool. Each podcast series is 5-part series and constitutes one story arc. The podcasts are about 10-15 minutes in length. The podcast storytelling series can be a variety of interviews led by a noted podcast host such as the Voice of Compliance, yourself as the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), or anyone from your organization. It can be an interview with one or more people, or it can be a solo podcast.
A series such as this allows your organization to tell a story more effectively and reach a much larger audience than in any other format; live, audio-video, or in-person. Yet there is another reason you should consider this approach for compliance training and communications. It will provide you with the equivalent of market research and feedback. The number of listeners and downloads will give you a reliable data source for other communications and training.
2. Compliance Department Branded Podcasts
Want another option? How about a fully produced branded podcast series for your internal compliance function? It could be two 25–30-minute episodes per month, with the guest selected by your compliance team. This format allows your corporate compliance function to tell the story of its greatest asset, its people, through interviews. Cannot get out of the country to travel? Still, working remotely? Your branded podcasts allow you to reach your employees as we struggle through the Covid-19 variants. You can use the branded podcast to tell the story of compliance successes in your organization; you can also include other departments to share their successes. As with the podcast storytelling series, it would be done collaboratively with your comms team.
3. Compliance News of the Day
Want to make some short and snappy compliance communications? How about ‘Compliance News of the Day’? Have a daily curated news show of 3-4 compliance stories with a summary of each story and how they relate to a compliance perspective of your organization. Make it fun, so your employees want to check in daily. When the DOJ comes knocking and asks how often you send compliance communications, you can point to your Compliance News of the Day as a great starting point.
As a compliance practitioner, you should strive to bring more storytelling into your compliance messaging, training, and communications. If you put the employee in the shoes of the person they’re watching, they will remember it because they will see how it applies to their lives. Training and communication experiences will last much longer than if you drone over a written policy or show a PowerPoint. Marc Havener has called this “expanding your classroom.” Ronnie Feldman calls this bringing memorable storytelling to your compliance communications and training.
Since your imagination only limits you in compliance, why not use some of that to be creative in your compliance training and communications?
Three key takeaways:
1. Using podcast storytelling to tell longer, more involved stories about compliance.
2. You can use compliance department-branded podcasts to have ongoing communications about compliance.
3. A Daily Compliance News show will drive engagement.
