The Human Resources and Compliance departments play a crucial role in building a healthy workplace culture to stay relevant and succeed.
Many organizations face significant structural deficiencies that fail to bridge the gap between Compliance and H.R. In terms of structure, most often, there is a failure in defining roles and responsibilities that tends to be confusing to the management, which looks inefficient or redundant.
Like a well-oiled machine, a company functions seamlessly if both H.R. and compliance functions are synched and compatible when power, resources, and procedures are strategically set without overlapping.
To further explore this underutilized program, I spoke with one of the unique people in the compliance space. An executive coach, strategic advisor, and keynote speaker described by Forbes as “one of the top coaches for legal and compliance executives.”
Amii Barnard – Bahn will add transparency as an H.R. professional to the compliance function to help accelerate compliance and legal executives’ success.
Major takeaways discussed in the episode:
● Compliance officers should be aware of the Human Resource functions, like recruitment, employee annual life cycle, performance reviews, and compensation. Being involved in the process ensures that the company is getting the right people and ensuring strong ethical standards. If unchecked, conflict of interests is embedded even in the employment application that goes unchecked.
● Set up a Helpline instead of a hotline which is friendlier and less scary. Doing so gives people the confidence to speak up comfortably, raise questions and report misconduct without fear. Encouraging transparency in the workplace creates a belief that the company takes action. More calls mean more confidence that organizational justice can be served.
● Positional authority isn’t the way to go and will not be useful in the future workplace. The pandemic has shown how the dynamics have changed, and good leadership and influence skills will get things done. Compliance officers should be critical of this going forward.
● Modern workers stay long in a company that they’re proud of and that they feel is doing good work. The compliance department should look at strategies and steps towards reaching out and connecting with their employees and participating if not taking a stand involving necessary and impactful causes.
DOWNLOAD the FREE Promotability Index® by Amii Barnard-Bahn. Text number is 44-222. The word is PROMOTEME.
About Thomas Fox:
Thomas Fox, the Compliance Evangelist®, is one of the leading writers, thinkers, and commentators on anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance. In this latest edition of The Compliance Handbook, he continues to arm seasoned compliance professionals and those new to the realm with the practical, actionable guidance and tools needed to design, create, implement and continually enhance a best practices compliance program.
The “Nuts and Bolts” for Creating a Comprehensive Compliance Plan
The chapter of this unique work lays out a succinct yet thorough one month approach to operationalizing a company’s compliance regimen. Beginning with a section on what 2020 brought to the compliance landscape, each chapter methodically outlines best practices for everything from establishing policies, procedures, and internal controls, to assessing risk, training, handling investigations, and more. Each day ends with three key takeaways you can implement at little or no cost.
Order your copy OR copies of The Compliance Handbook: A Guide to Operationalizing Your Compliance Program. Save 25% off.
http://www.lexisnexis.com/fox25
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Jehan Jeyaretnam is the Director and Head of Compliance Services at Acuity Knowledge Partners, one of the world’s largest knowledge process outsourcing firms. Jehan leads the Compliance Business Division, supporting clients with regulatory and anti-financial crime surveillance issues. Tom Fox welcomes him to this week’s show as they discuss ways of implementing knowledge outsourcing within work environments.
Knowledge Processing
Tom asks Jehan to define the term “knowledge processing.” Jehan explains that it is a point of view where you have the resources that are supported based on particular specialized knowledge. It’s an area where analytics and judgment reform is required, along with domain understanding and subject matter expertise. It is different from business processing in that it’s more than simply rules-led and considers knowledge offshoring functions.
The Four Pillars of Acuity
Jehan explains that there are four pillars of compliance within Acuity Knowledge Partners. He states that the company supports its clients by combining these four aspects:
- corporate compliance, which focuses on monitoring and surveilling communications and marketing materials;
- investment compliance and trade surveillance supports clients in the areas of investment guideline management from a market abuse perspective;
- anti-corruption financial crimes, which tackles due diligence for clients, transaction monitoring from an anti-money laundering perspective;
- forensic compliance, which takes a data science approach to compliance, while supporting clients who are based on-shore.
The Impact of COVID-19
Tom asks Jehan to explain how his approach to compliance has shifted or changed due to the pandemic. Jehan states that the area that needed to improve due to the pandemic was understanding how to continue supporting clients while maintaining the compliance culture around it. When employees are working remotely, it’s important to ensure that company culture remains embedded. Changing the model so that there’s enough surveillance and approachability is very important. From a business perspective, the pandemic caused Acuity to take more of a conservative approach to the compliance function with respect to budgets. The work volume increased, however, employees operating from their homes allowed for increased communication.
Do More With Less
Companies need to be thinking about processing in the next five years, and how it may evolve. One way that Acuity supports its clients is by helping them do more with less. They create dedicated teams that can support them, by taking away some of the workflows that can be done offshore in a more cost-effective way. Freeing up your onshore teams and employees will allow them to be able to readily adapt to the changing workflows, environments, and operations. Because Acuity has implemented this model, they have provided a certain amount of flexibility in their workforce. Jehan advises other companies to do the same. If you want to increase efficiencies you need to “create a center of excellence” by bringing all the aspects of compliance together.
Resources
Jehan Jeyaretnam | Twitter, LinkedIn
AcuityKP.com
In this episode we speak with Vivek Bhatt, Chief Technology Officer at Infotechtion, about charting the direction of your information protection and records management journey. Listen in as Vivek and Bhavy discuss the importance of identifying your company’s key success factors, developing a roadmap that quickly provides value to your business, and the lessons learned as teams embark on a more modernized approach to information governance.
Voices of Data Protection is a show about the latest processes and solutions to help you manage your data, keep it safe, and stay compliant. We talk with industry experts, leaders, and program managers from Microsoft to learn how digital transformation is accelerating the need for compliance, how organizations are navigating this new landscape, and learn best-in-class practices and solutions to get your organization started and bring compliance to the next level. Transcripts are available for all episodes. For more infomration, visit: https://aka.ms/voicesofdataprotection
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Jamie Spataro says that he loves a challenge and learning new things. In his private life, he is a member of a rock band (which he accidentally named) and a licensed pilot. He left his position at a prominent law firm, where he did litigation and product liability work, to join the FedEx Ground legal department 12 years ago. Today, he is Lead Counsel at FedEx Ground, handling regulatory affairs, including workplace safety and the company’s COVID response. He joins Tom Fox and Valerie Charles to talk about the intersection of health and safety and compliance, and how focusing on the first leads to a better compliance program overall.
Protecting Customers and Employees During COVID
“We had to be nimble and adapt our practices to keep our workforce and our customers safe [during the pandemic],” Jamie says. The legal department is responsible for protecting the brand, as well as ensuring that the workforce and customers are kept safe, and that the company is complying with the laws and regulations. Their corporation-wide pandemic protection program incorporates common federal, state, and municipal COVID regulations into a comprehensive policy that they apply across the board. This ensures that they’re staying compliant as well as keeping everyone safe. Jamie explains that their safety protocols evolve as the science around COVID is evolving. “We feel that our program could accommodate any similar type of pandemic that might come across in the future,” he proudly comments.
Integrating Technology into Health & Safety
Tom asks how FedEx has been able to integrate technology to promote health and safety in the company. OSHA compliance has become increasingly data-driven, Jamie responds. “Being able to manage, receive, manipulate, query data has been at the forefront of how we’re able to stay compliant, and continue to comply with… increasing data demands on our business.” He illustrates how they use injury and illness data to look for patterns and root cause. “I think that the biggest change I have seen is how data is used and leveraged to ensure compliance and also to maybe spot areas within a business that may need some help,” he continues. Tom comments that their approach effectively covers the three major areas of a compliance program – prevent, detect and remediate. Jamie explains why FedEx is focusing a lot of effort on the bottom of the hierarchy of controls pyramid since it can address the root cause and hopefully eliminate the hazard as much as possible. “We’re trying to flip that pyramid on its head, trying to really focus on behavioral science and predicting behaviors, so that we can prevent them from happening in the future,” he remarks.
The Future of Compliance
Valerie says, “I think health and safety professionals and OSHA experts are probably going to lead the way for other compliance professionals in the use of behavioral psychology in compliance programs.” Though still a relatively new trend, Jamie feels that it will continue to gain traction in the coming years. It’s a veritable goldmine if you can find a way to manipulate the data you may already have, he tells listeners. Focus on trends, particularly employee behavior before an accident or injury. You may uncover patterns that you can take steps to prevent. The need for data is only going to grow, and more agencies are going to require data from companies. Take the opportunity to choose a technology solution now so that you’re ahead of the curve and prepared for what will inevitably come, Jamie advises. “You’re going to find that solution may be helpful for you in other areas.” He and Tom discuss the importance of making safety the first priority and how easily a brand can be damaged by neglecting safety. “Safety needs to be at the forefront of everyone’s list of priorities,” Jamie comments.
Resources
Jamie Spataro on LinkedIn
In the Episode, HughesHubbard partner Bryan Sillaman returns to discuss how a compliance professional can think through setting up an ESG program and clean energy issues. Highlights include:
- What are the 5 Steps to Establishing a Corporate ESG Policy.
- What is the role of corporation compliance in a company ESG policy?
- What is the role of compliance in a clean energy discussion as so critical and how does it relate to a greater ESG discussion?
- What are some of the key compliance risks relevant to the clean and renewables sector?
- Where do you see these issues under the Biden Administration? Is it different in the EU?
Recourses
Keeping the ‘Clean’ in Clean Energy by Bryan Sillaman
Five Steps for PE Sponsors to Establish ESG Policies at Their Portfolio Companies to Suit the Present Moment by Bryan Sillaman and Alexandra Poe
Last week on the Sunday Book Review, I considered recent book about William Faulkner. In this episode, I review my 4 favorite books by William Faulkner.
· The Light and the Fury
· As I Lay Dying
· Light In August
· Absalom Absalom
In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:
- Coinbase settles with CFTC for $6.5MM. (WSJ)
- Goldman employees ‘in a dark place’. (Houston Chronicle)
- Texas regulators have COI with industry they regulate (this is my shocked face). (WaPo)
- DOJ investigating Visa. (WSJ)
Over this special five-part podcast series, I have visited with Dr. Pat Harned, President of the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI), about the organization’s 2021 Global Business Ethics Survey (GBES). Since 1994, ECI has conducted this cross-sectional study of workplace conduct from the employee’s perspective. ECI’s GBES data provides the only global benchmark on the state of ethics and compliance (E&C) in business. This year’s GBES is the first compliance related survey conducted after the global pandemic hit. It has significant information for the compliance professional which they need to consider for every compliance program, literally on a world-wide basis.
While a multitude of factors influence ethical behavior, the GBES reports interplay of four major ethics outcomes are tied to the daily decisions employees make with respect to how they behave in the workplace. These are: pressure in the workplace to compromise ethical standards; observations of misconduct; reporting misconduct; and, ultimately, the retaliation perceived by employees after they reported misconduct. Some of this year’s findings are quite troubling as they are clearly trending in disturbing directions. Over this series we reviewed the key findings, saw how retaliation against whistleblowers has taken an alarming upturn, noted the impact of Covid-19 on culture. Today we close with some conclusions and recommendations.
To obtain a copy of the Survey, click here. To find out more about ECI, click here.