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Creativity and Compliance

Creativity and Compliance – Upping Your Compliance Game

Where does creativity fit into compliance? In more places than you think. Problem-solving, accountability, communication, and connection—they all take creativity. Join Tom Fox and Ronnie Feldman on Creativity and Compliance, part of the award-winning Compliance Podcast Network.

Ronnie’s company, Learnings and Entertainment, utilizes the entertainment devices people use to consume information in their everyday, non-work lives and apply it to important topics around compliance and ethics. It is not only about being funny. It is about changing the tone of your compliance communications and messaging to make your compliance program, policies, and resources more accessible. In this episode of Creativity and Compliance, Tom Fox and Ronnie Feldman take up the challenge handed down by Hui Chen in light of the administration’s suspension of FCPA enforcement to up their compliance game.

Ronnie begins by advocating for a transformation in compliance training, suggesting a shift from traditional e-learning methods to engaging communication campaigns emphasizing a Speak Up Culture and seamlessly integrating compliance into daily business operations. He believes that by using short, entertaining formats and training leaders to present content playfully, compliance can become more interesting and effective, positioning compliance professionals as valuable assets through proactive engagement and collaboration. Tom underscores the importance of compliance professionals being approachable and communicative, serving as problem solvers who collaborate with business units to achieve unexpected, beneficial outcomes. Both experts agree that by humanizing the compliance function and focusing on values and behaviors, compliance professionals can enhance their programs and contribute significantly to organizational success.

Key highlights:

  • Engaging Communication Campaigns for Compliance Training
  • Strategic Communication for Compliance Professionals
  • Cultivating Proactive Compliance Culture through Training Programs
  • Strategic Engagement for Compliance Professionals

Resources:

Ronnie

  • Learnings & Entertainments (Website)
  • Compliance Confessions – inspired by “Mean Tweets” these 90-second commercials address misconceptions and excuses to promote speak up culture and the E&C team as positive and helpful.
  • E&C Training Jams – a soulful singer banters with ethics & compliance explaining policies, sharing examples and debunking excuses. 
  • Tales from the Hotline – Real speak up-themed stories about workplace behavior gone wrong.
  • Workplace Tonight Show! – E&C meets SNL Weekend Update explaining corporate risk topics and why employees should care.
  • 60-Second Communication & Awareness Shorts – A variety of short, customizable, music and multimedia, quick-hitter “commercials” promoting integrity, compliance, speaking up and the E&C team as helpful advisors and coaches.
  • Custom Live & Digital Programing – Custom creative programming that balances the seriousness of the subject matter with a more engaging delivery. After all, you can’t bore people into learning.

Tom

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LinkedIn

For more information on the Ethico ROI Calculator and a free White Paper on the ROI of Compliance, click here.

Creativity and Compliance was recently honored as one of the Top 35 Podcasts on Creativity by Feedspot.

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Blog

The Personalization Imperative: Lessons for Compliance Professionals 

Personalization has emerged as a transformative force in modern business and modern communications. Marketing is no longer about addressing a customer by name in an email but delivering tailored experiences at scale, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven insights. In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, entitled Personalization Done Right, authors Mark Abraham and David Edelman wrote about how companies like SonderMind, Spotify, and Sweetgreen lead the charge, using innovative personalization strategies to create value and delight their customers. However, personalization presents some interesting opportunities for compliance professionals to balance innovation with regulatory obligations, ethical considerations, and data privacy concerns.

Today, I want to examine the lessons that compliance professionals can draw from the personalization strategies outlined in the BCG Personalization Index. I will focus on maintaining compliance while enabling businesses to leverage personalization as a competitive advantage. 

The Five Promises of Personalization 

Personalization leaders succeed by fulfilling five implicit promises to their customers:

  1. Empower Me – Make my experience seamless and intuitive.
  2. Know Me – Use my data responsibly to understand my needs.
  3. Reach Me – Engage with me at the right time, on the right channel.
  4. Show Me – Provide relevant, tailored content.
  5. Delight Me – Continuously improve my experience through innovation.

Each of these promises presents opportunities and risks that compliance professionals must navigate.

  • Empower Me: Enhancing the Customer Journey 

Businesses like SonderMind demonstrate how personalization can empower users. SonderMind’s mental wellness app analyzes individual data to suggest actionable steps, such as meditation or journaling, and arm therapists with anonymized insights to optimize treatment plans. This results in better outcomes for patients and reduced costs for insurers.

For the compliance professional empowering employees (the customers of compliance), Personalization leaders start by asking: How can I make the employee’s experience better by personalizing it? For a compliance professional, this means understanding an employee’s unique needs at every step of their journey and deciding how personalization can best help them. The Department of Justice calls this ‘targeted’ training and communications.

  • Know Me: Building Trust Through Data 

The authors point to Sweetgreen, “a newcomer to the restaurant business relative to the largest chains,” which illustrates this point well. Right from its start, in 2007, it invested in building digital customer relationships. It launched a mobile app in 2013, ahead of many large restaurant chains, and progressively added features such as mobile ordering, delivery, personalized offers and challenges, and a loyalty program to drive digital engagement.

Here, the compliance professional can not only stream compliance communications more efficiently but also use those same communications to build relationships and trust with your employees. Obviously, this is directly in the compliance wheelhouse, as data governance is paramount. Compliance teams must oversee the integration of customer data across systems, ensuring it is accurate, secure, and used in accordance with stated policies.

  • Reach Me: Engaging Responsibly 

Having the data to know the customer is not enough. Your organization must use AI to identify triggers to reach out, such as when a customer browses online or inquires. Then, orchestrate touches across channels and use smart frequency management to ensure their touches are coordinated and not overwhelming. The authors pointed to Cisco, whom they said is “a personalization leader. Its sales team knows whom to contact, when, and about what and comes armed with relevant content and demos. Because Cisco’s sales and marketing teams are closely linked, customers get coordinated exposure to content that supports their needs and that opens up sales dialogues.”

This is precisely how compliance professionals should think about targeted and effective training and communications. This type of coordinated approach, based on employee needs or questions, can pay off with big compliance benefits. Overreach will turn off employees if the communications are bad, useless, and overwhelming. You do not want to cause ‘compliance communication fatigue.’ Compliance professionals must monitor how AI models are recommended, ensuring they align with legal standards and ethical norms.

  • Show Me: Tailoring Content 

Pandora shows how generative AI can create personalized content, reducing production times and improving engagement. The authors noted, “The global jewelry brand Pandora thrives by sparking customer interest with inspirational content. As part of its strategy, it uses AI-generated content to tailor its messaging to each customer and cut cycle times for certain types of content creation from 12 to 14 months to a mere 10 days. The company learned that personalizing the background and model image for each individual—and coordinating how the customer sees those images across emails, websites, and other ads—substantially improved conversion rates.”

This speaks to the DOJ mandate for tailored training. However, you should also consider the business ethics message you can give customers. It can be similar to that of other companies that have gotten into FCPA or other regulatory trouble, celebrating your employees who have done the right thing or consistent messages from your CEO or senior executive about doing business ethically and in compliance.

  • Delight Me: Driving Continuous Improvement 

Personalization leaders adopt agile working methods to accelerate testing and learning, improving the intelligence behind each customer interaction. Companies like DoorDash epitomize the “delight me” promise by running hundreds of micro-experiments to refine their personalization efforts. This agile approach enables rapid innovation but requires robust oversight to ensure compliance with regulations.

Continuous improvement is directly in the wheelhouse of compliance. You should be able to take the feedback you receive from your employees and incorporate that information into your future communications. Even more exciting is the opportunity to have employees individually improve their ways of doing business ethically and in compliance. Compliance professionals should collaborate with product teams to ensure experiments respect privacy laws and customer expectations.

Key Lessons for Compliance Professionals 

  1. Embrace the Role of Enabler. Compliance should not be a roadblock to innovation. Instead, compliance professionals can enable responsible personalization by embedding themselves in cross-functional teams and offering solutions aligning with business goals and regulatory requirements.
  2. Prioritize Data Privacy. As personalization relies heavily on customer data, compliance teams must prioritize data privacy and security. This includes ensuring compliance with global regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and industry-specific standards.
  3. Establish AI Governance. AI is a cornerstone of modern personalization. Compliance professionals must develop and enforce governance frameworks to ensure AI is used ethically and transparently.
  4. Foster a Culture of Transparency. Customers are more likely to trust companies that are upfront about how their data is used. Compliance teams should advocate for clear and accessible privacy policies.
  5. Monitor Regulatory Trends. Personalization efforts are subject to evolving regulations. Compliance professionals must stay informed about changes in data privacy, AI ethics, and advertising standards to guide their organizations effectively.

The Future of Compliance is Personalization 

The rise of personalization presents compliance professionals with a unique opportunity to lead. By ensuring that personalization efforts are ethical, transparent, and compliant, they can help their organizations build trust, drive innovation, and achieve sustainable growth.

As the BCG Personalization Index shows, companies that excel in personalization delight their customers and create significant business value. The same applies to a corporate compliance function and its customers, IE., employees. Compliance professionals are essential to realizing this potential, ensuring businesses can innovate responsibly and thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Compliance is not simply about preventing wrongdoing but enabling your organization to do things correctly. Personalization of compliance is no exception. Compliance professionals should embrace this opportunity and take charge of a future where personalization and compliance go hand in hand.

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Creativity and Compliance

Creativity and Compliance – 10 Creative Tips for 2025

Where does creativity fit into compliance? In more places than you think. Problem-solving, accountability, communication, and connection—they all take creativity. Join Tom Fox and Ronnie Feldman on Creativity and Compliance, part of the award-winning Compliance Podcast Network.

Ronnie’s company, Learnings and Entertainment, utilizes the entertainment devices people use to consume information in their everyday, non-work lives and applies it to important topics around compliance and ethics. It is not only about being funny. It is about changing the tone of your compliance communications and messaging to make your compliance program, policies, and resources more accessible. In this episode of Creativity and Compliance, host Tom Fox and Ronnie Feldman review their top 10 lessons learned from creative compliance initiatives for 2025.

They discuss the importance of keeping communication short and simple, the value of frequent reminders over extensive training, and making compliance resources easily accessible. They also cover leveraging positivity and a mix of rewards and penalties to engage employees. They highlight the significance of psychological safety, the role of influencers in promoting compliance, and the necessity for variety in communication methods. Lastly, they emphasize the power of fun in making compliance messages memorable and effective. Join them for an insightful and entertaining recap aimed at making compliance both engaging and effective in the year to come.

Key highlights:

1: Keep It Short and Simple (KISS)

2: Forget Me Not

3: Where’s Waldo?

4: Positivity in Compliance

5: Carrots and Sticks

6: Safety First

7: Be an Influencer

8: Variety is the Spice of Life

9: You Can’t Be Serious

10: The Power of Fun

Resources:

Ronnie

  • Learnings & Entertainments (Website)
  • Compliance Confessions – inspired by “Mean Tweets” these 90-second commercials address misconceptions and excuses to promote speak up culture and the E&C team as positive and helpful.
  • E&C Training Jams – a soulful singer banters with ethics & compliance explaining policies, sharing examples and debunking excuses. 
  • Tales from the Hotline – Real speak up-themed stories about workplace behavior gone wrong.
  • Workplace Tonight Show! – E&C meets SNL Weekend Update explaining corporate risk topics and why employees should care.
  • 60-Second Communication & Awareness Shorts – A variety of short, customizable, music and multimedia, quick-hitter “commercials” promoting integrity, compliance, speaking up and the E&C team as helpful advisors and coaches.
  • Custom Live & Digital Programing – Custom creative programming that balances the seriousness of the subject matter with a more engaging delivery. After all, you can’t bore people into learning.

Tom

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For more information on the Ethico ROI Calculator and a free White Paper on the ROI of Compliance, click here.

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Creativity and Compliance

Creativity and Compliance – Innovative Compliance Strategies with Jim Webb

Where does creativity fit into compliance? In more places than you think. Problem-solving, accountability, communication, and connection – they all take creativity. Join Tom Fox and Ronnie Feldman on Creativity and Compliance, part of the award-winning Compliance Podcast Network.

Ronnie’s company, Learnings, and Entertainment, utilizes the entertainment devices people use to consume information in their everyday, non-work lives and apply it to important topics around compliance and ethics. It is not only about being funny. It is about changing the tone of your compliance communications and messaging to make your compliance program, policies, and resources more accessible. In this episode of Creativity and Compliance, host Tom Fox and Ronnie Feldman are joined by Jim Webb, SVP, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at Continental Resources.

The trio explores unique approaches to making compliance training engaging and effective. Jim shares his journey from delivering dry, academic training in private practice to implementing creative and interactive compliance training methods in-house. He emphasizes the importance of making training enjoyable and relatable to drive real behavioral change among employees. The discussion also touches on integrating frequent and varied compliance messages into the organizational culture, taking cues from successful safety training methods.

Listeners will learn how short, engaging snippets of information can be more effective than long, infrequent training sessions. Jim also discusses the positive impact of these strategies on employee engagement and the overall compliance culture. The episode provides practical tips for compliance professionals looking to innovate and improve their training programs to achieve better compliance outcomes.

Key highlights:

  • The Importance of Creative Compliance
  • Overcoming Resistance to Creative Compliance
  • Engaging Compliance Training Methods
  • Safety and Compliance: A Comparative Discussion
  • Effective Compliance Communication Strategies

Resources:

Ronnie

  • Learnings & Entertainments (Website)
  • Compliance Confessions – inspired by “Mean Tweets” these 90-second commercials address misconceptions and excuses to promote speak up culture and the E&C team as positive and helpful.
  • E&C Training Jams – a soulful singer banters with ethics & compliance explaining policies, sharing examples and debunking excuses. 
  • Tales from the Hotline – Real speak up-themed stories about workplace behavior gone wrong.
  • Workplace Tonight Show! – E&C meets SNL Weekend Update explaining corporate risk topics and why employees should care.
  • 60-Second Communication & Awareness Shorts – A variety of short, customizable, music and multimedia, quick-hitter “commercials” promoting integrity, compliance, speaking up and the E&C team as helpful advisors and coaches.
  • Custom Live & Digital Programing – Custom creative programming that balances the seriousness of the subject matter with a more engaging delivery. After all, you can’t bore people into learning.

Tom

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Jim Webb on LinkedIn

For more information on the Ethico ROI Calculator and a free White Paper on the ROI of Compliance, click here.

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Great Women in Compliance

Great Women in Compliance – Jacquelyn Pruet on Driving Change in Challenging Environments

In this episode, Sarah Hadden visits Jacquelyn Pruet — a former regulator with a broad background in corporate communications strategy and behavioral change management. They discuss Pruet’s recent top-performing article for CCI (A Former Regulator’s Advice on Implementing New DOJ Guidance), then explore Pruet’s tenure as a communication and training specialist for the Texas Department of Public Safety and, later, as a communication and policy specialist for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

We delve into:

  • Red flags (and red flares) that signal to the DOJ that a program is lacking
  • Why your program’s KPIs are the “bare minimum.”
  • How Pruet’s Google Reviews experiment proves that influence is the key to effective communication strategy

Jacquelyn Pruet is a change management specialist, legal expert, and communications strategist known for her ability to drive measurable behavioral change through the creation of award-winning, educational, and impactful content. With extensive experience in banking, law enforcement, and contract manufacturing, she has specialized in executive leadership communication, mergers and acquisition transition assimilation, and legal compliance. Jacquelyn excels in navigating complex environments to achieve strategic outcomes and facilitate effective organizational change. She formerly was chief regulatory policy writer for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

Thanks, as always, to our sponsor, Corporate Compliance Insights, and our wonderful #GWIC community.  You can join the Great Women in Compliance community on LinkedIn here.

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Compliance Tip of the Day

Compliance Tip of the Day: Bank of America, Culture and Internal Controls

Welcome to “Compliance Tip of the Day,” the podcast where we bring you daily insights and practical advice on navigating the ever-evolving landscape of compliance and regulatory requirements.

Whether you’re a seasoned compliance professional or just starting your journey, our aim is to provide you with bite-sized, actionable tips to help you stay on top of your compliance game.

Join us as we explore the latest industry trends, share best practices, and demystify complex compliance issues to keep your organization on the right side of the law.

Tune in daily for your dose of compliance wisdom, and let’s make compliance a little less daunting, one tip at a time.

Today we look at the recent report from the WSJ on Bank of America managers instructing junior employees to lie about the hours they work to avoid the 80-hour limit.

For more information on the Ethico ROI Calculator and a free White Paper on the ROI of Compliance, click here.

To check out The Compliance Handbook, 5th edition, click here.

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Compliance Tip of the Day

Compliance Tip of the Day: 360 – Degrees of Communications

Welcome to “Compliance Tip of the Day,” the podcast where we bring you daily insights and practical advice on navigating the ever-evolving landscape of compliance and regulatory requirements.

Whether you’re a seasoned compliance professional or just starting your journey, our aim is to provide you with bite-sized, actionable tips to help you stay on top of your compliance game.

Join us as we explore the latest industry trends, share best practices, and demystify complex compliance issues to keep your organization on the right side of the law.

Tune in daily for your dose of compliance wisdom, and let’s make compliance a little less daunting, one tip at a time.

Today we consider what a 360-Degrees of communications.

For more information on the Ethico ROI Calculator and a free White Paper on the ROI of Compliance, click here.

To check out The Compliance Handbook, 5th edition, click here.

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Compliance Tip of the Day

Compliance Tip of the Day: Introduction to Communications and Training

Welcome to “Compliance Tip of the Day,” the podcast where we bring you daily insights and practical advice on navigating the ever-evolving landscape of compliance and regulatory requirements.

Whether you’re a seasoned compliance professional or just starting your journey, our aim is to provide you with bite-sized, actionable tips to help you stay on top of your compliance game.

Join us as we explore the latest industry trends, share best practices, and demystify complex compliance issues to keep your organization on the right side of the law.

Tune in daily for your dose of compliance wisdom, and let’s make compliance a little less daunting, one tip at a time.

Today we are taking a look at the role of training and communications in compliance programs.

For more information on the Ethico ROI Calculator and a free White Paper on the ROI of Compliance, click here.

To check out The Compliance Handbook, 5th edition, click here.

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Creativity and Compliance

Creativity and Compliance: Global Engagement Strategies

Where does creativity fit into compliance? In more places than you think. Problem-solving, accountability, communication, and connection all require creativity. Join Tom Fox and Ronnie Feldman on Creativity and Compliance, part of the award-winning Compliance Podcast Network.

Ronnie’s company, Learnings and Entertainment, utilizes the entertainment devices that people use to consume information in their everyday, non-work lives, and applies it to important topics around compliance and ethics. It is not only about being funny. It is about changing the tone of your compliance communications and messaging to make your compliance program, policies, and resources more accessible.

Today Ronnie and Tom consider global engagement strategies for a multi-national corporation.

Global engagement strategies encompass a broad and evolving discipline that requires innovative and adaptive mechanisms to effectively connect with a diverse, multinational workforce. Tom highlights the limitations of a “one size fits all” approach and the importance of incorporating engaging elements such as humor and entertainment in global engagement strategies. His perspective is shaped by the belief that it is more effective to tailor content to specific audiences, thus cultivating a library of diverse and engaging content.

Ronnie emphasizes the significance of employing a variety of creative and entertaining approaches, including humor, animation, music, and interactive elements. His experiences underline the notion that traditional methods may not always be the most effective and that leveraging different tools, even if it involves taking risks, can lead to a greater understanding and engagement in a global context.

Key Highlights:

  • Creative Engagement Techniques for Global Workforce
  •  Global Resonance: Music in Communication Strategies
  • AI-Enabled Multilingual Content Transformation
  • AI Subtitling: Cost-Efficient Global Content Localization

Resources:

Ronnie

Tom

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YouTube

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LinkedIn

For more information on the Ethico ROI Calculator and a free White Paper on the ROI of Compliance, click here.

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FCPA Compliance Report

FCPA Compliance Report – Dr. Karen Jacobson on Bridging Cultural Divides for International Success

Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest-running podcast in compliance. Today, I visited Dr. Karen Jacobson, a renowned expert in organizational leadership and communication. She provides guidance for compliance professionals around leadership.

Dr. Karen Jacobson is a seasoned professional with a rich background in healthcare, public speaking, and business consulting. Her perspective on effective leadership and communication in diverse workplaces is shaped by her experiences in war, the military, healthcare, and even her time as a competitive amateur ballroom dancer. Jacobson believes that effective leadership requires understanding and adapting to the needs of different audiences, tailoring communication to resonate with them, and being culturally aware. She emphasizes the importance of leaders adapting their language and communication style based on the audience’s behavior style, emotions, and level of understanding and learning about the customs, language, and etiquette of the cultures they interact with.

Join Tom Fox and Karen Jacobson on this episode of the FCPA Compliance Report to delve deeper into this insightful perspective.

Key Highlights:

  • The Power of Active Listening in Leadership
  • The Art of Navigating Generational Communication
  • Bridging Cultural Divides for International Success
  • Developing Middle Managers through Targeted Training
  • Understanding Generational Values and Communication Styles

Resources:

Karen Jacobson

Website

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Instagram

Tom Fox

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Facebook

YouTube

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