Tag: culture

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31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

One Month to a More Effective Compliance Program in Training and Communications – Compliance and the Clash of Cultures

One of the more difficult things to predict in the mergers and acquisition context is how the cultures of the two entities will merge. Further, while many mergers claim to be a ‘merger of equals’ the reality is far different as there is always one corporate winner that continues to exist and one corporate loser that simply ceases to exist. This is true across industries and countries; witness the debacle of Daimler Chrysler, the disaster of the HP acquisition of Autonomy, or the slow downhill slide of United Airlines, Inc. after its merger with Continental Airlines.

In the compliance space this clash of cultures is often seen. One company may have a robust compliance program, with a commitment from top management to have a best practices compliance program. The other company may put profits before compliance. Whichever company comes out the winner in the merger, it can certainly mean not only conflict but if the winning entity is not seen as valuing compliance, it may mean investigations and possibly even violations going forward.
Learning how your employees in other countries will approach decision-making and leadership will give you, as the CCO, insight into how they will approach compliance. It will require you to get out into the field to talk with folks. If your company grows organically or through M&A or the JV route, it will need to understand how your new employees will not only think through issues but how they will relate to instructions from the home office in America.

Three key takeaways:

  1. Culture clash through a merger can be extremely negative for a company.
  2. What are the cultures of leadership in your organization?
  3. Learning how your employees approach decision making can provide insight into how the will approach compliance.
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All Things Investigations

All Things Investigations: Episode 27 – Creating and Maintaining an Ethical Culture with Laura Paredes

 

Ethical misconduct can destroy a company’s reputation, result in fines and legal action, and erode trust with stakeholders. However, building an ethical culture is not easy, and compliance officers face many challenges in doing so. Ethical culture is not just about having a set of guidelines or policies in place, but rather, it’s about employees having strong values and principles that guide their decisions, even when no one is looking. In this episode of All Things Investigations, compliance expert Laura Paredes joins hosts Tom Fox and Mike DeBernardis to discuss what ethical culture means, how to achieve it, and signs that a company does or does not have an ethical culture.

Laura Paredes is the Compliance Director for the Americas at Ingram Micro, a Fortune 100 company and global technology distributor. She is a compliance expert with over 15 years of experience in the field, focusing on anti-corruption, anti-bribery, and antitrust compliance. Prior to her current role, Laura worked as a compliance attorney and auditor for leading multinational corporations. She has a law degree from Universidad de Buenos Aires and an LLM in International Business and Economic Law from Georgetown University.

You’ll hear Tom, Mike and Laura discuss:

  • An ethical culture is about employees having strong values and principles that guide their decisions, even when no one is looking.
  • An ethical culture is part of a company’s DNA and should allow employees to make the right decision, even if the rule is not written anywhere.
  • Signs that a company has an ethical culture include:
    • Positive peer pressure, where employees feel free to speak up and raise concerns without fear of retaliation.
    • Leadership plays a crucial role in creating and maintaining an ethical culture by communicating the values of the company and reinforcing them through middle management.
    • Transparency and an open-door policy.
  • Signs that a company does not have an ethical culture include employees being afraid to speak up, wrongdoing being allowed, and lack of accountability.
  • An ethical culture is led by committed leadership and requires institutional justice and fairness.
  • Establishing policies and procedures that are relevant and easy to understand is key, along with constant training and communication to employees.
  • Recognizing and rewarding good conduct can have a positive effect on the culture.
  • It’s important to have a plan for building an ethical culture and to have leadership and the Board of Directors on board with it.
  • Building alliances and working with other departments, such as audit and finance, can be effective in promoting compliance.

KEY QUOTES:

“An ethical culture is about employees having strong values, strong principles that they can apply when they’re going to make a business decision. It’s something that is part of the DNA of the company, and it’s something that will allow them to make the right decision even if the rule is not written anywhere.” – Laura Paredes

“When employees are not afraid to speak up, and they will openly bring concerns up to their managers or to a compliance officer or legal. They will feel free to ask questions they will not feel ashamed of… There is transparency and there is an open door policy and people feel free to speak up without fear of retaliation, that’s a good sign.” – Laura Paredes

“If you can work with an audit, if you can work with finance and share the same tools that they’re using to implement the compliance program, to communicate, to create a culture of compliance, then maybe you can reach more people and you can be more effective.” – Laura Paredes

Resources:

Hughes Hubbard & Reed website

Laura Paredes on LinkedIn

Ingram Micro

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Principled Podcast

Principled Podcast – S9E11 – How Rewards and Recognition Structures Build Ethical Workplace Culture

What you’ll learn on this podcast episode

Rewards and recognition are key tools for building an ethical workplace culture. Leveraging these creates a positive feedback loop and reinforces stated goals and standards. But what does successfully engaging employees through rewards and recognition structures look like in practice? How can these efforts catalyze values in action? In this episode of the Principled Podcast, Dr. Arieana Thompson, ethical culture advisor at LRN, discusses rewards and recognition structures with Alyssa Menard-Szacilo, a global strategic customer success manager at Alteryx. Listen in as the two explore how effective rewards and recognition structures foster ethical culture and inspire values-aligned behaviors in the workplace.

Guest: Alyssa Menard-Szacilo

Alyssa Menard-Szacilo – Grayscale

Alyssa Menard-Szacilo is an accomplished global customer success manager at Alteryx with extensive experience in data analytics and customer experience. She holds a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Colorado and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and criminal justice from Norwich University. 

Alyssa has played a key role in driving customer engagement and delivering measurable value to clients. She is committed to helping others succeed and is highly regarded by her colleagues and peers. In the last year Alyssa has received the Rookie of the Quarter and the Global Newcomer of the Year awards. 

Overall, Alyssa is a highly skilled and dedicated global customer success manager, committed to delivering exceptional results for clients and helping organizations achieve their goals. She brings a unique combination of expertise, experience, and passion to every project she undertakes, making her a valuable asset to her clients. 

Host: Arieana Thompson, PhD

Arieana_Thompson_Principled_Podcast

Dr. Arieana Thompson believes in positively transforming the modern-day workplace through thought-provoking, evidence-based insights.

Arieana is a subject matter expert in executive leadership, succession management, ethics and compliance (E&C), wellness cultures, and employee growth. Arieana has experience advising in internal and external settings and professional speaking. Arieana is a Certified Positive Intelligence Coach (CPQC), helping leaders and individuals to cultivate self-awareness, harness natural strengths, and reduce stress.

As a scientist-practitioner, Arieana researches and publishes well-being, culture, and leadership thought pieces in industry and peer-reviewed academic journals. These publications enable executives to create and sustain values-led, profitable, and creative companies.

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Creativity and Compliance

What the Heck Are We Doing?

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 that 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.

Get ready to tap into the minds of compliance gurus, Tom Fox and Ronnie Feldman, as they dive into how corporate culture impacts compliance. In today’s world, corporate culture is a key element of a best practice compliance program. However, many companies still focus on monitoring, risk assessment, policies, and procedures. Ronnie argues that the main goal of compliance is to stop people from doing bad things and to live up to company values. Discover how to create psychologically safe environments, train leaders to build trust, and use interesting and informative content to make your communication and training more engaging. Learn how middle management can work with compliance to build trust, regain institutional fairness for employees who speak up, and undo the lack of integrity observed in many organizations. Creativity and Compliance invites you to reach out for more information about the philosophy behind their solutions. Listen to the podcast today to take the first step towards a culture of compliance!

Key Highlights

·      The Importance of Corporate Culture in Compliance Programs

·      Addressing social and leadership environments in organizations

·      Promoting Integrity and Institutional Trust

·      Engaging Compliance Training Techniques

Key Quote

“We’re trying to stop people from doing bad things or said in a positive way. We’re trying to help We want our employees to live up to our values. Right?”

Resources:

Ronnie

Tom

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

LinkedIn

Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

Ethics Madness 2023

Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest-running podcast in compliance. This episode was recorded during March Madness, the return of Jason Meyer and Tom For Ethics Madness. In Ethics Madness, dive into the ethical questions surrounding the University of Alabama basketball team and their missteps in handling incidents involving their players. In this exciting podcast, the hosts discuss the possibility of redemption for individuals who have committed past indiscretions and how companies must vet their employees for a better work environment. They also cover topics such as mental health, the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, and how companies should embrace ESG for a better business process. You’ll also hear insightful interviews with professionals on compliance and ethics education and enjoy fun segments like the Compliance Anthem of the Week. Don’t miss out on this amazing podcast that will inspire and educate compliance and ethics professionals. 

Key Highlights

·      Ethics in Sports: University of Alabama Basketball

·      Can you love art but not artists?

·      Redemption for unethical behavior in sports

·      The Power of Forgiveness & Reputation Management in Sports

·      Mental health in the compliance profession

·      Political Pressure on DEI Programs in the Southern States

·      Fostering DEI in Organizations

·      Core values and politics in universities & ESG betting

·      ESG in Energy Business Processes

·      Ivy League success in March Madness

·      Professional skepticism and NCAA tournament predictions

 Notable Quotes

“Should I feel guilty that I put the tide in my bracket?”

“Even energy companies are doing ESG. Why? Because they see it in their self-interest.”

“Spending more time and more attention now helping organizations with including and engaging with the neurodivergent people in their workforces and trying to involve those workers in ethics compliance, and that’s been fascinating work as well.”

“And to me, Tom, this debate feels like a debate at the core of ethics and compliance because this is an example of some core values.”

Resources

Jason Meyer on LinkedIn

The Eight Mindsets Podcast on Spotify

Tom Fox

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

LinkedIn

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31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

One Month to More Effective Internal Controls – Culture as a Foundational Internal Control

To conclude this month’s series on Internal Controls, I am joined by Vin DiCianni, Founder and CEO of AMI. We discuss how corporate culture is a foundational internal control. It is a fascinating topic that is not discussed enough by compliance professionals.

3 Key Takeaways.

  1. It must start at the top.
  2. Hiring is critical to creating and sustaining an ethical culture.
  3. Creative internal controls around culture.
Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

Erica Salmon Byrne – Information is a Gift

Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest-running podcast in compliance. In this episode, I am joined by Erica Salmon Byrne, the CEO of Ethisphere, to discuss the company’s recent “2023 Ethical Culture Report: Lessons from the Pandemic.” Erica shares that the report found a significant uptick in reported cases of bullying, likely due to masking feelings with the anonymity of a keyboard. While an employee’s direct manager is most often the first avenue for employees to report concerns, other forms of reporting weren’t utilized due to a fear of retaliation. Erica suggests that companies need to make it easy for employees to communicate broader ethical issues, as doing so will result in a tripling of employee faith in the system.

Key Highlights:

·      The Impact of the Pandemic on Bullying Incidents

·      Reasons Younger Employees Don’t Speak Up When Witnessing Unethical Behavior

·      Creating a Speak Up Culture in the Workplace

·      Improving Communication Between Employees and Managers

·      Reporting Issues to Managers: Examining the Results of a Recent Report

·      The Importance of Managerial Leadership in Ethical Decision Making

·      The Importance of Making it Easier for Employees to Report Issues

Notable Quotes

1.    “Employee willingness to raise their hand stayed pretty steady.”

2.    “It’s a lot easier to be a jerk behind a keyboard than to be a jerk to somebody’s face.”

3.    “The reason we have non-retaliation language in our code is that information is a gift.”

4.    “Think of the information as a gift, practice thinking of the information as a gift, and then your responsibility as the manager is to listen and follow up.”

Resources:

Ethisphere Resources

·      Ethisphere

·      2023 Ethical Culture Report

Connect with Erica Salmon Byrne

●      LinkedIn

Connect with Tom Fox

●      LinkedIn

Categories
Everything Compliance

Episode 109, The New Year’s Edition

Welcome to the only roundtable podcast in compliance as we celebrate our second century of shows. Everything Compliance has been honored by W3 as the top talk show in podcasting. In this episode, we have the quintet of Jay Rosen, Jonathan Armstrong, Jonathan Marks, Tom Fox, and Matt Kelly, all discussing issues they are looking at as we begin 2023. We conclude with our fan-fav Shout Outs and Rants section.

  1. Matt Kelly looks at some of the ESG issues he will be following in 2023, including SEC rules around ESG, potential audit requirements, who will hold this function internally, and the new role of the ESG Controller. He rants about Zulily and its SOX compliance failures which allowed an employee to embezzle over $300,000.

2. Jonathan Marks looks at corporate governance issues in 2023, including board structure and guidance, recent Board failures, and Board oversight and monitoring. He shouts out to the NFL to cancelling the game between the Bengals and Bills.

3. Tom Fox shouts out to the 50th anniversary of School House Rock and lists his top five.

4. Jonathan Armstrong gives us a preview of 5 key issues he is following for 2023: ESG, GDPR fines, ransomware, supply chain risk issues, and crypto scams. He rants about the mistreatment of Prince Harry’s dog and asks if the dog was traumatized when Prince William knocked his brother (Prince Harry) down and broke the dog’s food bowl.

5. Jay Rosen reviews acronyms that drive him crazy. He shouts out to EMS personnel in Cincinnati for training and being prepared when Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during the Bills game and saved his life.

The members of Everything Compliance are:

•       Jay Rosen– Jay is Vice President, Business Development Corporate Monitoring at Affiliated Monitors. Rosen can be reached at JRosen@affiliatedmonitors.com

•       Karen Woody – One of the top academic experts on the SEC. Woody can be reached at kwoody@wlu.edu

•       Matt Kelly – Founder and CEO of Radical Compliance. Kelly can be reached at mkelly@radicalcompliance.com

•       Jonathan Armstrong –is our UK colleague, who is an experienced data privacy/data protection lawyer with Cordery in London. Armstrong can be reached at jonathan.armstrong@corderycompliance.com

•       Jonathan Marks is Partner, Firm Practice Leader – Global Forensic, Compliance & Integrity Services at Baker Tilly. Marks can be reached at jonathan.marks@bakertilly.com

The host and producer, ranter (and sometime panelist) of Everything Compliance is Tom Fox, the Voice of Compliance. He can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com. Everything Compliance is a part of the Compliance Podcast Network.

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Creativity and Compliance

Training Jams – Using Music to Communicate E&C

Where does creativity fit into compliance? In more places than you think. Problem-solving, accountability, communication, and connection – 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 people’s entertainment devices 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, Tom and Ronnie discuss a great new series of offerings by L&E, entitled ‘E&C Training Jams.’ E&C Training Jams are an offering by L&E using music as a non-traditional way to communicate with your employees and to build an overall culture of compliance in your organization. In Training Jams, a soulful singer banters about ethics & compliance, explaining policies, sharing examples, and debunking excuses. Ronnie goes so far as to say about E&C Training Jams, “quite frankly, the coolest thing that I’ve ever made because the music gets stuck in your head, and they leave you with a smile.”

Resources:

Check out  Ronnie Feldman on LinkedIn

Check out Learnings & Entertainments on LinkedIn

Follow Ronnie Feldman on Twitter

Learnings & Entertainments 

 L&E Offerings-E&C Training Jams

E&C Jams Sizzle Reel

E&C Jams Promo Reel Landing page

E&C Jams Web Page

Categories
GalloCast

Gallocast – Episode 5

Welcome to the GalloCast. You have heard of the Manningcast in football. Now we have the GalloCast in compliance. The two top brothers in compliance, Nick and Gio Gallo, come together for a free-form exploration of compliance topics. It is a great insight on compliance brought to you by the co-CEOs of Ethico. Fun, witty, and insightful with a dash of the two brothers throughout. It’s like listening to the Brothers Gallo talk compliance at the dinner table. Hosted by Tom Fox, the Voice of Compliance.

Topics in this episode include:

  • FTX
  • Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced. End of an era in tech?
  • Compliance program incentives and clawbacks.
  • Assessing culture.
  • Monaco Memo

Resources

Nick Gallo on LinkedIn

Gio Gallo on LinkedIn

Ethico