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The First Line of Defense: How Smarter Hiring Strengthens Compliance Programs

I have long advocated that your ethics and compliance program should be embedded directly into your hiring process. However, let me be even more succinct: compliance begins with the hiring process. A recent article in the Sloan Management Review, by William Reed, entitled “Ten Expert Tips for Smarter Hiring,” reviewed the hiring process and noted that “Each hiring decision shapes not only who joins your team but also how your company defines itself .” This means that every employee you bring on shapes not just the culture but also the risk profile of your organization. The flip side is that a single poor hiring choice can have a lasting impact on a business for years, while a strong hire can reinforce integrity and resilience.

For compliance professionals, the hiring process is more than a human resources function. It is a frontline defense against misconduct, reputational damage, and regulatory scrutiny. This makes the “Ten Expert Tips for Smarter Hiring” directly relevant for us. I have adapted this article through a compliance lens to determine lessons we can apply to building a workforce that supports ethics, integrity, and accountability.

1. Ask the Right Questions: Digging Past the Facade

Candidates often arrive at interviews with polished, even AI-generated, answers. The key is not just asking what they have done, but probing how and why they did it. Questions designed to elicit authentic responses, what Harris calls “bank-shot” questions, reveal traits like self-awareness, accountability, and judgment. In compliance-sensitive roles such as procurement, finance, or third-party management, probing questions can help determine whether a candidate dares to speak up, navigate ethical dilemmas, and handle pressure effectively. Hiring managers should coordinate with compliance to build integrity-related questions into interviews.

2. Probe for Substance, Not Scripts

It is not enough for candidates to recite processes. Follow-up questions should push them to explain reasoning, trade-offs, and lessons learned. This exposes whether the candidate has merely memorized best practices or internalized critical thinking. The DOJ consistently emphasizes the importance of judgment and decision-making. This is a key theme of the 2024 Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (2024 ECCP). Compliance officers can coach hiring teams to listen for signs of genuine ethical reasoning rather than canned responses.

3. Character Over Competence

Competence can be trained; character is more complex to teach. Research cited in the article emphasizes that while technical skills vary, core attributes such as honesty, resilience, and fairness are universal and should be given significant weight in hiring decisions. Compliance programs thrive in cultures of integrity. Hiring for character builds the foundation for a speak-up culture, ethical decision-making, and long-term trust. Compliance should partner with HR to design behavioral interview questions that test for integrity and moral alignment.

4. Highlight Meaningful Work

Top candidates want more than compensation; they want purpose. Cues from the recruiting process, as well as stories of meaningful work and culture, affect not just acceptance decisions but also long-term engagement. Compliance professionals can play a role in branding the organization as a place where doing the right thing is valued. When candidates see integrity celebrated, it strengthens your ethical brand and attracts talent that aligns with your compliance values.

5. Employer Branding as a Compliance Asset

Strong employer branding is not simply about market competitiveness. It communicates the company’s identity and priorities. A well-articulated employer brand can establish expectations for ethical conduct and compliance from the outset. Compliance messaging should be embedded in employer branding. For example, highlight your whistleblower program as a sign of transparency and fairness. Utilize recruitment materials to convey that ethical leadership is integral to the company’s culture.

6. Autonomy and Accountability

Flatter hierarchies and broader spans of control mean employees must self-manage more. The right employees thrive in autonomy, while others struggle to do so. With increased autonomy comes increased risk. Compliance should ensure that hiring processes screen for accountability and conscientiousness. Self-directed employees must be able to manage risks without constant oversight.

7. Don’t Overlook Internal Talent

Internal lateral moves can unlock untapped potential. They often produce better long-term outcomes because employees already understand the company’s values and systems. Promoting internal talent not only saves costs but also rewards employees who have demonstrated a commitment to compliance with company policies and culture. It signals that integrity and alignment with values are valued, thereby strengthening the culture.

8. Beware Over-Reliance on Vendor Tools

Pre-packaged talent management software may simplify hiring, but it risks overlooking the nuances of your organizational needs. Just as with third-party risk, outsourcing too much of hiring to generic tools can create blind spots. Compliance officers should advocate for custom criteria that reflect ethical considerations, industry-specific risks, and regulatory obligations.

9. Skills-Based Hiring Requires Culture Change

Skills-based hiring is valuable, but it is not a quick fix. It requires cultural change and consistency across hiring, promotion, and retention practices. The same applies to compliance. Hiring for skills like ethical reasoning, critical thinking, and cultural competence must be reinforced through training, promotion decisions, and leadership modeling. Otherwise, skills-based hiring risks being performative.

10. Deploy Your Best Interviewers

Data shows that some interviewers are consistently better at identifying strong hires. Yet few organizations systematically identify and deploy these interviewers. Compliance professionals should advocate for training interviewers to recognize the red flags of unethical behavior. Identifying your “compliance-savvy interviewers” and deploying them in critical hiring processes strengthens your ability to hire ethically aligned candidates.

Final Thoughts

Hiring is not just about filling positions; it is about shaping culture, building resilience, and protecting the enterprise. For compliance professionals, more innovative hiring means embedding compliance into the very first step of the employee lifecycle.

Harris tips provide a roadmap: ask the right questions, probe for substance, hire for character, highlight meaningful work, strengthen employer branding, embrace autonomy responsibly, value internal talent, customize tools, make cultural shifts for skills-based hiring, and deploy your best interviewers. When compliance is part of the hiring process, you don’t simply acquire talent; you utilize the entire process to help build a culture of integrity. That is the ultimate compliance win.

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31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

One Month to More Effective HR in Compliance: Day 3 – The Hiring Process

When it comes to hiring, it’s important to consider compliance, especially when it comes to family members of foreign government officials or employees of state-owned enterprises. In this podcast episode, Tom Fox discussed the importance of using the skill, will and fit approach to interviewing to try to weed out those persons who might not fit with the organization on an ethical and cultural basis.

The skill, will and fit approach to interviewing involves asking open-ended questions to determine whether the employee takes ownership of their work and has the hunger and creativity to succeed. For example, questions like “What’s the biggest impact you had at your past organization?” and “What do you want to do in five years?” can help to assess whether an employee might have a propensity to engage in bribery and corruption.

Tom also discussed the importance of having a frank discussion with prospective hires about what is expected of them in terms of engaging with the community. He used the example of the Houston Dash, a professional women’s soccer team, who are active in the local community and encourage their players to adopt local charities and become involved. This puts the importance of interacting with the public into their interview process.

There are three questions to analyze the hiring of a family member of a foreign government official or employee of a state-owned enterprise:

1. Does the candidate meet your hiring requirements?

2. Does the foreign official whose family member you are considering for hire demand or suggest that the company hire this prospective candidate?

3. Has the foreign official made or will make a decision which will benefit your company?

He also emphasized the importance of documenting any decisions made in order to avoid violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Additionally, he encouraged organizations to operationalize their compliance programs and to have a second set of eyes in the hiring process to provide another level of oversight.

When it comes to hiring, HR has a dual role with both a traditional hiring and a compliance function. Introducing the topic of compliance at the pre-employment stage may encourage potential employees with a propensity to engage in bribery and corruption to take their skills elsewhere. By using the skill, will and fit approach to interviewing, organizations can assess whether an employee might have a propensity to engage in bribery and corruption, and operationalize their compliance programs to ensure that all hiring decisions are documented and have a second set of eyes for oversight.

Three key takeaways:

  1. Use the interview process to determine who will be an ethical and compliance fit for your organization.
  2. Consider the skill, will and fit approach.
  3. Ask open-ended questions.

For more information, check out The Compliance Handbook, 4th edition, available on LexisNexis.com.

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31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

The Hiring Process as a Step to Operationalize Compliance


One of the conventional wisdoms about compliance training is that you will never be able to reach 5% of your workforce with compliance training because they are predisposed to lie, cheat and steal anyway. Whether they are simply sociopaths, scumbags or just bad people; it really does not matter. No amount of training is going to convince them to follow the rules, as they do not think such laws apply to them. They will lie, cheat and steal no matter what industry they are in and what training you provide to them. But knowing such people exist and they may be able to lie, con or otherwise dissimilate their way into your organization does not protect your company from FCPA liability when they inevitably violate the law by engaging in bribery and corruption. It is still the responsibility of your company to prevent and detect such conduct and then remediate if it occurs.
This is where your HR function has a dual role, with both their traditional hiring role and in a compliance function. They can work to help weed out such miscreants and to communicate your corporate values of doing business ethically, in compliance and aligned with your corporate values of integrity.
Through a structured series of questions, however, a properly trained HR professional can begin to assess whether an employee might have a propensity to engage in bribery and corruption. By adding information about your company’s values towards doing business ethically and in compliance, you can introduce this topic at either the interview evaluating process or in the promotion process. While true sociopaths will most certainly lie to you, perhaps even convincingly, by introducing the topic at such a pre-employment stage, they may be encouraged to take their skills elsewhere
Three key takeaways:

  1. Use the interview process to determine who will be an ethical and compliance fit for your organization.
  2. Consider the skill, will and fit approach.
  3. Ask open-ended questions.