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Compliance Tip of the Day

Compliance Tip of the Day: Assess and Act on Internal Reports Thoroughly

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.

The DOJ wants to know that companies take reports seriously. This means evaluating the seriousness of allegations promptly and thoroughly.

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Compliance Tip of the Day

Compliance Tip of the Day: Fostering a Culture of Speak Up

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 explore how the DOJ has placed significant emphasis on encouraging a culture where employees feel comfortable reporting misconduct.

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Innovation in Compliance

Innovation in Compliance: Evie Wentink on Rethinking Compliance

Innovation comes in many areas and compliance professionals need to not only be ready for it but embrace it. Join Tom Fox, the Voice of Compliance, as he visits with top innovative minds, thinkers, and creators in the award-winning Innovation in Compliance podcast.

In this episode, Tom welcomes back Evie Wentink to discuss the importance of rethinking ethics and compliance practices.

Evie shares insights from her recent LinkedIn articles on best practices for ethics hotlines and the importance of finding creative ways to engage employees in compliance topics. She reads a whimsical Dr. Seuss-inspired piece on reaching ethics hotlines and emphasizes the need for compliance messaging to be approachable and engaging. Additionally, Evie discusses the challenges compliance professionals face with limited budgets and offers practical solutions such as leveraging LinkedIn for networking and creating low-cost, effective compliance awareness tools.

The conversation also touches on the significance of changing the narrative around ethics and compliance for younger generations. Evie shares her experiences discussing compliance with her children and highlights the need for better education in schools to prepare future employees. She concludes by mentioning her new website, Ethical Edge Experts, and various platforms she’s using to spread compliance awareness. Tom and Evie agree on the necessity of continuous dialogue and innovation in the compliance field.

Key Highlights:

  • Rethinking Compliance Practices
  • Creative Messaging for Ethics Hotlines
  • Leveraging Low-Cost Resources
  • Engaging Managers in Compliance

Resources:
Evie Wentink on LinkedIn

Evie’s Top 10 Compliance Back to Basics

Tom Fox

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

LinkedIn

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Blog

Bank of America’s Corporate Culture Crisis: Part 4 – A Tale of Metrics and Misalignment: Lessons for Compliance Professionals

Compliance professionals constantly seek to understand how systemic issues within corporate hierarchies can lead to severe consequences. The recent revelations about Bank of America’s (BoA) persistent workplace culture problems are a powerful reminder of compliance’s critical role in safeguarding employees and the organization.

This week, I will explore the BoA failure around workplace culture from various perspectives articulated by the Everything Compliance gang, including Karen Woody, Jonathan Armstrong, Matt Kelly, Karen Moore, and Jonathan Marks. This exploration will include the failure of internal controls, failures by the Board and senior management, culture failures around highly driven, self-selecting employees, and the cultural miasma that is BoA from a perspective from across the pond. In Part 4, we consider a misconnection of metrics. This issue is not merely a question of productivity but a fundamental concern about corporate culture, ethics, and long-term sustainability.

In corporate governance and compliance, aligning business metrics and ethical obligations often defines a company’s culture’s success or failure. The recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article about BoA and its investment banking metrics sheds light on a crucial disconnect that compliance professionals must address: the disparity between business performance indicators and employee well-being.

At the heart of the issue is the nature of the metrics used to evaluate success in different industries. In investment banking, the primary focus is often on closing deals. The logic is straightforward: deals drive revenue, and revenue drives the bottom line. This singular focus on deal-making creates an environment where the end justifies the means, potentially overlooking the toll it takes on employees.

Conversely, in law firms, the metric of success is often billable hours. Lawyers are compensated and promoted based on the number of hours they bill, which can lead to a different, yet equally problematic, set of behaviors. Over-inflating hours or working excessive hours becomes the norm because that is the path to career advancement.

Both systems create perverse incentives: investment bankers might underreport hours to avoid raising HR flags, while lawyers might overreport hours to enhance their career prospects. These behaviors highlight a crucial point for compliance professionals: the metrics set at the top of an organization inevitably shape the behavior throughout the company.

One of the first steps in addressing these issues is understanding the available data and how it is used. Compliance professionals must ask themselves, “What data do we have, and how can it be used to monitor and manage risks effectively?” By focusing solely on deal closure, companies are potentially neglecting data related to employee well-being, such as hours worked or stress levels.

In contrast, law firms have systems that track the minutiae of an employee’s workday, from time spent on tasks to keystrokes made during document review. This data is invaluable for billing clients and identifying patterns that may indicate overwork or burnout. Compliance professionals in investment banking could learn from this approach, using technology to track hours worked or monitor workload distribution, ensuring that employees are kept within reasonable limits.

The core issue is more alignment between business metrics and corporate culture risks. Compliance professionals must ensure senior management acknowledges overwork as a significant risk and takes proactive steps to monitor and mitigate it. This involves tracking the traditional success metrics and implementing metrics that reflect the company’s values and culture.

For example, if overwork is recognized as a risk, metrics such as average hours worked, employee turnover rates, and employee satisfaction surveys should be regularly monitored and reported. This dual approach allows a company to pursue business success while ensuring its corporate culture remains healthy and sustainable.

The responsibility of aligning these metrics rests not solely with middle management, compliance officers, or senior management; it extends to the board of directors. The board’s oversight role is crucial in ensuring that the company’s culture is preserved in pursuing financial success. For boards everywhere, the recent scrutiny BoA received in the WSJ article serves as a lesson.

Board members must go beyond the surface level of management reports and delve into the realities of the workplace culture. This requires more than attending board meetings in luxurious settings and listening to pre-prepared presentations. It involves engaging directly with employees at all levels, understanding their challenges, and prioritizing their well-being.

A practical approach could involve the board requiring regular reports on employee well-being metrics, mandating internal audits focused on workplace culture, or even conducting anonymous employee surveys to get an unfiltered view of the corporate environment.

An effective compliance program also hinges on creating a culture where employees feel safe to voice their concerns. A speak-up culture is essential in identifying issues before they escalate into major risks. Management and the board should encourage employees to report inconsistencies between policy and practice and take these reports seriously.

For instance, if employees consistently report working beyond reasonable hours, this should trigger an investigation and subsequent action from the board. Such feedback mechanisms help identify risks and reinforce the company’s commitment to ethical practices.

Lastly, when issues do arise—such as the tragic death of a young employee in the Bank of America case—the board should conduct a root cause analysis. This analysis should not be limited to the immediate cause but should explore deeper systemic issues that may have contributed to the incident.

A comprehensive root cause analysis might reveal that the focus on deal closure at the expense of employee well-being is not an isolated issue but indicative of a broader cultural problem. The board could use this analysis to implement changes across the organization, ensuring that similar incidents do not occur in the future.

The lessons are clear: the metrics that companies use to measure success are powerful drivers of behavior. The challenge for compliance professionals is ensuring that these metrics align with business goals, ethical standards, and employee well-being. This requires a proactive approach, leveraging data to monitor business performance and corporate culture. It also requires a board that is engaged, informed, and committed to understanding the realities of the workplace.

In the end, compliance is not just about preventing legal and compliance risks but about fostering a corporate culture that values integrity, transparency, and the well-being of all employees. By aligning metrics with these values, companies can achieve sustainable success that benefits their bottom line and people.

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FCPA Compliance Report

FCPA Compliance Report: Exploring DOJ’s New Whistleblower Incentive Program with Mary Inman

Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest running podcast in compliance. In this edition of the FCPA Compliance Report, Tom Fox welcomes back Mary Inman, Partner at Whistleblower Partners LLC, to discuss the new DOJ Whistleblower Incentive Program.

Tom and Mary discuss the DOJ’s New Whistleblower Incentive Program’s aim to fill gaps in existing reward programs and its focus areas, including financial institution violations, foreign and domestic corruption, and healthcare offenses. Mary highlights some criticisms of the program, such as lack of a reward floor and the cap on rewards, and the potential challenges and impacts on corporate compliance. They also talk about the interplay between whistleblowers, DOJ, and corporate investigations, and the potential for adaptation of the program based on stakeholder feedback.

Highlights in this Episode:

  • DOJ Whistleblower Incentive Program Overview
  • Four Focus Areas of the New Program
  • Challenges and Criticisms of the Program
  • Concerns About Reward Mechanisms
  • Race to DOJ: Whistleblowers vs. Corporations
  • Implications for Corporate Compliance

Resources:

Mary Inman on LinkedIn

Whistleblower Partners

Tom Fox

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

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: Evie Wentink on Making Compliance Training Practical

Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest running podcast in compliance.

In this edition of the FCPA Compliance Report,  Tom Fox has a fascinating visit with Iveta (Evie) Wentink, a 15-year compliance veteran. Evie has worked in the public and private sectors and has expertise in compliance training, hotlines, government contract compliance, data privacy, reporting, & due diligence.

Evie has one of the most unique opening lines for hotline training, which is ‘Do You Know Your Hotline Number?” This simple yet incredibly important question encapsulates Evie’s approach to compliance training: make it simple, direct, and practical for the listeners. (Or, as Carsten Tams would say, ‘It’s all about the UX’).

Our conversation focuses on the critical role of hotline numbers in corporate compliance programs, emphasizing the need for employees to know and trust the hotline. Evie shares insights from her career, highlights the significance of marketing compliance hotlines effectively, and discusses the broader culture of compliance and non-retaliation in organizations. She shares practical tips for improving hotline awareness and usage, making this episode a valuable resource for compliance professionals and organizations alike.

Highlights in this Episode:

  • Enhancing Trust through Active Compliance Reporting
  • Promoting Reporting Culture Through Creative Marketing
  • Ethical Culture: Encouraging Compliance Reporting Safely
  • Enhancing Compliance Programs Through Anonymous Hotlines

Resources:

Evie Wentink on LinkedIn

Evie’s Top 10 Compliance Back to Basics

Tom Fox

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

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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Compliance Tip of the Day

Compliance Tip of the Day: Internal Reporting Outside The US, Part 2

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.

In this episode, I conclude a two-part discussion of steps a company needs to consider for internal reporting in jurisdictions outside the US.

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

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Compliance Tip of the Day

Compliance Tip of the Day: Internal Reporting Outside The US, Part 1

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.

In this episode, I will be having a two-part discussion of steps a company needs to consider for internal reporting in jurisdictions outside the US.

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

Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

FCPA Compliance Report – Nick Gallo on The Ethics and Compliance Optimization System

Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest-running podcast in compliance. In this episode, Tom Fox welcomes back Nick Gallo, co-CEO at Ethico, to discuss its Ethics and Compliance Optimization System.

Nick Gallo, co-CEO of Ethico, is a seasoned professional with a robust background in ethics and compliance, and a key player in the development and promotion of Ethico’s ethics and compliance optimization system. Gallo’s perspective on the topic of ethics and compliance optimization systems is shaped by his belief in a comprehensive, integrated approach to managing compliance efforts. He sees this system as a next-generation tool that interacts with other data pools, generating more analytics and insights. His experience has led him to advocate for a centralized repository for various types of business information, which can be accessed by compliance teams for better visibility across all data silos within an organization. Gallo also stresses the importance of automation and integration to eliminate manual and repetitive tasks, allowing compliance professionals to focus on more strategic and value-added activities.

 

Key Highlight:

  • Creating a centralized system for streamlining ethics and compliance
  • Why compliance needs a centralized data system for compliance professionals
  • The prevalence of retaliation in organizations
  • Leveraging data for proactive risk mitigation

Resources:

Nick Gallo on LinkedIn

Ethico

Ethics and Compliance Optimization System

Tom Fox

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

LinkedIn

For more information on Ethico and a free White Paper on top compliance issues in 2024, click here.

Categories
FCPA Compliance Report

Compliance Lessons from Venice – Into The Lion’s Mouth

In Part 3 of this special 3-episode series, we explore how Venice created the first modern hotline and whistleblower reporting system. Whistleblower and hotline reporting systems in compliance programs are crucial tools for organizations, providing a confidential platform for employees to report misconduct. Fox emphasizes the value of using an external hotline system, which offers an additional layer of anonymity and impartiality and can bring specialized expertise that may be difficult to match within an organization.

He also highlights the role of hotlines in collecting detailed information, which can provide greater insight into situations and help protect companies from accusations of negligence or wrongdoing. Fox underscores the need for hotlines to inspire employee confidence, offer on-demand support from subject matter experts, and provide in-built litigation support and avoidance tools. Join Tom Fox in this episode of the Compliance Lessons from Venice podcast to delve deeper into the significance of hotline reporting systems in compliance programs.