How A Compliance Program Becomes Ineffective (And Unrealistic)
There is a critical difference between understanding compliance in theory and knowing how to integrate it successfully into an existing business. Consultants who are hired to build a program and train employees on compliance matters must be aware of it and have a plan. Otherwise, they run the risk of being ineffective. Their role is not merely to teach a compliance class or give their clients the tools to establish a program. A consultant in the corporate compliance field has to be familiar with:
WHERE the company is located: country culture
HOW the business internal and external environment work: industry and workplace mindset
WHAT each department does: Responsibility
WHO is responsible for what: accountability
WHY the organization operates the way it does: workflow
WHEN the need of implementing a compliance program was triggered: embracement
Theories are important because they will work in furtherance of a compliance program, yet they represent a piece of this huge puzzle.
Let’s Roll Up Our Sleeves
Consultants in charge of building and implementing a compliance program must go deep into the business veins, breathe their systems, understand the logic behind an ERP, and know the processes that are running in manufacturing, procurement, human resources, finance, accounting, sales, legal, and so on.
An effective compliance program requires the professional hired to assist with the implementation of profound analytical skills and the application of strong and disciplined problem-solving skills.
Solely having the theory copied and pasted from others’ books or articles, and listing the compliance program elements, all written in a report, will take a company’s compliance culture nowhere.
Solely hiring compliance officers, buying sophisticated software, or creating thousands of policies to strengthen their compliance programs may be redundant and wasteful because they alone don’t deliver results.
A powerful combination of consultants with practical knowledge, supportive leadership, and a robust compliance program, promotes an environment where employees and reliable third parties obey the rules not just because they fear getting caught; they obey the rules because they care about the importance of acting legally and ethically in the first place.
Keep The Business Good Reputation
Start by focusing more on practice than theory. Paying for consultants to give the teams compliance lessons and to provide the company with reports with a bunch of instructions isn’t worthwhile.
The solution lies within accepting that a company not only needs quantifiable data to evaluate the design and effectiveness of its compliance program but also needs to use the right metrics.
In order to prevent a compliance failure, compliance programs must have their controls tested; one won’t know whether they are strong or not until they are tested.
For instance, every employee must be able to recognize a compliance issue and report it. Here are crucial questions to be asked regularly:
- Does every employee understand what a compliance violation looks like?
- If not, does every employee know where to look if they need to reference something?
- Do employees know to whom they have to report violations?
- And most importantly, how quickly can a violation be spotted and reported?
Get Compliant Alongside Prae Venire
There are plenty of recent and past examples of global companies with comprehensive compliance systems that in some way have failed. No program is hundred percent effective, this is a fact; nevertheless, it will be unrealistic and ineffective no matter how many theories are applied to it if there is no practical experience and hands-on consultants involved. At Prae Venire, we accept that theory is only valuable when applied to developing a program that is able to detect and address flaws and failures. We craft compliance solutions based on your industry, size, and culture. contact Prae Venire to schedule your consultation about how we can help you and your compliance efforts.