Editor’s note: This post was submitted by Bayer Group India and it was originally published here.
Sarita Bahl is the Country Group Head – Communications & Public Affairs, Bayer Group India. In the following article, she shares insights on driving compliance.
No organization underestimates the importance of compliance. It is a subject that is driven hard and deep in Corporates. However, the topic of compliance is bland, boring and unexciting. Attending a class on it is tiring and exacting.
Having been part of many such drives, I can say this – driving compliance is hard work! Not because it is meant to be. It is because the teaching lacks innovation and is often a ‘tick in the box’ through a timetable of lectures, discussions, power points and well, more power points.
Thus, I was pleasantly surprised to be part of an experience that spoke the language of Compliance using ‘Sports’ as a theme.
Compliance gets a whole new wardrobe
I understand that the @BayerIndia Compliance Team has been successful at reaching out to a number of colleagues across various legal entities in the most creative manners overcoming various challenges and complexities. This year was no different and the team was looking at an approach to reach out and interact with the colleagues at the Bayer Vapi Plant. This was a challenge in itself and the topmost task was – how does one give compliance a whole new wardrobe? Deliberations lead to the launch of using Sports as a theme and drive a learning expedition that was not only participative, memorable and fun but one that also entrenched the key principles of compliance amongst our colleagues in the most simplistic manner.
Do you recall the way your mind processes when you go out shopping for a whole new wardrobe? You begin with the dress already pictured in your mind and then work backward…the place, the shop, the journey, the cash, the day, the time….
It is the same when you plan the game of compliance. You begin with the outcome and efficacy in your mind and then work backward…the place, the theme, the content, the team, the resources, the day, the time…
Let’s learn our Compliance…the Sporty Way!!
Such an event requires a great amount of planning. 1200 workforce, vernacular language, legal jargons, massive compliance concepts, limited resources, cost constraints, time limitation, factory compliances, safety concerns and the like were the focused topics. The team @BayerIndia had to crack it!!
The key issues picked were ‘conflict of interest’, ‘anti-corruption’, ‘fairness & respect’, ‘antitrust’, and ‘data privacy’ since these required a deep dive. The learning session on the compliance principles was coupled with a sport, “Kick the Conflict” (Football), “Hit the Corruption” (Dart) and “Respectful Relay (Relay).
For instance, ‘Kick the conflict’ was savored through a simple soccer game wherein the participant team had to answer a Question on the subject, choose the right option and score by kicking the right answer ball in the goal post. The coaches coached, the facilitators scored and the participants at the Bayer Vapi Plant embraced wholeheartedly the 90-minute unique learning experience, where they learned and played to score and win the Championship Medals as prizes.
The Compliance Principles were simplified into crisp do’s and don’ts, focused principles, examples, processes and most of all the Compliance Team thoroughly trained about 40 volunteers on the various principles across various departments to educate the workforce at Vapi and also ensure the completion of this learning experience flawlessly.
Measuring success
The success of any such activity lies in its execution. When you dress up compliance to make it look sassy, sexy and passionate, the success can be easily measured by the whistles, the smiles of colleagues and the euphoria on the ground.
You can judge the success when you hear the loud voices of cheers and the applause for each team on the ground. When the spirit of sportsmanship gets imbibed in everyone.
That is when you know that compliance is now an inseparable part of you.
Has your organization done anything innovative in compliance? I would love to hear about it. Do share!
