Culture could very well be the ‘compliance word of the year’ for 2017. The best ethics and compliance leaders today are becoming more and more focused on the ‘why’ of compliance, and how ethics and compliance programs help enable business operations around the globe rather than being an onerous box to check. One of the key ways that chief compliance officers can do this is by using their programs as a means to measure the pulse of the organization and its culture. How engaged is the global employee population? What are their perceptions on issues such as the company’s commitment to its code and values? And is there a sense of strong organizational justice?
Approaching culture from this angle not only helps the company avoid compliance trouble, but also creates a generally more open, dynamic and motivating environment. The only way to truly understand the culture of a company in this way is to be engaged with it. The best compliance leaders are constantly putting in face time with the workforce — even if that means racking up too many frequent flier miles traveling to far flung places — getting to know the objectives of the other senior leaders across the company, and being a strategic advisor to the business. Further, they’re encouraging other executives and managers to take the same attitude. The leaders who do the opposite, and follow the path of the ‘three wise monkeys’ to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil, quickly will find their companies’ cultures in disarray. For this issue, we invited leaders who have had experience and success measuring and building their companies’ cultures to share insight into some of the lessons they’ve learned throughout their careers, and to give feedback and advice into what other leaders can do. In the following
Approaching culture from this angle not only helps the company avoid compliance trouble, but also creates a generally more open, dynamic and motivating environment. The only way to truly understand the culture of a company in this way is to be engaged with it. The best compliance leaders are constantly putting in face time with the workforce — even if that means racking up too many frequent flier miles traveling to far flung places — getting to know the objectives of the other senior leaders across the company, and being a strategic advisor to the business. Further, they’re encouraging other executives and managers to take the same attitude. The leaders who do the opposite, and follow the path of the ‘three wise monkeys’ to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil, quickly will find their companies’ cultures in disarray. For this issue, we invited leaders who have had experience and success measuring and building their companies’ cultures to share insight into some of the lessons they’ve learned throughout their careers, and to give feedback and advice into what other leaders can do. In the following
One of the key ways that chief compliance officers can do this is by using their programs as a means to measure the pulse of the organization and its culture. How engaged is the global employee population? What are their perceptions on issues such as the company’s commitment to its code and values? And is there a sense of strong organizational justice? Approaching culture from this angle not only helps the company avoid compliance trouble, but also creates a generally more open, dynamic and motivating environment. The only way to truly understand the culture of a company in this way is to be engaged with it. The best compliance leaders are constantly putting in face time with the workforce — even if that means racking up too many frequent flier miles traveling to far flung places — getting to know the objectives of the other senior leaders across the company, and being a strategic advisor to the business. Further, they’re encouraging other executives and managers to take the same attitude. The leaders who do the opposite, and follow the path of the ‘three wise monkeys’ to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil, quickly will find their companies’ cultures in disarray. For this issue, we invited leaders who have had experience and success measuring and building their companies’ cultures to share insight into some of the lessons they’ve learned throughout their careers, and to give feedback and advice into what other leaders can do. In the following
The only way to truly understand the culture of a company in this way is to be engaged with it. The best compliance leaders are constantly putting in face time with the workforce — even if that means racking up too many frequent flier miles traveling to far flung places — getting to know the objectives of the other senior leaders across the company, and being a strategic advisor to the business. Further, they’re encouraging other executives and managers to take the same attitude. The leaders who do the opposite, and follow the path of the ‘three wise monkeys’ to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil, quickly will find their companies’ cultures in disarray. In Ethisphere’s recent Corporate Culture Issue, we invited leaders who have had experience and success measuring and building their companies’ cultures to share insight into some of the lessons they’ve learned throughout their careers, and to give feedback and advice into what other leaders can do.
Also in the Q3 magazine, you will hear from the CEOs of Avnet and Milliken about how they’ve approached culture at the companies that they now lead. Laura Lang, board member of VF Corporation, tackles how boards can influence culture. Additionally, recently-departed Compliance Counsel Expert for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Fraud Section Hui Chen writes her first published piece since her departure, outlining a strategy for companies seeking to live up to their values in international settings (check it out here). As ethics professionals seek to have a broader impact on their organizations, we’ll have to follow the paths outlined by these contributors and others to engage the entirety of organizations. Only then can leaders ensure they have the right level of engagement from across the organization, and that their companies’ cultures are well positioned to move the business forward.
