Grensoverschrijdend of ongewenst?

Last week, I gave a workshop on the relationship between compliance, undesirable, and offensive behavior. I also addressed the question what compliance professionals can contribute to this issue. Today, a brief summary with the highlights.

Those who regularly read my blogs or newsletters know that I never use the word compliance in internal communication (it hardly inspires) but always talk about ‘responsible business conduct’. Responsible business behavior (in commercial organizations) or responsible conduct (in the non-profit sectors). In my opinion, employees upon employment have accepted the responsibility to handle the resources and risks of the shareholder/employer responsibly. Clarifying this is, among other things, the task of compliance.

What is responsible and irresponsible differs from organization to organization and depends on the risk profile as determined by the management in consultation with the shareholder(s) and any supervisory directors. In a housing corporation, small gifts up to 10 or 15 euros are sometimes still allowed; in many AEX funds up to 100 or 200 euros per gift. These differences may exist. It is up to the management to clarify to all employees HOW the organization wants to achieve its strategic goals: in an ethical, respectful manner? Or rather focus only on revenue, revenue, revenue?

HOW we treat each other is part of this: do we want a psychosocially safe work environment or not? Amy Edmondson, a Harvard professor, has not only shown that teams perform better if they are allowed to do so in a safe work environment where they dare to take the risk of expressing divergent opinions (‘The fearless organization’). In her most recent book, she also explains that innovation is much more effective in working environments where people learn from each other’s mistakes without fear for retribution (‘Right Kind of Wrong: the Science of Failing Well’).

Compliance Professionals often give workshops, training, and education on what their organization expects from its employees: where the organization draws the line. Boundaries set by the management. Explained by compliance. Discriminatory remarks, for example, are always offensive (red flag, hard rule) and will not be tolerated: “…success is never an excuse for unacceptable behavior.” Undesirable remarks may or may not always be crossing the line but are still experienced as unpleasant, inappropriate, or otherwise undesirable. This crossing the line differs from colleague to colleague: therefore, engage in dialogue about it, with genuine interest and curiosity. That starts with good listening, respect for different, divergent opinions, and the D-A-A method (Discuss – Agree – Address) to eventually grow towards a safe work environment (CLICK HERE to read more about that method). Confronting your own boss is particularly difficult; disagreeing with your manager is rarely (well) trained and accepted. This skill must be practiced regularly.

Compliance Professionals, together with their HR colleagues and managers, can choose from many working methods to discuss and improve a safe work environment (CLICK HERE TO READ 10 examples of working methods, or join my webinar on this topic).

Compliance Professionals constantly talk about what is and isn’t expected from employees: small gifts are acceptable, no appearance of bribery. Cooperation with competitors is acceptable, but no coordination of commercial decisions or terms. Of course, this also includes discussing desirable, undesirable, and offensive behavior, even though reports about these issues are managed differently than reports about, for example, financial fraud or conflicts of interest (CLICK HERE to read more about this).

The reason for this: with reports of undesirable behavior, hard evidence is often not available, and restoring trust in the working relationship should be the goal. Given the enourmous attention to these topics and their importance to employees, we cannot remain idle now.

So feel free to call for a consultation (free of charge)!

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