I’m delighted to share with you a brand-new two-part video series built for newcomers to compliance. If you’ve been in the field for two years or fewer, you may be making these mistakes right now! Heck, I should know, I made them when I joined the profession. It’s not only important to know what the mistakes are – you also need to know how to avoid them. Sign up HERE for instant access to the video.
Read MoreI recently had the honor of being the very first guest on the NEW podcast, The Ethics Experts, with Nick Gallo of ComplianceLine. We had a great chat that went from a deep discussion on privacy issues, all the way through the need for sales training in the compliance field. In this podcast, we discussed:
How to use sales techniques with the business, and what compliance can learn from the sales team
What’s the latest in privacy: CCPA and how it differs from GDPR
What are the latest trends in privacy regulation
How to create privacy training in a multi-national world with too many competing regulations
What my best advice is for newcomers
What my best advice is for veterans of the compliance world
My favorite quote from this interview was, in the context of selling a car, “Yes, we have a seatbelt in the car, but we also have a spoiler.” Talk about the part the business wants, not what they need.
The podcast can be heard online HERE. It can also be accessed on Apple Podcasts (HERE), Spotify (HERE), or wherever you get your podcasts.
Read More“It looks like the start of a zombie apocalypse movie today in Los Angeles,” my friend Jeremy wrote on Facebook. If you feel like the world is ending, you’re not alone in that sentiment. But in a time of crisis, Compliance leaders must keep calm and compliance on. Compliance personnel must be leaders and show strength in this time of upheaval, whether they feel like it or not. But what does that mean in practice? Here are some concrete ways to be a compliance leader in a time of crisis.
1. Re-assess the Risk Facing the Business
For many employees at your company, this is a disorienting time. People who’ve never had to work from home before are suddenly finding themselves at their kitchen table with a laptop – often with children running around whom they’re supposed to be home-schooling while working. For some businesses, the drop in revenue will be precipitous, especially if the business is in a US state or a country where “non-essential businesses” have been shut for the upcoming weeks. Many salespeople can’t make sales calls. Hourly employees may be left immediately without an income.
As the saying goes, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” Desperate measures, based on short-term thinking and panic, must be contained as much as possible. To get in front of this kind of thinking, perform a mini-risk assessment to consider places in the business that may be in particular danger, then think about what can be done now to mitigate that risk.
For instance, if the sales employees can’t make sales calls, consider asking management to reduce the numbers required to hit bonuses this year. Understand that people may be trying to push contracts through immediately without concern for the compliance terms, or get third-parties on board without the rigor of due diligence. Intervene where you can and audit the third-party requests more carefully. Some people may be de facto bringing their own devices to work because the infrastructure to work from home hasn’t been developed. If people are using their phones for work communications, send a reminder of the privacy policy to blunt the impact. Be prepared with a response, and vigilant to see that processes are followed.
Put additional safeguards in place where necessary. By taking a pro-active approach to risk response, you’ll save the business fallout later this the year, and in years to come.
2. Don’t Believe that You’re Immune to Rationalization and Short-Term Thinking…
Read MoreI am absolutely delighted to announce that my company, Spark Compliance Consulting, has been named a finalist in Compliance Week’s Excellence in Compliance Awards for Best Compliance Consultant/Advisor – Small Company.
About the awards, Compliance Week stated, “CW's first-ever Excellence in Compliance Awards will recognize the best and brightest in compliance. [They] will recognize the hard work and unsung accomplishments of compliance and risk professionals in a number of categories. You were nominated by one of your peers to be considered for this recognition.”
The awards gala will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 18 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC as part of the Compliance Week National Conference. I couldn’t be more chuffed.
See Spark Compliance Consulting’s Press Release HERE.
Read MoreThere’s a churn going on…in the last month, I’ve received more calls from people who are ready to move up, choosing to leave, been made redundant/fired, or are simply unhappy at their companies looking for a new role than I have ever had since I started Spark Compliance Consulting. Need to know how to get a new gig fast? Great. Not looking now? That’s OK – these actions will always help you in your career progression. Here are ten ways to look for (and get!) a new job.
1. Review Your LinkedIn Contacts in Your Area
LinkedIn is always your best friend when it comes to looking for a job. What you may not know is that you can find all of the local compliance folks in your area so you can ask them to coffee or meet up to talk compliance. When you do so, you can see if they have, or know of, any openings locally. How do you do this?
Go to the “My Network Tab.” On the left-hand side of the screen under “Manage My Network,” click “Connections.” Then click “Search with Filters.” At the top of the screen, you’ll see “People,” then “Locations.” From there you’ll get a drop-down that allows you to type in your city’s location…
Read MoreThis is a guest post from Ramsey Kazem, Spark Compliance Consulting’s Vice President, East Coast.
Does this sound familiar? At companies all over the world, when it’s time for the annual compliance training, they develop generic training materials, disseminate them to a wide audience, and track attendance. Training done. Mission accomplished. The training materials go back on the shelf until next year. We know we can do better than this.
In recent years regulatory expectations of what is considered proper and effective training have evolved. A check-the-box approach will no longer cut it. Today, there is a greater focus on delivering targeted, risk-based training programs and developing metrics to measure the effectiveness of the training including employee comprehension. In this article, we will discuss the training expectations as articulated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) in their respective guidance documents. In addition, we will share some best practices to refresh your company’s training programs and take them to the next level.
Regulatory GuidanceLast year, the DOJ and OFAC issued guidance documents outlining their respective views and expectations of an effective compliance program. Both documents include employee training among the essential components of a compliance program. The guidance documents emphasize three key principles as it relates to employee training: (1) the training must be risk-based, (2) the training must provide job-specific knowledge, and (3) the effectiveness of the training must be measured. Each principle will be discussed in turn…
Read MoreTwo MUST-HAVES if your Goals are to Be Reached
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