Find Your Personal Power by Taking up Space!

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Find Your Personal Power by Taking up Space!

How are you sitting right now? Are you slouching with humped shoulders?  Is your neck holding your head in a drooped position?  Or are you sitting tall - chest up, back straight, with both feet on the ground?  Take note – you’d be surprised how much these things matter to your self-confidence. 

Amy Cuddy, celebrated TED Talk presenter, neuroscience and psychology professor, and author of Presence, proves in no uncertain terms that way you carry yourself tells people how to treat you.  Surprisingly, your confidence can be improved simply by sitting or standing like a confident person.  Most people think that they can only move confidently when they feel confident.  But according to Cuddy, that’s not true at all.

How it Works in a Nutshell…

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Tis the Season to Remind Employees about the Gifts and Hospitality Policy - ULTIMATE Checklist to do it Right!

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Tis the Season to Remind Employees about the Gifts and Hospitality Policy - ULTIMATE Checklist to do it Right!

Tis the season to be jolly, and to remind employees of the gifts and hospitality policy!  In an effort to ensure that you’re ready to go, we’ve updated our post from last year with the ULTIMATE CHECKLIST for your Gifts and Hospitality email reminder.  Ho Ho Ho…

“DON’T HAVE ANY FUN! IT’S AGAINST THE POLICY!”  This message is what many employees hear when they read the annual reminder about the gifts and hospitality policy that comes out this time of year.  It can be a struggle to craft the proper email or video message.  After all, your desire is to help the employees not to get into trouble, but if your tone is off, or your message doesn’t do its job, you may be seen as a Grinch.  Here’s how to make sure your message hits the sweet spot (complete with handy checklist!):

Open Festively

Open your message by saying something positive about the holidays.  This will show that you are part of the fun and are in the spirit of celebration.  Try something like, “It’s that wonderful time of year when everyone is showing their gratitude for a job well done and good relationships;” or “Everyone loves a holiday luncheon and a chance to show appreciation for the good work that has been done throughout the year.”  Once you’ve shown that you understand the reason for the season, and can relate to it, only then should you begin to talk about policy.

Start with YES…

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ONE QUESTION SURVEY: What's your TOP priority for your program in 2020?

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ONE QUESTION SURVEY: What's your TOP priority for your program in 2020?

As you're preparing for 2020, you probably have one or two things at the top of your list. What’s your most important priority for 2020? Let the profession know if this one-question, totally anonymous survey. I’ll be sharing the results so you can see how your priorities fare against others in the industry. Spend thirty seconds here: https://s.surveyanyplace.com/s/topfocus2020 Thank you!

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Third-Party Due Diligence: EVERTHING You Need to Know to Develop a REAL Risk-Based Approach

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Third-Party Due Diligence: EVERTHING You Need to Know to Develop a REAL Risk-Based Approach

This is a guest post written by Ramsey Kazem, East Coast Vice President at Spark Compliance Consulting. It’s everything you need to know to develop a REAL risk-based approach to your third-party due diligence program

This is Part II of a two-part series describing how to design a third-party due diligence program that will meet the expectations articulated in the April 2019 guidance document issued by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”).  In Part I, we focused on how to define the scope of a third-party due diligence program.  That is, we discussed the key considerations in (1) selecting the risk areas for which the due diligence program will screen, and (2) identifying the third-party relationships that will be subject to due diligence scrutiny.  In this second part of the series, we will explain how to develop a risk-based due diligence process to effectively screen the in-scope third-parties for compliance-related risks.    Developing a Risk-based Due Diligence Process After deciding which third-party relationships will be required to undergo due-diligence scrutiny, the next step is to develop the review process.  In designing the process, it is important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.  In fact, the DOJ’s guidance reminds us that a company should develop a process that is reasonable given the size and nature of the company and/or its business transactions.  On one end of the spectrum, this means that companies will be expected to develop a robust process supported with substantial monetary resources.   On the other end of the spectrum, a more limited process may be perfectly acceptable.  Regardless of where your company falls on the spectrum, the following factors should be considered in designing the due-diligence review process…

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