Compliance &Ethics - Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics

Boehme of Contentionby Donna BoehmeKumbaya Complianceis not good enoughBoehmeWhen I was in Girl Scouts, we usedto sing “Kumbaya” around thecampfire. Fast forward to 2013,where Kumbaya is now defined in the UrbanDictionary as “blandly pious and naively optimistic.”Still, Kumbaya is what I flashback towhen I see some CEOs breathlesslyannouncing “new values” and othersbragging about their latest award for“most ethical company in the universe.”This is what I call “KumbayaCompliance.” The CEO issues an edict,maybe a press release, and everyonein the company holds hands in a sing–along to make the company ethicaland compliant, just like magic. If this works,why do we even need compliance officers andprograms? Shouldn’t the Federal SentencingGuidelines be shortened to just four elements?Let’s review: (1) management edict, (2) campfire,(3) marshmallows, and (4) Kumbaya.I am ever amazed at otherwise smart executiveswho know that anything worth doing inbusiness requires a strong leader, resources,mandate, monitoring, and incentives, butwhen it comes to compliance and ethics, thinkthat “tone from the top” means “tone frommy mouth.” Ethical leadership is not only animportant business endeavor; it’s the importantbusiness endeavor, because it’s the foundationof all enduring success.Which makes me wonder if CCOs arefalling down on the job with their CEOs andboards. Could it be we are overselling the successesof our hard-fought-for programs andforgetting to engage senior management inthe tough conversations about what’s reallyrequired of them? Until companies truly understandthat Compliance is the designer, overseer,and subject matter expert, but that the businessitself is the implementer and owner, progresswill continue to be excruciatingly slow.Sometimes I just wish CEOs would just shutup and “do.” What should they do? Imaginethat a CEO spoke at a town hall like this: “Heypeople, this is what I’ve done: I’ve appointed anindependent CCO who reports to me, and hasa seat at all important meetings, resources, aclear mandate, and unfiltered sessions with theboard. I’ve broken down all silos, so everyonedoing compliance is in the CCO’s line of sight.Your performance evaluations, promotions,and bonus compensation will be tied directlyto how well you support compliance. And yourbosses will be monitoring all of this.”Too ambitious? Well, then how about aCEO who makes a random phone call to allhis business heads to say, “How is your compliancetraining going?” or asking them toname a priority risk and report what they aredoing about it. How about a CEO who asksto see periodic metrics on ethical leadershipamong top leaders, or who makes an unannounced“safety visit” through the factoryfloor? Duplicate this through all the layers ofmanagement and imagine the ripple effect.Granted, all that stuff is hard work. It’smuch easier and less “disruptive” to just talkabout it. So this is where we are, CorporateAmerica. It’s time to “do.” Or, we can just singanother round of Kumbaya. ✵Donna Boehme (dboehme @ compliancestrategists.com) is Principal ofCompliance Strategists LLC and former Chief Compliance and Ethics Officerfor two leading multinationals. Follow Donna on Twitter @ DonnaCBoehme.Compliance & Ethics Professional May/June 2013+1 952 933 4977 or 888 277 4977 www.corporatecompliance.org 23