Trends and Topics

Leadership Character Reputation Is the 21st Century Competitive Edge

By Amy Swenson … There is a significant and measurable relationship between the collective character reputation of senior leaders and the conditions for compliance in a workplace. And this correlation extends to the bottom line. Conversely, leadership teams that do not demonstrate characteristics of integrity, personal responsibility, compassion and forgiveness cultivate environments more susceptible to misconduct – similarly affecting profitability. Part of being a good leader is understanding how your actions speak on your behalf. Read more…

By Accordo, ago

Has #MeToo Changed the Game for Board-Level Compliance Training?

By Ingrid Fredeen … Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 10 months, you know about the recent spate of high-profile sexual harassment allegations and the #MeToo movement. According to NAVEX Global’s 2018 Ethics & Compliance Training Benchmark Report, these movements appeared to have motivated a re-evaluation of ethics and compliance programs – specifically regarding training. The report found that 73 percent of respondents are now training their board members. That’s a big jump from Read more…

By Accordo, ago

Retaliation: The Feedback Loop that Quiets Company Culture

By David Banks … The employee experience is defined by feedback. You do good work, you get a thumbs up. You do bad work, you get a thumbs down. You do great work and people lift you up on their shoulders and put your picture on the wall. This is the feedback we associate with the work that we do. However, there is another type of feedback that defines the context in which we do Read more…

By Accordo, ago

Seizing the Moment for Sustainable Change on Harassment in the Workplace

By Chai Feldblum … We stand at a moment now in which it is possible to make significant and sustainable change in our workplaces to stop harassment. And we can stop harassment based not only on sex, but on race, national origin, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation or gender identity. The revelations about sexual harassment have raised the visibility of harassment and the harms it causes. But this gives us the opportunity to make structural changes Read more…

By Accordo, ago

Learning the Basics on GDPR’s Right to Be Forgotten

By Matt Kelly … Now that the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation is nearly here, it’s time for ethics and compliance officers to panic more efficiently about all the challenges that lie ahead. One good place to start: how to fulfill the GDPR’s right to be forgotten. Conceptually, that right is easy to understand — which is what makes it such a formidable compliance challenge. EU citizens will assume they can first exercise their right of access Read more…

By Accordo, ago

Whether We Like It or Not, There Is a Different Culture at the Top

By Ed Petry and David Bank … Years ago, before Enron and the avalanche of business ethics scandals that followed, there was a theory that predicted who was most likely to violate company ethics and compliance policies. According to the theory, mid-level employees who had plateaued in their career were the likely suspects. The theory held that these individuals were often frustrated or even angry at their organization, were under considerable pressure from a variety Read more…

By Accordo, ago

GDPR Requirements Force a Privacy Reboot Everywhere

By Shon Ramey … There’s this thing called the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Few regulatory changes have inspired more anxiety or frenzied activity than the EU’s new privacy rules. Scheduled to go into effect this May – only about four months from now – the rules require just about any company that does business with European consumers to institute a laundry list of measures designed to protect any Read more…

By Accordo, ago

People Are Cause, and Solution, to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

By Ingrid Fredeen … Sexual harassment is not a new issue. However, awareness of, and tolerance for it has evolved in recent years. What’s different now is that we have reached a tipping point – a reckoning, if you will – for organizations and their leaders. THE POWER IS BEGINNING TO SHIFT FROM THE ORGANIZATION TO INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE NOT JUST SPEAKING OUT, BUT ALSO BEING HEARD. Over the past year, there has been a Read more…

By Accordo, ago

What a CEO Needs to Hear to Invest More in Compliance – Strategy

By Bob Conlin … Does your organization invest in compliance, or just pay for it? This is not a rhetorical question. There’s a big difference between merely covering the expense of a program and investing in it. Investment decisions are strategic. They are based on a business case and cost/benefit analysis. Expense decisions are more tactical, and are often associated with things an organization must do to keep running – like meet a regulatory requirement Read more…

By Accordo, ago

How to Nurture a Speak-Up Culture in the Era of Speak-Up Apps

By Matt Kelly If ethics & compliance officers ever needed one more reason to embrace a speak-up culture, here it is: thanks to modern technology, employees are already speaking among themselves more loudly than ever before. The latest vehicle for all this speaking up is a wave of anonymous online chat apps. They are free, easily installed on a person’s phone or computer, and let employees talk incognito about what’s really happening at their place of business. Read more…

By Accordo, ago