Because I Said So…

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By Mariann B. Snyder, CCEP
Global Compliance Communications Lead
AstraZeneca

Before airlines started throwing us out of our seats and back on the jetway, they tried to scare us off with made-up fees. Fees for checking bags, using our frequent flyer miles, “upgrading” to any seat other than 52E… They find new things to charge us for. We pay.

We dutifully stow our tray tables and fasten our seatbelts, and pray the guy next to us put his smartphone in airplane mode before he started playing The Legend of Zelda.

For people who don’t travel often and grew up flying in a more romantic era, the fees (and lack of free meals on long flights) can be quite a surprise. One such person said to me recently, “Can you believe you can pay to have your name called first?”

This gentle soul sat in a busy airport while tardy sprinters mowed down early ramblers and, through the chaos of it all, understood that the loud, muddled gate announcements invited passengers to have their names called early for a fee.

Unless he learns that the purpose, the value, of that fee is to get early access to precious overhead bin space, he will never buy in.

Cutting through the noise to make sure our employees understand the “why” of our policies can be a challenge. If they don’t truly understand, they may not buy in. Too often, we treat them like children, expecting them to do what’s right “just” because it’s the law or our policy. (Do it because we said so.)

As Compliance professionals, we have insight into why it’s the law or our policy. That insight is the explanation our employees crave, the value they don’t know they’re missing. Failing to communicate that “why” also requires us to repeatedly answer the same questions or variations on a theme.

The next time you’re flying (because, let’s face it, it still beats the Oregon Trail), think how you’d feel if an authority figure told you to do something that didn’t make sense to you. What’s your natural response? “Why?” And if the answer was, “Because it’s the law” with no other explanation, how happy would you be about complying?

Our advice should reflect the real value of compliance—the real “why”—not the faux value of “having your name called first.”

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