Ethics Archives - The Compliance and Ethics Blog

Ethikos Editor’s Weekly Picks: The Psychology of White Collar Criminals

December 31, 2016 by Adam Turteltaub 1 Comment

The Psychology of White Collar Criminals

Eugene Soltes for The Atlantic:
Two leading executive headhunters once wrote a book called Lessons From the Top: The Search for America’s Best Business Leaders that celebrated 50 titans of industry. Readers were encouraged “to learn from and pattern themselves” after the leadership qualities displayed by these executives. Read more

Nine Steps to Make Your Company’s Ethics Training Program Stick

Chris Doxey for AccountingWeb:
It’s not easy to embed business ethics throughout an organization, because it’s not always easy to define the “right thing to do” – especially when different people define “right and wrong” in different ways. Read more

Intrinsic Honesty

Mark Putnam for Global Ethics Solutions:
The world of business ethics often seems so dominated by legalities, protocols, and rules that we forget what business ethics is all about: ensuring that people make honest choices at work. It’s about individuals like you who rely on your conscience and character to make honest choices on the job. Read more

Asking a Good Question

From Jeff Kaplan of the Conflict of Interest Blog:
The late Nobel Laureate in physics Isidor I. Rabi once said: ”My mother made me a scientist without ever intending it. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school: ‘So? Did you learn anything today? But not my mother. She always asked me a different question. ‘Izzy,’ she would say, ‘did you ask a good question today?’ Read more

6 Traits That Predict Ethical Behavior at Work

From David De Cremer of Harvard Business Review:
Trust and openness are crucial elements of an ethical organizational culture. Only when employees are able to voice the problems they see can ethical lapses be discussed and resolved. A first step in building this kind of culture involves a hiring approach in which companies actively seek those individuals inclined to speak up when ethical challenges surface. Read more

Ethikos Editor’s Weekly Picks: How to Navigate the New Dynamics of Workplace Conduct

December 3, 2016 by Adam Turteltaub Leave a Comment

How to Navigate the New Dynamics of Workplace Conduct

Rachel Bitte for SHRM Blog:
When it comes to office conduct, we’ve come a long way from the Mad Men era when a whiskey or three throughout the day and a peck on a coworker’s cheek were all part of the status quo. Now, behavior like that is guaranteed to lead to a slap on the wrist, if not flat-out termination. Read more

How to Thank Your Employees in 5 Simple, Effective Ways

Lighthouse Leadership & Management blog:
“The only way to motivate people is with money.”
This is the exact wrong mindset to have as a leader, but too many people think that’s the only way to thank your employees. There’s a better way, especially this time of year. Read more

How Loss Aversion and Conformity Threaten Organizational Change

Sean Ryan for Harvard Business Review:
To achieve true transformational change, CEOs must have more than a strategic plan. To effect actual change, they need to understand how biases — their own, and their employees’ — can shape behaviors and decisions, and prevent them from achieving what they set out to achieve. Read more

Leadership and Recognition Around the World [Infographic]

From OC Tanner and A Magazine.

What the Pollster’s Mistakes Can Teach Us About Predicting Behavior at Work

Marla Gottschalk for The Office Blend:
I often wonder if I’m getting it right. Are we posing the right questions? Are the right employees responding? Are we obtaining a clear picture of what is really happening within an organization? Based upon the available data, will valuable employees remain engaged? Will they walk away? Read more

The most interesting business ethics, culture and leadership articles delivered right to your email every week! Browse selected articles for inspiration, tips and great ideas on how to implement and maintain a healthy business culture. Stay on top of new insights, how-tos, and interviews from around the world—all from the comfort of your desk. Subscribe now.

ethikos is a publication of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics

Tweet, Tweet: Resident abuse takes a new—and dangerous—form

August 22, 2016 by Adam Turteltaub Leave a Comment

By Margaret Scavotto, JD, CHC
Director of Compliance Services
Management Performance Associates

CMS recently issued guidance to its state surveyors, explaining that nursing home resident abuse occurs when staff take pictures or recordings “in a way that would demean or humiliate a resident(s).”

That’s just common sense: Nobody should have their picture or video taken when they are in a nursing home, and perhaps asleep, or in a compromising position. I doubt anyone would argue with CMS’ position that such unauthorized images constitute mental abuse when they are demeaning or humiliating. And yet, any provider who has attempted any degree of social media compliance knows this is a real problem.

Nursing homes and other providers are already climbing the seemingly insurmountable mountain of social-media-posts-turned-HIPAA-violations. Our increasingly younger workforce is walking the halls with 683 (or more, if you use Facebook more than I do) Facebook friends in their back pocket. Or waiting in their locker. Or their car. Many of these people are walking your halls thinking: “What can I share about my day tonight? What will get the most ‘Likes’? What will really put me at the top of the Newsfeed?” Social media posts and texts ranging from innocent to malicious have tied many Compliance and Privacy Officers up in hours-long breach investigations. Now, every tweet, post, text and snap involving a nursing home resident also needs to be treated as a potential abuse allegation.

Starting in September 2016, CMS surveyors will review every nursing home’s policies, to see if they “prohibit staff from taking, keeping and/or distributing photographs and recordings that demean or humiliate a resident(s).” CMS outlines the steps nursing homes must take in order to do well on this survey – and meet expectations for preventing this type of mental abuse:
•Implement policies and procedures prohibiting abuse. These policies need to address mental abuse arising from demeaning or humiliating pictures or recordings.
•Train staff on mental abuse arising from these pictures or recordings.
•Take training one step further and “provide ongoing oversight and supervision of staff in order to assure that these policies are implemented as written.”
•Treat these incidents of mental abuse as any other abuse allegation: with investigation and reporting.

A policy and training are crucial – and required by CMS – but they won’t be enough. Social media compliance requires a culture campaign. Social media is top-of-mind and omnipresent for your staff. So must be your efforts to motivate staff to use social media wisely. Has your organization launched a social media compliance campaign? Do your staff understand that posting or texting pictures of patients can result in license discipline? Jail time? How often do your staff receive reminders about appropriate social media use? Often enough to be as memorable as that next Facebook post opportunity? Make social media part of the compliance conversation, and you will help your staff use social media wisely, and convert social media from a liability to an asset.

Unfair & Unbalanced with Tom Fox & Roy Snell – Ep. 9 [Podcast]

August 5, 2016 by Adam Turteltaub 1 Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:18 — 30.5MB)

Tom and Roy talk ethics and certification in this episode:

The US Open and self-reporting;
Why transparency is so important
The unique culture of integrity in golf – and what we can learn from that;
Celebrating employee mistakes (as long as they fess up);
The who, what, where, when, and how of building a certification program; and
What, exactly, is an psychometrician?

Thomas Fox has practiced law in Houston for 30 years. He is now the Compliance Ambassador for the Red Flag Group.Tom is the author of the award winning FCPA Compliance and Ethics Blog and the international best-selling book “Lessons Learned on Compliance and Ethics”. His seminal book, “Doing Compliance: Design, Create, and Implement an Effective Anti-Corruption Compliance Program” is widely viewed as one of the top one-volume books on the nuts and bolts of compliance. He is one of the top leaders in social media in compliance, blogging, podcasting, writing and speaking across the globe on anti-corruption and anti-bribery compliance programs.

Roy Snell (roy.snell@corporatecompliance.org) is the CEO of the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) and the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE), which together now total more than 15,000 members. Roy was a co-founder and the organization’s first President. He has developed numerous partnerships with government, industry, and other professional associations, and he has facilitated collaboration between the compliance/ethics profession and the enforcement community. Roy has a Masters degree in Health and Human Services Administration.

Through his work with the two associations, he has overseen the development of compliance and ethics books, manuals, videos, conferences and audio conferences. He has been a regular speaker in the compliance profession for more than ten years and has spoken internationally for the United Nations on compliance and ethics. He is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP)^®.

Roy writes more than 25 compliance articles annually and has written for several international publications, including European CEO and The European Business Review. Roy is the co-editor of the Health Care Compliance Professional’s Manual and serves as editor, co-editor and advisory board member of several other books, magazines and newsletters. He has served as a source for many media reports, including national publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine and Business Week. He has been quoted in international publications such as Financial Times and Ethical Corporation.

This episode is not eligible for CEU credit.

Jane Mitchell on Engaging Middle Management [Podcast]

March 2, 2016 by Adam Turteltaub Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:35 — 18.0MB)

Ethical and effective communications expert, Jane Mitchell and host Kortney Nordrum discuss the importance of engaging middle management, including:

Why swimming with sharks may not be a bad thing;
Why corporate communication is key for middle managers;
Whether middle management is best compared to marzipan or blancmange;
Training managers to manage;
Why everyone keeps talking about engagement;
Reaching the middle and speaking their language;
Cultural awareness; and
Storytelling for effective communication.

Jane began her early professional career in UK television broadcasting at the BBC on such TV icons as Tomorrow’s World, Grange Hill and Blue Peter. She made a leap into the outside world and began producing award-winning corporate films and videos, which led into helping clients develop a strategic approach to internal communications.

Her work with Rolls-Royce plc took her into the area of communicating Global Codes of Ethics where she was responsible for leading a small in-house team launching and embedding the Code across the company. Since then Jane has continued to work with organizations helping them to make the links between Codes, values, behaviours, ethical leadership, decision-making. Her focus is on encouraging people to understand their individual responsibilities in often challenging corporate environments.

Subsequently, Jane worked with BAE Systems and Diageo plc on various aspects of their ethics programmes and with the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE), she helped to develop a newly formed Cable & Wireless Worldwide Company Code.

Since 2005, Jane has operated JL&M Ltd., working with clients including BP, PwC, KPMG, Serco, and Schlumberger for whom she has worked on a variety of aspects of their ethics programs. She has also worked with the US-based non-profit, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) advising them on the creation and embedding of their inaugural Code of Ethical Behavior.

In Jane’s own words:

“I advise, ‘guide’ and support (some might say challenge), leaders in organisations large and small, as they find ways to embed their ethics, values-based leadership and behaviours. At the heart of my work is the principle that people willingly take responsibility for their own behaviour and actions at work when they understand what the ‘corporate’ ambition is and how they can contribute to it, and are recognised for that effort. There is wisdom, knowledge and enthusiasm at every level of an organisation and when dots are connected effectively the insights everyone gains can be harnessed to drive real and positive change. It’s connecting the dots that is the key.”

Find Jane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janelmitchell

If you have suggestion or questions for the Compliance Perspectives Podcast, please email Kortney at kortney.nordrum@corporatecompliance.org

Erica Salmon Byrne on Hiring for Integrity [Podcast]

February 15, 2016 by Adam Turteltaub Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:08 — 16.7MB)

Host Kortney Nordrum and guest Erica Salmon Byrne discuss Managers Hiring for Integrity, including:

What does hiring for integrity mean;
What does integrity look like (hint: not Bernie Madoff);
How hiring the right person saves you money (and time, and energy, and sleepless nights);
Reasons to (and not to) trust your gut;
Why hiring for culture is really important;
Who to blame in a crisis (and what that says about you);
Why managers don’t know how to manage (it has to do with being good at their jobs);
Who your employees trust and why;
How leadership plays into nature vs. nurture;
What makes a bunch of ivy-league graduates cheat; and
The power in the reason behind the rule.

For more information on the JP Morgan Chase firings click here.

Erica Salmon Byrne is the EVP and Executive Director of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance for the Ethisphere Institute and serves on the Editorial Board of SCCE’s Compliance and Ethics Blog. Ms. Salmon Byrne previously practiced with DLA Piper in Washington, DC, where she focused in the areas of internal investigations, enforcement actions, government audits, and international law. Ms. Salmon Byrne has advocated on behalf of clients in front of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Northern District of Georgia, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and the House of Representatives’ Permanent Subcommittee’ for Oversight and Investigations. In addition, she assisted multinational companies in complying with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and U.S. Export Controls.

Erica’s Blog Articles:

Effectively Training Your Managers

Kristy Grant-Hart on Effective Communication [Podcast]

January 27, 2016 by Adam Turteltaub Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:14 — 11.3MB)

Taped live in SCCE’s Minneapolis office, host Kortney Nordrum and guest Kristy Grant-Hart discuss Effective Communication, including:

Why communication counts;
How “mirroring” shows you pay attention to others;
Why communication without context means nothing;
The ethicality of using fear to persuade;
Psychological reasons to make your boss say no to you; and
Curried cow brains.

Kristy Grant-Hart is the Managing Director of Spark Compliance Consulting (www.sparkcompliance.com), headquartered in London, England. You can reach Kristy at KristyGH@SparkCompliance.com. Her book, “How to be a Wildly Effective Compliance Officer: Learn the Secrets of Influence, Motivation and Persuasion to Become an In-Demand Business Asset ” is available here: http://amzn.to/1nPcURP

Find Kristy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristygranthart

Follow Kristy on Twitter: @KristyGrantHart

Kristy will be speaking on this topic and more at SCCE’s European Compliance & Ethics Institute this March, For information on her sessions and how to register, click here.

If you have suggestion or questions for the Compliance Perspectives Podcast, please email Kortney at kortney.nordrum@corporatecompliance.org

Demystifying Management of Corporate Values – The ‘Walk’ Beyond the ‘Talk’

January 8, 2016 by SCCE 2 Comments

By Jason Lunday
jason.lunday@integrity-factor.com

Every so often a business book comes along with the potential to make a profound difference in the business world. Peters and Waterman introduced the concept of an organization’s shared values in their bestseller “In Search of Excellence” in 1982. In 1994, Collins and Porras in “Built to Last” furthered the discussion of the importance of core purpose and values to company success. Now professors R. Edward Freeman and Ellen R. Auster more deeply mine the idea behind, purpose of and value inherent in corporate values as they explain not just what and why, but also how to in their new book, “Bridging the Values Gap: How Authentic Organizations Bring Values to Life”.

In full disclosure, I studied business ethics under Professor Freeman over twenty years ago in graduate school, where he was well recognized as the ‘father of stakeholder theory’, a concept that has now become well recognized in business management. So, I find it a smart part of my own professional development to pick up any book Ed Freeman puts out.

This book is essential reading for any executive in a company with articulated corporate values (or thinking of articulating them) that they hope will make a difference for the business. This book makes a strong case for the value of corporate values—if done the right way. (Here’s a hint: it involves more than simply espousing them.)

Let’s face it, every company already has a set of values, whether the executives have formally articulated them or not. These values may not even be the ones posted on the boardroom wall. So, do these values help or hurt the company? If they’re helpful, could they play a more profound role in the company’s success? Can management learn how to harness the power of corporate values to the company’s benefit? Or will unmanaged values push a company along haphazardly as leadership is left to wonder why it cannot better steer its business?

I have worked in and consulted with many companies – the overwhelming majority of which do not get their values right. They may articulate an inspirational values statement. They may broadly communicate their values to employees. Some companies even assess employee performance according to the values. But these companies have not found the key to truly living their values in a way that brings them to life – and that makes a profound difference to the company’s success.

Now Freeman and Auster have discovered a route to real success with corporate values, the kind that only comes from really probing those companies that have done it right.

In “Bridging the Values Gap”, Freeman and Auster delve into the concept of ‘authenticity’ in business and the central role it holds in articulating corporate values and managing the organization through them. They then probe four types of corporate values: introspective, historical, connectedness and aspirational and how a company’s exploration of these concepts through conversations can effectively elicit a stronger, more directed, more engaged and more aligned corporate culture.

In “Bridging the Values Gap”, Freeman and Auster also address:

The critical importance of corporate values to business value and success.
The distinction between stated values and living values.
What executives get wrong about corporate values, and how to get it right.
Plenty of stories of companies getting it right and the value that comes from these efforts.
The numerous traps and pitfalls when undertaking a values initiative and how to avoid them.

As a business leader and consultant, this book has profound implications for how I will think about business performance and success and the levers that affect them. It offers a thorough look into a dimension of corporate strategy and operations, culture and performance that few have explored with any significance.

It is important to know that in this book Freeman and Auster do not offer a quick, easy solution for improving the next quarter’s financial results. Rather, they present a thoughtful approach for how to strengthen significance and coordination in business and, in doing so, ratchet up employee understanding, passion and engagement. This helps to ensure that employees are more inspired, educated and directed in performing for the company as they never have before. This book is a recipe for meaningful, lasting performance—as long as, the authors point out, the effort remains a continuous process.

What I found as the real insight from this book is that the vast majority of companies hardly understand the real strength that well-lived values can contribute to a company’s success. Most companies suffer under the delusion that their values offer clever marketing and branding. They don’t understand the significant strategic, operational and cultural value that such values can provide.

If your company continues to wrestle with how to really extract value from its corporate values efforts, this book is the insight you’ve been looking for.

[bctt tweet=”Demystifying Management of Corporate Values – The ‘Walk’ Beyond the ‘Talk’ @SCCE”]

All views or opinions represented in this post are personal and belong solely to the author.

Crisis Management in Compliance and Ethics

November 24, 2015 by SCCE Leave a Comment

By Joe Murphy, JD, CCEP, CCEP-I
Compliance Strategists

One of the tests of any compliance and ethics program is how well it handles crises. When things turn bad – a government investigation, an investigative news report, a social network firestorm – how well does the compliance and ethics program react?

A recent article in ethikos highlighted this area. “An escalating crisis at Kilkanian”, by Ingerman and Simon, Nov./Dec. 2015, p. 25, begins with a developing crisis at the fictional company, Kilkanian, to set the scene, and then goes into some of the substantive points about how to prepare for potential crises.

For example the authors advise covering in your plan: who participates in responding to a crisis, what information is provided to whom, when the communication occurs, and how to invoke privilege when appropriate.

If your compliance and ethics program has not yet addressed the topic of dealing with crises, this article is a good tool to set the discussion for your program’s management committee. And if anyone asks when you should address this topic here is the answer: before a crisis hits! If you address this fully now you will be very thankful when that day arrives. Cheers, Joe

[bctt tweet=”Crisis Management in Compliance and Ethics @SCCE #ethikos”]

2015 CEI Top Blog Picks – Monday Edition

October 5, 2015 by SCCE Leave a Comment

By Stephanie Gallagher
stephanie.gallagher@corporatecompliance.org

Today we kicked off the first official day of the 14th Annual Compliance & Ethics Institute with a fantastic group of folks here at the Aria in Las Vegas. In addition to the fantastic speakers, sessions, networking, and fun, the 2015 CEI is focusing on blogging and social media to help compliance professionals stay up to speed in the profession and connect with one another. As part of that, SCCE is encouraging attendees to blog about their experience at the conference. Here are a few of the editors picks that we received on Sunday and Monday!

Here’s What I’ve Learned… By Beth Colling

SCCE Experiences By Idu Okwuosa

Nailed It! By Wendy Evans

You Keep Trying the Carrots, But the Business Really Only Responds to the Stick by Shelley Ball Saufferer

If you’re attending the CEI, don’t forget to stop by the booth and submit your blog post to win a free registration to the 2016 Compliance & Ethics Institute. Details are also available in your program, and in the SCCE Mobile app.

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By Margaret Scavotto, JD, CHC Director of Compliance Services Management Performance Associates

By Jason Lunday jason.lunday@integrity-factor.com