Marjorie Doyle on Working with the Board [Podcast]

4
1713

board of directors, governance, compliance, ethics

For many compliance professionals, working with the board is a relatively new and stress-filled endeavor.

To learn how to make the most out of this very important relationship we turned to veteran compliance professional Marjorie Doyle, who has worked extensively with several companies and their boards on compliance issues.

Marjorie is an expert practitioner and leader in the field of ethics and compliance. She works with all organizational levels including Chief Ethics & Compliance Officers, CEOs, Boards of Directors, and any others responsible for the implementation of effective ethics and compliance programs.  A member of the board of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics and Health Care Compliance Association, Marjorie was EVP, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer at Vetco International where she was responsible for a newly formed organization of compliance officers, directors, and specialists. She reported directly to the Compliance Committee of Vetco’s Board of Directors.

Before Vetco, Marjorie was the first Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer at Dupont, where she founded and led the Ethics & Compliance Central organization, the first dedicated team of compliance officers chartered with furthering the company’s  global ethics and compliance objectives.

In this podcast, Marjorie addresses:

  • The importance of demonstrating to the board that its responsibility for compliance oversight has changed and expanded
  • The new DOJ evaluation questions and the importance of compliance expertise on the board
  • Recording when the board discusses and reviews ethics and compliance issues
  • What you need to tell the board and how to help them know what to ask
  • Tying into the risk assessment
  • The value of metrics and demonstrating effectiveness
  • Showing the board how it can affect culture
  • Pitfalls to avoid when working with the board

4 COMMENTS

  1. Many thanks for posting. I think much of what Marjorie shared is probably something we’ve heard at one time or another…so to hear it from Marjorie given her expertise and experience certainly provides an additional what I will call “stamp of approval” or endorsement.

    One area that Marjorie did not cover to the degree she did other areas was that of the opportunity to work with Board leadership BEFORE one has a meeting with the Board.

    This is particularly important when one is going to have a FIRST meeting with the Board or when it has been some time since the last meeting.

    I believe there is what I will call a lot of “unspoken anxiety” between the Board and the Compliance professional. Often the Board has not clarified to the Compliance professional its collective interests that fall within the scope of what the Compliance professional is involved in, Equally, I see that Compliance professionals are at a loss as to KNOWING…not guessing…what the Board may want to learn about.

    I think this is a greatly overlooked opportunity which I think may be worth exploring on another level (article, web, presentation)…but for now I simply want to share categorically…that often engaging in a pre-Board meeting, perhaps with the Chair or President of the Board is time extremely well spent and serves many positive ends when done. It also helps clarify between the key players: Board and compliance professional, expectations which for whatever reason both parties fail to communicate to one another.

    Now please relax…I am not calling anyone out in particular as I am sure there are some people who will think..”Well, that’s not me…I know my Board and what they want, etc, etc, etc”.

    If that’s you, wonderful…I share this mostly for those who are not in such a position with the hope they may consider some of what I suggest.

    Thanks again Marjorie for your insights on those areas you covered…very useful indeed!

    • Frank, you are absolutely correct. As usual in our profession the pre-work is the most important. I have urged compliance professionals to reach out and establish a relationship with a Board member so that that person becomes your “angel” and advocate. I have also urged Boards to designate someone (as Frank mentions the chair of the committee that the CECO reports to) to have frequent discussions and contact with the CECO, both formal and informal.
      To Frank’s point,then the CECO and the Board are more aligned with expectations of both. Since Boards and companies are always changing, the CECO should constantly check in to make sure that new expectations are always updated. This constant relationship is especially important when the day comes that the CECO has to deliver tough messages.
      Frank, thanks for taking the time to add this depth to the podcast and I think your idea of a webcast or article is great – sounds like you would be terrific to lead the charge!

      • Ahem…maybe I could convince you to be a co presenter at an HCCA event…no pressure…and after all…this request is only between us…no one need know…again…no pressure!

  2. Aloha Marjorie,

    Would you be able to share what your pie chart looks like that you present to the Board?

Comments are closed.