Ethical conduct takes on a greater importance for a new company officer because the officer:

Compliance officers need an intuitive knowledge of a company’s goals and culture, as well as of the greater industry and standard business law...

The role of a compliance officer, sometimes called a compliance manager, is to make sure that a company is conducting its business in full compliance with all national and international laws and regulations that pertain to its particular industry, as well as professional standards, accepted business practices, and internal standards.

There is both an ethical component and a pragmatic component to compliance - a role that is crucial in helping organizations manage risk, maintain a positive reputation, and avoid lawsuits.

Compliance officers must have an innate and intuitive knowledge of the company’s goals and culture, as well as of the greater industry and standard business law. They are charged not just with keeping a company’s business dealings ethically sound and legally pristine, but with educating the entire company and instituting practices that will ensure the highest possible level of compliance.

“The most effective line of defense a corporation can implement against federal prosecution, including both civil and criminal enforcement, is an efficient and effective compliance program. An efficient and effective compliance program is not attainable without the right compliance officer,” says Robert Moseman, manager of the compliance division at Robert Walters, New York.

Levels of responsibility

Most often found in healthcare and banking, compliance officers are an important component of corporate governance, determining how an organization is managed, directed, and governed, including the relationships between stakeholders and the structure by which company objectives are set and followed. They usually report to the CEO or COO.

The International Compliance Association breaks down the role of a compliance officer into two levels of responsibility:

• Level 1: compliance with the external rules that are imposed upon an organization as a whole
• Level 2: compliance with internal systems of control that are imposed to achieve compliance with the externally imposed rules.

“Most agree that raising awareness of risk, training, and advice are critical elements of the CO’s mission. Therefore, a good Compliance Officer has the demanding and complex task of fulfilling all these roles,” says Robert Moseman.

The quintessential personality of a compliance officer

One aspect of a compliance officer’s job is communicating compliance-related issues to employees across all divisions of the organization. Sometimes this requires deciphering confusing or abstract laws or ethics and determining how to establish and integrate best practices. A compliance officer must therefore have great people skills and be able to communicate and cooperate up, down, and across the employee chain - and must simultaneously have a firm grasp of the business.

In addition to being a level-headed, clear communicator, here are some other qualities that excellent compliance officers posses:

• Ethical and principled: These are the single most important qualities of a compliance manager.
• Fair and modest: Willing to scrutinize all the facts without making a snap judgment and interview any relevant employees for their perspective.
• Proactive: A honed alertness and vigilance to potential breaches in compliance. This means actively enforcing a mandatory reporting policy and seeking out any weakness in company dealings.
• Intelligent and willing to keep learning: Most industries that employ a compliance officer are subject to constantly changing legislation, so staying on top of things is vital.
• Diligent: Even when it becomes a hassle, a compliance officer must be willing to see an issue through to resolution. Every time.
• A strong constitution and extra conviction: Solid backbone and the strength to stand by difficult decisions and be more influenced by right versus wrong than by relationships. Willing to take the lead in setting the tone for corporate integrity. 

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Understanding Conflict of Interest

Conflict of interest is a common issue in the workplace. Most of us have heard someone say, “It’s who you know, not what you know.” We have heard co-workers complain that a manager’s relative always gets the biggest raise or the best assignment. We might have seen colleagues accept gifts from potential vendors. Maybe a co-worker leaves work 20 minutes early every day so she can get to her second job. A supervisor may give a co-worker time off from work to do volunteer work or might allow employees to solicit donations and funds in the workplace, whether for the Girl Scouts or a local school function. Even though these situations are very different, they all fall under the heading of “conflict of interest.”

What is a Conflict of Interest?

A conflict of interest occurs when an individual’s personal interests – family, friendships, financial, or social factors – could compromise his or her judgment, decisions, or actions in the workplace. Government agencies take conflicts of interest so seriously that they are regulated. Industry organizations, corporations, and universities, including our university, follow that lead by including conflicts of interest in our policies, regulations, and standards of operating procedures. For our university, we must follow Florida’s Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees that includes standards of conduct and reporting requirements.

Conflicts of interest are a clash that most often occurs between requirements and interests. Various types of conflicts of interest can occur because of the nature of relationships versus rules of organizations or federal and state laws. People can easily become biased (have an unfair preference) because of small things like friendship, food, or flattery, or they may be influenced to make a decision because of the potential to gain power, prestige, or money. Conflicts can occur when an individual makes or influences a decision and does so for some personal gain that may be unfair, unethical, or even illegal. The important part is what you do in each of those situations. Do you allow your family, friendship, financial, or inside knowledge affect your actions? If you do, you could be violating state statute and university policy.

In our work lives, we also have interests that could influence the way we do our jobs and the decisions we make. Even if we never act on them, there may be an appearance that a conflict of interest has influenced our decisions. Consider this example. Your supervisor is promoted to department director. His daughter-in-law is hired as a new supervisor within the college but is not reporting to him. Maybe the new supervisor is the best candidate for that position, and maybe the new department director had nothing to do with her hire. Even if this hire met all of the requirements under our Employment of Relatives policy, the situation appears suspicious and employees may think that something was unfair or unethical about her hire.

Transparency (being completely open and frank) becomes important when dealing with both actual and potentially perceived conflicts of interest. Perception happens when an individual observes something (behavior or activity) and comes to a conclusion. Perceiving a conflict of interest does not make it a conflict of interest. The true test of verifying whether a matter is just a potentially perceived conflict of interest, or an actual conflict of interest, is disclosure.

When it comes to conflicts of interest, appearance is as important as reality. This is why disclosing conflicts of interest is important. Disclosure is typically a more formal and documented process that most organizations have adopted in policy to address conflicts of interest. The disclosure process is intended to help the work force be transparent and accountable for (explain or justify) their actions and decisions. Disclosure of a potential conflict of interest does not make it an actual conflict, but may help eliminate the perception. On the other hand, disclosure of an actual conflict of interest does not remove the conflict, but helps get it in the open to be properly addressed. It’s important to disclose both potentially perceived and actual conflicts of interest to allow others to evaluate the matter and make the decision, rather than keep it to oneself and then create an ethical or legal situation. The individual cannot make the determination as to whether it is a conflict or not because he or she does not have an independent or objective point of view.

When you identify a situation that may be a conflict, or could be perceived as a conflict, notify your supervisor or University Compliance, Ethics, and Risk at . They can help advise you on how to either remove the conflict by recusing yourself from the situation altogether, or develop a management plan to manage the conflict.

Final Point to Consider

“When in doubt, ask” is an old saying that makes a great deal of sense when working through conflicts of interest. There is no harm in asking, but there could be a great deal of harm to an individual, the organization, or both, by not asking. It is always best to be transparent and accountable to ensure we eliminate either the perceived or actual conflict of interest.

Which of the following steps is the first one a company officer should take to create command presence?

Which of the following ensures the quality and completion of a task?

Which of the following occurs when all exposed combustible surfaces within a compartment are heated to ignition temperature and ignite almost simultaneously?

Which action is a part of the third step of the four step method of instruction?