The best way to deal with the aftermath of a compliance crisis at your company may be to do nothing at all. Sound counterintuitive? Business ethics columnist James Nortz, writing for the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Docket, says that often corporations can overdo post-crisis compliance programs. “The fear and anxiety such events cause to boards of directors and company executives sometimes manifests itself in the implementation of new policies, procedures and internal controls that overshoot the mark,” he explains.
For instance, requiring every employee, no matter their role, to endure online training sessions on compliance is likely missing the mark. These programs “run the risk of causing employees to avoid, rather than seek out, compliance professionals, and create negative attitudes toward the compliance program in general,” says Nortz.
