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1. Ticking the Compliance Box Isn’t Enough

While many organizations opt for compliance ‘solutions’ that simply meet the minimum regulatory requirements, the panel discussed how companies should be aiming higher. To truly move the needle on workplace culture, we collectively need to redefine the modern workplace.

Organizations should be trying to create a thriving speak-up culture where employees feel trusted, valued, and know for a fact that they won’t face retaliation for reporting. Here are our top tips to encourage employees to Speak Up.

2. Platform Parallels

Interestingly, Vault Platform and Ethena share quite a lot of similarities, both having been founded by female leaders with a passion for revolutionizing the modern workplace and creating compliance tools that promote trust.

Roxanne was formerly an active-duty Army Officer. She talked about how the US military’s approach to day-to-day training consists of repeating actions and routines until perfected and how this is at odds with the army’s compliance training, which was relegated to a tick-box exercise. She then discovered that the corporate world has a similar approach to compliance and recognized the need for a compliance training revolution.

Neta’s journey that led to the founding of Vault also revealed to her that misconduct reporting in corporate environments is often a tick-box exercise that only addresses minimum compliance and regulatory standards. Solutions like Vault and Ethena go beyond ticking boxes, helping organizations to develop truly ethical and compliant cultures.

3. The Critical Role of Trust

One of the key elements missing from modern workplaces is trust. Frances talked about the findings of Edelman’s annual trust and credibility survey and how – despite our collective understanding of how trust breaks down – we’ve yet to significantly move the needle in the right direction. 

Businesses today are expected to take an active approach to build trust and this expectation comes from customers, stakeholders, and employees. Once an organization understands how trust has broken down, it can start to take actionable steps to rebuild trust. Frances highlighted that she’s seen positive results almost immediately from organizations that have invested time and resources to trust, but that it needs to be a ‘fire prevention’ approach rather than ‘firefighting’.

4. Painkillers and Vitamins

Another hot topic that arose more than once during the webinar was the importance of technology and how it goes a long way to helping organizations build trust with their employees.

As CEOs of compliance tech solutions, Roxanne and Neta both touched on the importance of solving customer pains and improving customer experience with the help of technology. One common way to talk about products during their development is whether they’re a painkiller or a vitamin, the former solving unmet customer needs while the latter improves on an existing solution. Vault and Ethena are now building upon their initial products with all of the ‘vitamin’ solutions and features that customers crave. In the case of Vault, this is all about data analytics tools that help compliance leaders save time and gain valuable insights into what’s happening in their organizations and where their areas of expertise are needed most.

If you didn’t get the chance to join us for the webinar, you can now watch it on demand on our website.

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Our very own Tori Reichman, Chief Customer Officer at Vault Platform, spoke with special guest Lisa Schor Babin, Founder & Principal of Schor Ethics Consulting LLC, about the mounting pressure from investors, customers, and employees and the importance of ESG in today’s workplace. Here are some answers to the key questions that came up during the webinar.

1. How can E&C professionals identify ESG risks through data?

It’s important that organizations have the right technology in place to capture data. They can then connect the dots, identify patterns and prevent issues from becoming bigger. Lisa explained that E&C professionals can use all manner of systems to identify ESG risks, including misconduct reporting solutions like Vault Platform, risk assessments, employee surveys, and financial systems. The key is to bring together points of data that paint a picture and help to identify areas for improvement and risk areas.

2. How can E&C professionals demonstrate that ESG metrics are based on regulatory standards?

In December 2021, the EU Whistleblower Directive mandated that member states introduce common standards of protection for those who Speak Up about breaches of EU laws from retaliation or recrimination. By adopting a misconduct reporting solution that meets the criteria of the Directive, such as Vault Platform, companies with a presence in the EU can mitigate risks and take action when things don’t go to plan. Our solution reduces time to resolution and facilitates collaboration, creating a far more positive experience for everyone involved.

E&C professionals in the US should also consider leveraging the foundational elements from the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organization’s (FSGO) framework for an effective E&C program.

3. Is it possible to quantify the investment that is required in the ESG area?

Lisa flagged that an ESG strategy isn’t about politics; it’s about creating long-term value for a company and all of its employees, investors, and the wider community. A company’s strategy should therefore be tied to its mission and what it stands for and cares about rather than trying to measure ESG impact as a percentage of revenue or as a box that the company needs to tick. When thinking about your ESG strategy, consider what impact your organization is and could be having on the environment, community, and society and what you’re trying to achieve, as well as the risks your organization is facing.

4. How do prospective employees discover ESG information about the organizations they’re thinking of joining? 

One topic discussed at length during the webinar was the importance of trust between an employer and its employees. Organizations need to demonstrate to existing and prospective employees that their trust is important to the organization through its actions and investment.

For public companies, ESG results will form part of their annual reports and perhaps feature on their public-facing websites. Many organizations may also release separate ESG reports. The level of detail will likely vary depending on the ESG program’s maturity and impact.

5. Can ethics and compliance professionals work independently?

Typically, E&C professionals are hired internally to drive company ethics and compliance from the inside or as specialist consultants brought in to focus on key tasks and objectives.

Regardless of whether E&C professionals are hired internally or as consultants, they won’t be successful working in silos. From collaborating with misconduct reporters, team leads, the communications team, and other case managers, as well as agreeing on objectives and reporting results to leadership and the Board, collaboration is core to the E&C professional’s function and success.

Vault Platform unlocks ESG reporting from the grassroots. Keen to know how we can help your organization become an ESG Enabler and advocate for change? Book a demo today.

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1. Upwards Trend

The number of whistleblower complaints is trending upwards, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) receiving more than 12,000 whistleblower tips from individuals in 99 countries in 2021.

Cooley Partner Russell Capone highlighted that the SEC paid out approximately $564 million to whistleblowers in the 2021 fiscal year alone. During the same period, the Department of Justice (DOJ) recovered over $1.6 billion from False Claims Act actions filed by whistleblowers. In Europe, meanwhile, analysts forecast higher rates of complaints due to the increased whistleblower protections implemented by the EU Whistleblowing Directive (EUWD).

2. A Closer Look at the EUWD

Cooley Partner Ann Bevitt discussed the EUWD in more depth, including why it matters and tips on how to deal with its impact.

The Directive is about setting minimum standards for member states to enact into local law. As this is one of the first wide whistleblowing regulations to be implemented in the Union, Ann highlighted that it may be a steep learning curve for some organizations and easy for them to get wrong.

EU member states must incorporate “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” penalties into implementing laws for individuals/entities that:

• Hinder/attempt to hinder reporting
• Retaliate or bring vexations proceedings against whistleblower
• Breach duty to keep whistleblower’s identity confidential

3. Best Practices for Managing Investigations

Shamis Beckley from Cooley then provided some practical tips for managing investigations, including:

• Take whistleblower allegations seriously
• Keep things confidential (to the extent practicable)  
• Stay in contact with the whistleblower (to the extent possible)  
• Do not retaliate
• Treat whistleblowers thoughtfully and respectfully

4. How Misconduct Impacts Culture, Reputation and the Bottom Line

Another area discussed at length during the webinar was the importance of having a culture of trust and how organizations can show an openness to misconduct reporting that actually rewards reporters for their efforts.

Pulling data from our game-changing Trust Gap survey, Neta Meidav revealed that half of UK and US office workers personally experience misconduct, but that very few choose to report it.

Neta said: “Organizations have a history of adopting whistleblowing ‘solutions’ that leave anonymous reports unactioned, costing them financially and damaging their reputation. 

“One of the major blockers in creating a culture of trust is the hotline – it doesn’t belong in the modern workplace. The choice to report misconduct could be hugely impactful on an employee – potentially career-changing – so the idea of phoning someone with no vested interest in your career isn’t the way to go. Employees don’t want to have a conversation; they want to know who they’re talking to and see action off the back of their report. Incumbent solutions have led many employees to distrust their employers.”

5. Closing the Gap

Another hot topic of the webinar was the changing expectations of employees, who want their organizations to be values-driven and stand up for those values both internally and externally. Organizations need to show that they want their employees to be heard, so should agree on what’s important to them as a business and how to Speak Up about it.

Damien Atkins made it clear that it comes down to the CEO to be the loudest voice driving the importance of ethics, compliance, and company values. This extends not only to policies and procedures but also to how seriously the organization treats reports. Companies that take misconduct reports seriously are willing to get rid of ‘bad apples’ if necessary, regardless of their seniority or experience. They also protect reporters by keeping information confidential, letting them know when action is being taken, and showing their appreciation by rewarding reporters.

He also talked about the importance of employees having a voice at work, as there are now a wealth of communication methods for them to exercise their voice outside of work. It can be damaging to a brand’s reputation if an employee has not been heard internally and so posts about misconduct on social media platforms, such as Twitter.

Workplaces need to offer a range of communication methods that meet the needs of the modern, remote workforce, as the right tools and processes can allow employees to participate and have a voice in the same way they can outside of work. 

6. Leveraging Technology

The panel weighed in on why implementing innovative tech-backed whistleblower programs as an internal control is vital to appropriately handle complaints, identify and anticipate patterns and mitigate risk for both employees and employers.

To establish strong compliance programs and accessible reporting outlets for employees, organizations need to adopt solutions that actually work. With the right technology that enables data capture and the ability to connect the dots in order to prevent risks before they happen, organizations can dramatically improve investigation procedures through reduced resolution time and easier collaboration.

To watch the webinar in full, click here.

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Recent research showed that Imposter Syndrome is one of three hidden causes of the gender and BAME pay gap, and lack of parity in leadership roles. But those who struggle with it work hard to hide it.

This fear of being “found out” as not good enough, even if you’re outwardly confident and successful, was found to affect around half of the UK workforce on a ‘daily’ or ‘regular’ basis – and that was in the past year alone. It causes people to subconsciously self-sabotage their success. It has a direct impact on productivity and performance, and it can turn a thriving team toxic in just a few weeks.

In this session, Clare Josa – considered the UK’s leading authority on Imposter Syndrome – will guide you through what you need to know from the research study, how you can spot Imposter Syndrome in your teams, and what you can do to support people to set themselves free from it, once and for all.

Her talk will be followed by an interactive panel discussion with expert speakers from 87%, Toppan Merrill & Vault Platform to share insights and perspectives on this important issue.

Register to watch

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