The title may be a little strong, but as in any field and on any project, communication is the sinews of war! All the more so when the subject matter can come across as thoroughly dull… Let us not be afraid to say it: compliance is not, at first glance, a particularly sexy topic, but once it is understood it arouses the interest of stakeholders and it becomes far easier to see how strategic it is for an organisation.
Communication is therefore one of the crucial issues in rolling out a compliance programme. In this article we set out a few ideas for informing employees successfully.
Communicate to demystify
As a reminder, compliance covers all the processes designed to ensure that an organisation, its directors and its employees observe the legal, environmental and ethical standards that apply to them. Its purpose is to guard against the legal, financial or reputational risks the organisation could face if laws, regulations or ethical principles were breached.
The very dense evolution of the body of rules in recent years inevitably makes it complex to simplify and circulate the guidelines, and to secure the commitment of teams to them.
Directors and the compliance officer must therefore rise to the challenge of communication that is clear, concise (even if that means producing several sets of materials by topic), accessible and not tedious. Compliance subjects (corruption, audit, risk, and so on) can create anxiety and unsettle employees (and their staff representatives too), or appear too complicated to hold any real interest. Yet without their buy-in, the compliance programme may very quickly amount to little more than a message in a bottle.
Management must therefore deploy an effective communication strategy to explain what compliance is, what it is for and what its various stages are, and above all to make clear that this is an approach designed to protect the organisation, not to call any particular department or individual into question.
Being alive to these aspects, showing that management is fully committed and rising to this communication challenge is the surest route to a successful compliance culture.
Set up or use a tool that centralises information
In an organisation, it is not unusual for information to travel through several channels, in particular on regulatory matters or the roll-out of internal policies. This can sometimes cause difficulties, because employees do not all have the same habits when it comes to taking in information, nor the same access to tools.
A central tool through which information can be found quickly and at any time can therefore offset an internal communication problem and encourage people to keep up with compliance topics regularly.
Today, various internal communication channels make this circulation and retention easier (intranet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Notion, and so on), in particular through dedicated categories or groups. It is also possible to use platforms dedicated to compliance, or the company blog. These tools make content available in a range of formats, which makes information more digestible, better presented and regularly updated. Good practice also involves complementing them with internal newsletters.
Raise awareness and train on a regular basis
Communication must not happen only when the compliance programme is launched or when the rules are updated. Awareness-raising on compliance topics must be regular, so that teams become familiar with these issues and their curiosity is aroused. It will also allow them to consider where they stand on the various cases put to them. Employees may, for example, be invited to test their knowledge through a quiz and a reminder of good practice, or receive short messages on specific topics.
In addition, and quite obviously, passing on information also means training directors, managers and employees (yes, this really is everyone's business!). Training makes it possible to go further in understanding compliance issues within the organisation's activity and each person's role, to put something concrete behind the words and to build on good practice; but it is also a space for discussion that breaks down barriers.
Conclusion
We all know that communication is the foundation of our day-to-day relationships, and compliance is no exception. The more clearly we communicate, the better the message lands, the better we understand one another, the better we move forward. Compliance is the strength of collective intelligence and the sharing of information through communication in all its forms.
To be effective, that communication must be driven with commitment by management, take account of the factors behind resistance to change, use internal communication tools that work and that most people in the organisation have adopted, and show some innovation.