The Compliance Officers Killer Application

Writen by Martin Day

It used to be that only the largest multi-nationals needed a Compliance Officer. Today most practices, regardless of size, would be wise to charge someone within their organisation with the responsibility of keeping abreast and managing the compliance process.

Take as an example European employment law that has been introduced over the last few years that has changed the face of European businesses. Small businesses in particular are finding that a casual and informal approach to employment issues can now result in statutory fines that have no bearing on the financial health of the individual company and could, without as much as a by your leave, directly result in the demise of a company.

Small to medium businesses do not often have the luxury of employing a full time Compliance Officer and although larger organisations can afford a dedicated person they are finding that with compliance issues mushrooming the Compliance Officer now has a team, a department and if not already, how long before compliance becomes a division?

Regardless of size, the first step in compliance for any organisation requires them to identify the areas of compliance that are applicable to them. Rules and regulations are being introduced monthly on a local, regional, national and international level, covering everything from data protection and freedom of information, anti-money laundering to environmental waste control, race relations to health and safety; with ignorance being no defence there is a requirement on the individual businesses to know their responsibilities, and fines for those that wait to be told.

Having identified the areas of compliance the company then needs to understand what they need to do to ensure they comply. It is becoming conceivable that with the shear volume of compliancy issues that companies who can show a good faith effort in complying will, even when they fall short, reduce the risks of fines.

Having identified and understood the compliance issues the Compliance Officer needs to define and implement policy and disseminate the information throughout the organisation.

It is important for the Compliance Officer that they do not inadvertently become the company's patsy. Senior managers are not averse to ignoring the internal memos they receive advising them of their responsibilities. Compliance Officers need to deliver their messages up and down the corporate food chain and record that their advice and directives have been received and more importantly understood.

The Compliance Officer has to avoid becoming the company scapegoat. This won't happen by itself, a sales team that has a long history of success though a relaxed attitude to selling is not going to willingly adopt new, and what they will see as restrictive, practices without a fight. 'I didn't get the memo', 'I didn't understand it', 'I thought it meant something else', 'I thought these were only guidelines' are likely to be stock replies, along with the one or two old timers that didn't think compliance issues applied to them. It used to be a safe bet to blame IT, blame Compliance is rapidly taking its place.

One valuable tool in the Compliance Officer's tool box is the online survey and questionnaire.

The online survey can deliver a message internally to the individual; it can be informative like a memo and educational by referencing detailed policy. Importantly it can become a valuable self registering record that confirms that the information has been properly disseminated and understood.

A single survey question can achieve all these objectives at the same time.

Take an example:-

Are you aware that section 45 of the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2003 imposes an obligation on directors of certain companies to prepare statements on their company's compliance with its relevant obligations?
(Click here for a summary of Company's Policy on Compliance Reporting Obligations)

Yes
No

For those Directors that have not read the policy the survey will give an opportunity to view the company's policy online (using an embedded live HTML link). Should Directors answer 'No' the Compliance Officer knows who to target.

The survey also records the manager's response and shifts the responsibility away from the Compliance Officer to the individual manager where the responsibility needs rest for a company to meet its compliance obligations.

Using an online website such http://www.surveygalaxy.com where multiple surveys can be managed, easily modified, updated and re-issued on a periodic basis across an organisation online surveys can be the Compliance Officer's killer application.

Through the regular use of online surveys the Compliance Officer will be in the driving seat, leading and not chasing compliance issues, not only circulating the information on a one to one basis but also monitoring and recording the level of awareness throughout the organisation.

The Compliance Officer's role is a difficult one, like a parent keeping a wayward child on the straight and narrow, most employers, let alone their employees, often do not fully understand the true consequence of their, often innocent, minor discretions. Assigning a Compliance Officer is a start but enabling them to fulfil their remit will be the difference between a company being fully compliant and one that risks suffering the consequences for having let compliance take a back seat.

Martin Day is a Director of Survey Galaxy Ltd a web site that allows anyone to create, design and publish online surveys. Martin has provided survey consultancy for a number of Compliance Officers to help develop internal compliance awareness programmes. For more information please visit http://www.surveygalaxy.com

Business Planning Strategy How Can You Use Numbers To Aid Your Business Judgement And Marketing

Writen by Adrian Pepper

Last week, a client chose to focus our coaching session on his Business Plan. He had read that 80% of businesses that fail have no plan, whereas 90% of those that grow have a plan that they review and update at least once a year.

Although he had good headings, my client was struggling to write the narrative and fill in the numbers. He also worried about maintaining a 20-page document until I suggested that between one and four pages would be more effective for his company.

Set your goals clearly

So we started with "Why are you in business? What are you trying to achieve?" followed by "Who are your customers?" and "What benefits do they want to buy?"

As we made sense of this, we were able to insert the market research data that he had gathered. Asking him "What share of this market can you expect?" naturally led to testing his hopes against his competitors' strengths and weaknesses.

"How do you reach these customers?" was easily answered along with his weekly marketing investment. Of course as a good coach, I encouraged him to explore other ways to reach his market, and he decided to try a couple of them.

Use simple numbers to check progress

Next we worked on "How do you measure progress?". I have found that the numbers that matter in my business are those that help me face reality … and do something about it.

I dislike the discipline required but I find that collecting the numbers collapses my anxiety at not knowing and my complacency at thinking everything is fine.

So we spent some valuable time finding some simple ways that my client could check his business progress - and make a weekly habit of recording those measurements.

Stay on a profitable course

Quite suddenly, I had a client who was smiling because he saw the value of his business plan - the text and numbers told a compelling story.

He was anxious about interpreting his weekly results and thought he might need a quarterly review but I am sure this worry will pass. He will find the simple numbers give him clarity to decide how to respond. Since he understands how he wrote his plan, he should be able to re-jig his ideas as his market changes.

Take the challenge So here is a challenge for you: "Does your business plan tell a profitable story – and how do you keep it up-to-date?"

Adrian Pepper coaches people through business and personal difficulties, helping companies figure out what to do, how to move forward and what to get organised. You can contact him through Help4You Ltd, through his website at www.help4you.ltd.uk or by phone +44-7773-380133. At feeds.feedburner.com/help4you, you can listen to his podcast for small businesses.

Business Management Case Study Over Disclosure Puts Franchisors At A Competitive Disadvantage

Writen by Lance Winslow

The regulatory bodies at both the state and federal level require much disclosure from Franchisors. So, much information in fact that it indeed puts them at a disadvantage to both their foreign and domestic competitors who may not be franchise companies and therefore do not require the same level of disclosures. The Uniform Franchise Offering Circulars or UFOCs.

This puts franchise organizations at a severe disadvantage and executive business management teams need to be cognizant of this fact when extending brand name a outlets thru franchising in the market place. I believe that these disclosures help hurt franchisees thru competitive businesses snooping for information more than they help franchise buyers with disclosures.

You have to love the government always giving away proprietary information to help hurt your company. In fact a competitor can find more out about your company in the 250 page uniform franchise offering circular then they can going through your office for an hour and having access to all your computers.

Therefore a business management team needs to discuss these issues of over disclosure and how they put franchising companies at a competitive disadvantage before attempting to use franchising as a method to extend brand name and reach into the marketplace. Please consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Manage Communication To Add Value

Writen by Robert Abbott

Management guru Tom Peters says white collar workers and managers in functional departments need to protect their futures.

They have to learn "the difference between doing totally acceptable work and creating very new value...." he notes, in an Industry Week article. In other words, people in departments like Human Resources and Finance need to become entrepreneurial.

With that in mind, let's look at three ways you can use communication to add new value, whether you work in a functional department or not.

First, every department of every organization generates unique information. That comes from being astride several communication flows that come together in one office or area.

Information flows in from suppliers, from staff, and from other stakeholders. For example, people in your department read trade magazines, they attend seminars, they're in touch with people in other departments, and they may belong to trade associations.

If your department consciously gathers, sifts, analyzes, and organizes that information - formally or informally - then it's creating new value. It's now more than just information: it's business intelligence, information with added value. That's what we refer to as generating new information.

Moving to the idea of condensing information, one striking characteristic of modern communication is the amount of it moving around. No doubt you've heard references to information overload, an all too real problem for those whose work life revolves around information.

You can add value by monitoring the information that comes into your office and selecting just the critical parts. Movie director Alfred Hitchcock put it this way, "Drama is life with the dull bits cut out." That's probably not a bad way of thinking about the condensing of information.

You can also summarize. Rather than distributing selected bits of information, you can write an abstract that captures the key data or ideas and reduces the load to manageable size for others. That's great added-value for senior managers who need overviews, rather than details. Many internal newsletters earn their keep by providing regular summaries of useful information. That information can come from outside the organization or from within.

Third, there's other side of the same coin, which involves expanding, rather than condensing, information.

One way to do this is by providing context. Consider, for example, any current issue that gets high profile treatment. Can you take the information you have, and then provide background that helps others make sense of it? You might bring in additional information that provides a brief history, the current opportunities and threats, and some possible directions for the future, along with their implications.

You might also expand information by making connections to issues that don't seem to affect your organization. For example, suppose your factory serves only the domestic market, so globalization seems irrelevant for at least the near future. But, what if you could explain how changes to tariffs would allow you to buy your raw materials at lower prices?

In summary, you can add value to existing information by turning it into business intelligence, condensing it, or expanding it. All approaches may use the same material, but manage it differently, to satisfy different needs.

Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Learn how you can use communication to help achieve your goals, by reading articles or subscribing to this ad-supported newsletter. An excellent resource for leaders and managers, at: http://www.communication-newsletter.com

How To Write Commercial Collections Letters

Writen by Steve Austin

It is sometimes valuable to bring the sales manager into this step of the collection process. Information concerning the delinquency can often be obtained from the sales department. Tips for Commercial Collection Letters: When writing commercial collection letters, these points should be considered:

Include all basic information.

The commercial collections letter should state how and when you expect payment. It should suggest why the account should be paid in full. It should motivate the debtor to actually do this—now.

Use an effective style of writing.

Most commercial collections letters are written to appeal to the writer and not necessarily to the delinquent customer. Appeal to the debtor.

Use the "you" approach.

Too many commercial collection letters emphasize "we." Avoid such phrases as "we insist," "we remind" and "we want." It is much better to put the customer into the letter, saying such things as "you will appreciate" and "it is to your advantage." Remember that the debtor is not interested in your best interest, but in their own.

Don't say, "We will not write again."

This assures the debtor of their success in evading payment, and a phrase such as "to keep your good credit rating" may be impractical in a situation that has reached a certain stage of commercial collection.

Use motivating factors.

If a customer has not paid, there is a reason for it. Although a letter cannot discover the reason, it can give the customer a way in which they will benefit. For example, by paying now, they may continue to enjoy "open account" terms, or your credit rating won't be damaged.

Appeal to pride, honesty and security.

As a last resort, appeal to anxiety. These are factors that can be used to bring prompt payments.

Address the letter to an individual.

Direct it to the person who is authorized to initiate payments. Keep the letter short. Be as brief as possible, and cover only the most important points.

Get free information and advice on commercial collections.