Gripes go up

When E&C professionals interview employees in the course of investigations, they often hear employees say that their wrongdoing was motivated in part by what their supervisor said to them or to their team. Things like:

• This policy doesn’t make sense. None of these policies do. And there are so many!
• This training is a waste of time. But we need to check that box.
• If you don’t think that extra test is necessary, use your judgment.
• If an auditor comes, just answer the questions. Don’t volunteer other information.

These short sentences compromise the culture of compliance. If indeed a policy doesn’t make sense, the supervisor should elevate the issue and, in the meantime, comply with the policy. Same idea with training, controls, audits and everything else.

Gripes go up, not down.