Build a brand

Here is one piece of advice I give during the onboarding process of a new ethics and compliance officer: build a brand.

Take action each month (or better, each week) to remind those you serve what your role is. Explain a section of your code of conduct in the company’s newsletter. Present the key requirements of a new policy at an all-hands meeting. Send a reminder email when the training completion deadline approaches. And so on.

Do this consistently, and when someone has a concern, they will know who to go to. Better yet, they will come to you before it’s a concern, before anything is done. You will be seen as an advisor, not just an enforcer.

Build a brand. It convinces other people to come to you before they even know they have a need to do so.