Today I would like to share another great piece from Tom Fox. It’s entitled “Skills for the compliance professional in the 2020s.“

In this must-read piece, Tom shares five skills that we should all focus on at the start of this new decade. All five skills are highly relevant but I would like to highlight one here: developing emotional intelligence.

We are now living in a world where machines and algorithms are increasingly taking over the tasks and decisions that humans were responsible for. If something relies on efficiency, it will soon be done by a non-human. Humans will be sought after only for highly non-efficient tasks that require the powers of adaptation, creativity and… emotional intelligence.

Examine the tasks that you do today. Make a list. Identify those that rely on efficiency and those that rely on emotional intelligence. You soon won’t be needed for the tasks in the first bucket.

What’s left on your plate?

After a workplace investigation, management typically considers two types of actions: corrective and disciplinary.

Each type offers an opportunity to improve the organizational culture.

• The right disciplinary action will send a message to all other employees about what behaviors are not acceptable.
• The right corrective action will create or change a process that will direct employees towards a more compliant and ethical behavior.

To maximize the cultural impact of these decisions, management must deliberately aim to improve the culture when making them.

Most people believe that they would go to the police if they were raped. But in fact, most rape victims don’t report the crime. In Japan, only 4% or rape victims report the crime to the police, according to a government study.

Several other studies have shown that the decisions we make in a “hot state” can be exactly the opposite of the decisions we make in a “cold state”. In other words, when we calmly imagine how we might respond to a lottery win or to sexual harassment, we usually miss the mark by a mile.

This is an important fact for E&C professionals to remember. When we receive an allegation of wrongdoing, we analyze it in a cold state. We ask ourselves questions like “What would I have done if I were the perpetrator?”, or “What if I had been the victim?” But, of course, the perpetrator (probably) and the victim (most certainly) were both in hot states, and, thus, their decisions might appear irrational to us.

(How many times have you made a decision that your later regretted because you were upset when you made it?)

We must help management recognize this reality. Of course, we can still expect employees to behave according to objective standards (e.g. don’t harass, report wrongdoing, etc.) and impose disciplinary actions when they don’t meet the requirement. But we ought to do so with compassion and understanding.

Give a nod to those who like your idea.

Listen very closely to those who don’t like it.

The Hallmark Channel just became a great example of why it’s important for an organization to know who they are and who they want to be.

When an ad on their channel caused controversy, they chose to pull the ad, explaining that their brand was not about divisiveness (although not about inclusiveness either). When the removal came under fire, they decided to reinstate the ad.

In the end, all we know about what Hallmark truly stands for is the importance of ad revenues.

Another 43 people died in a factory fire in India.

If you were the owner of this building, would you agree to its commercial use in a residential area?

If you had a chance to be employed at the factory, would you accept the job, knowing that the owner is willing to break the rules?

If you were a neighbor, would you report the illegal use?

If you were a city inspector, would you now ask for more resources to prevent another tragedy?

Now turn to your current job. Is there a safety concern that you can address before someone gets hurt?

It was about 7 AM when I heard the phone ring in the hotel room next to mine.

I had been working for about an hour at the wooden desk facing my large window, occasionally glancing at the Phoenix Mountains bathing in morning sunlight. I listened to the rings, expecting my neighbor to pick up or for the call to go to voicemail, waiting for that moment when I could go back to concentrating on my writing.

The rings didn’t stop. One minute went by and I assumed that this was a hotel wake-up call that would soon default to the standard 10-minute snooze. But it didn’t. Two minutes went by. Then four.

I called the front desk. Either there was someone in the room who might need help, or there was no one in the room and I wanted the noise to stop. I was told that security was on its way.

Peeking through the viewport of my door, I saw security walk passed my room and I stepped out. The gentlemen looked like a retired police officer. He was facing my neighbor’s door and quickly glanced at me. He didn’t smile but he had a peaceful look. He seemed a bit out of shape but I bet he could have taken me down in two seconds. He contacted the front desk with his walkie-talkie and asked them to call the room. We heard a second ring tone from the hallway, this one even louder, and after two rings, the room went quiet. I heard some noise in the security officer’s earpiece and his reaction indicated that all was well with my neighbor. He or she had simply been sleeping through their mobile phone alarm.

What happened next surprised me. The officer turned to me and asked if I was OK and if I needed any assistance. He seemed genuine in wanting to make sure there wasn’t anything he could do to help. I am a 50 year-old male, 6 feet tall, in good shape, wearing a suit, and as calm as can be. Did I look like I needed assistance? I smiled, thanked him, and went back to my room.

Later on, I thought about the employees in my company who report concerns. Many of them report small violations that present no threats to anyone. As seasoned E&C officers, who have seen serious and threatening allegations from time-to-time, we might overlook the need to ask someone who reported a small concern if they are OK, if they need anything, or if they have any questions. We assume they are fine because we are.

The hotel security officer was a true professional. And a fine example to follow.