Are You Setting the Right Tone at the Beginning?
The Goal: Hiring a team member who fits the company culture, gets the job done and is committed to the mission. How do you get there? Your onboarding program. This is where you set the tone in the beginning.
Let’s start with some compliance terms so we’re all on the same page:
Tone At The Top:
The general ethical atmosphere radiating from a company’s leadership.
Tone In The Middle:
How middle management translates the tone at the top and manages staff with that in mind.
(Note: We wrote a great whitepaper on this subject)
Now I’m adding a new one to the mix:
Tone At The Beginning:
How the tone gets transferred to the newest members of your team.
Tone at the Beginning: A How-to Guide
The best way of accomplishing Tone At The Beginning is through an effective on-boarding program that addresses Accountability, Clarity and Ease (or ACE) to communicate the tone of compliance within your company.
Accountability
An employee feels accountable when they know how to reach their goals and they are given the tools to do so. By showing your new employee the steps they can perform to keep them accountable and ensure compliance with requirements, you are giving them all the knowledge they will need to maintain the behavior that is expected of them. Here at Compli we introduce our new hires to our workforce compliance management system, Compligo. Compligo makes it easy for employees to access policies and complete the necessary tasks to be compliant. By using this system we are giving our employees the power to be accountable for their compliance.
Clarity
Clarity means making sure every employee understands
1) what is expected of them and
2) what tools are available to them.
Beyond the tools it is also important to have people available to answer questions when they come up. We also accomplish this through Compligo, which lays out a checklist of the tasks ahead so that the employee knows what their progress is.
Ease
Training materials must be easy to understand and accessible. Additionally, new employees should have clear direction as they complete training materials and have to supporting materials and supervisors if they have questions. In our case, Compligo is cloud based; this means that employees can log on from their desk or the coffee shop around the corner to complete the tasks that are assigned to them. This easy access helps us ensure compliance with requirements.
Take a look at your onboarding program and the tone you want to communicate to your new employee. Do your materials convey what is important to your company? If you keep A.C.E. in mind as you review your program and materials, you will have new hires that become a real part of the team, living and breathing the values of the company.
We wrote a great white paper on using Accountability, Clarity, and Ease to set the tone for your corporate compliance program. Check it out!
