Trained in compliance and educated in ethics; Where is the meeting point?

In a recent article by Roy  Snell titled:  I’ll take 10,000 Shares of Compliance and Ethics Officers Please.” He reports that “Compliance professionals are being hired in droves now to prevent, find and fix ethical and regulatory problems.”

We know that training in compliance is a rigorous, detailed process. However is ethics approached in the same way? If Compliance professional now have to prevent, find and fix ethical problems, doesn’t one need to have the same type of rigorous, detailed training in ethics as in compliance? After all, no one accepts the premise that compliance and ethics are the same, does one?

It seems that the term Compliance Professional by itself has as its focus, training in law and adherence to law and rightly so.  What is the focus for ethics, for education in ethics and its foundational relationship to compliance and law?

Why is this an important distinction to explore? The reason simply this.  The process of thinking ethically is distinctly different, yet integral to, the process of thinking legally. Therefore if it is different, then the training/education needs to be different. Logical, right? When one looks at the intensive training that one goes through to become a compliance professional and receive accreditation,  and if compliance and ethics are of equal importance, how much actual education is required in the process of thinking ethically?

If what Roy Snell is right about compliance professionals to have to prevent, find and fix ethical problems,  and  I  believe he is, then how are they trained/educated to do so?

The bottom line is this. Is one’s training in compliance as important as one’s education in thinking ethically? Both are needed and invaluable,  but where is the emphasis?

fbucaro

Like you, business ethics and ethical leadership expert, Frank Bucaro has seen the challenges and problems of corporate leadership, particularly over the past few years in regards to poor decision-making, SEC violations, and record breaking financial settlements in a number of different industries. With over two decades of executive training, speaking, writing and with real life experiences, his view and approach to ethics in the workplace is uniquely different. He emphasizes that ethics is a moment-to-moment choice and has little to do with position, titles, personalities or education. Ethics is everybody’s responsibility from the top down. His goal is to help organizations to: a. Strengthen their ethics training initiatives in order to significantly decrease the odds of an ethical/compliance violation. b. Energize, train and motivate employees to understand the value of consistent “high road” behavior as a business advantage. c. Support individuals and thereby the organization by contributing to its success by quality, ongoing values based leadership development. Frank is known for his very practical, slightly irreverent, yet somewhat humorous approach to ethics and leadership development. His conversational style and real life stories connect with his audience in a personal, intense and practical level. Companies such as Bayer Healthcare, BP, ReMax International, EnMax Energy, Danone, etc. have partnered with Frank when they want to proactively stress the message, tools, insights and practical applications that good ethics IS good for business!