Leslie D. Reed (lreed@horizonattorney.com) has worked in corporate compliance for over 10 years and currently is a paralegal at Horizon Attorneys & Counselors at Law in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The dreaded sales call. Not dreaded because you hate them, dreaded because your answer will be, “We have no budget for that.” How many times have you discovered a fantastic third-party compliance program, only to know you will never be able to secure money for it? Compliance professionals are no strangers to this conflict. Don’t give up. There are things you can do to run an effective compliance program on a shoestring or no-string budget; it takes a lot of work, relationships, and resourcefulness.
It is one thing to operate a well-established compliance program with little money for third-party assistance, and a whole other thing to start one from scratch. Adding a global span to that only increases the need for third-party translators, travel, and delivery systems. So what are some things you can do to get a compliance program up and running with no budget?
Use existing resources
I have found that Human Resources and IT have been my primary contacts for systems that are already in place. I have used Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) to deliver code of conduct certifications, new policy acknowledgements, and onboarding requirements. For example, I used HRIS to launch a code of conduct and to secure annual certifications. Using the same type of process as a benefits enrollment, all users were assigned a task to complete their code of conduct certification. They logged in, retrieved the document, and then uploaded it into their employee profile. I could easily retrieve reports of completions, and the certifications were available for HR or Legal retrieval if needed. No paper and no new third-party management system required.
If you have an online training system, that is an untapped resource waiting for your compliance materials. I have used an online training system to deliver code of conduct certifications and new policy acknowledgements as well. Think outside the box for delivery. What global delivery system does your company employ? Not sure? Just watch your emails and see what companywide communications you receive. Benefit enrollment? Annual performance reviews? Start asking yourself, “Can I use that same system to deliver my message?” The IT department is also a fantastic resource, especially for SharePoint or cloud-based resources. I always run something I want to do by my IT coworkers, because they often already have things in place to do what I need.
