We know every organization asks a lot of their compliance department. And increasingly, compliance professionals are tasked with incorporating marketing-style communications into their already busy calendars. These communications typically raise awareness of the department’s work while supporting annual curriculum and training plans.
Some departments are comfortable in these roles and can launch sophisticated campaigns. Others are just getting started by updating the department’s website and developing content for a new monthly email newsletter. And some don’t quite know where to start.
Regardless of your comfort level with communications, checking in on key communications strategies is always helpful in compliance work. So, let’s look at some practical tune-ups for your compliance communications.
Begin at the end
Successful initiatives start with a goal, but sometimes it isn’t easy to pinpoint what the goal should be. Ask yourself: At the end of the year, what do you want the organization to know about compliance? What do they need to know? If you’ve already identified a goal, revisit it. Is it still relevant? You’ll want to define a plan that will be achievable, measurable, and sustainable.
For example, one client wanted to understand perceptions of compliance throughout their organization to better tailor their quarterly newsletter content, but they didn’t have much time or consulting budget. They gathered eight managers from across the organization and held a virtual meeting to discuss compliance. The discussion surrounded questions like: What do their departments think of compliance? What do they want more help with? What perceptions do they have? Even that small representation gave them fundamental insights that helped shape and further clarify their newsletter content.
