De meeste compliance officers zullen het voorbeeld kennen: in 1999 werd het Amerikaanse Enron door het gezaghebbende tijdschrift Fortune uitgeroepen tot de “No. 1 in Quality of Management”. CEO Richard Kinder stond bekend als ‘Doctor Discipline’. Nauwelijks twee jaar later ging het bedrijf, onder de nieuwe CEO Jeffrey Skilling ten onder in wat nog altijd geldt als een van de grootste boekhoudschandalen uit de geschiedenis. De ondergang van Enron was niet het gevolg van het ontbreken van de juiste structuren maar van een cultuur waarin de bestaande processen en checks and balances terzijde werden geschoven.

Banks, insurance companies, pension funds and many more companies in other industries struggle to cope with the increasingly complex regulatory landscape: how can they manage regulatory risks and foster a strong compliance culture? The role of the compliance officer is obviously to enable this; to play a part in this as trainer, coach or consultant. But how does a compliance officer get trained themselves? What skills and traits does a compliance officer need to perform successfully, to get some job satisfaction and to grow as a person, and more importantly; how do they gain and retain those skills?
In my professional network, both as a compliance officer and as a trainer, I often meet frustrated compliance officers, who feel that they cannot make a difference. They struggle to get their advice across, being seen as operating from an ivory tower; a dinosaur without understanding of business challenges. As a teacher, I notice the same. Groups have changed over the years. To minimize the distance to their changing audience, compliance officers need to adapt their language, presentation style and even attire. Getting attention is a must for training. And for being a compliance officer as well.
In this article, I will explore some challenges that face compliance officers, with regulatory and business demands fighting for attention. From there, I will discuss the skill set required and provide examples of how to develop those skills. I will explore awareness programs as an example of how to get a grip on, evolve, and grow as a compliance officer. For this article, the technical skills (regulations, legal considerations etc.) are not in scope.
The observations and opinions in this article are not scientifically researched but represent the day-to-day experience and personal beliefs of the author.