By Adam Turteltaub

Conflicts of interests have likely been around as long as there have been people.  When mankind learned to use fire, there was probably a guy who made blankets who criticized fire as too dangerous as a source of warmth, not realizing he was conflicted, or hoping others wouldn’t figure it out.

Despite the timelessness of them, businesses can’t afford to not manage conflicts of interest.  Brian Beeghly, co-founder, and CEO of Informed360, explains in this podcast that most companies today have at least a conflict of interest policy.  There, however, the paths diverge.  Some have no mechanisms for tracking conflicts, others rely on paper-based methods and some have moved to automated tools and processes.

Brian argues that companies have to look at the disclosure process itself, starting with the timing.  Is it an annual event across the company or is it more personal and timed to when an employee starts working with a new customer or vendor, or assumes a new position in the company?

Also, examine how easy it is for the employee to disclose their conflicts.  Not only should the actual process be simple, but employees should also have the training to understand what conflicts are.

Listen in to learn more about how your organization can better manage conflicts of interest.