Tom Fox welcomes brothers Nick and Gio Gallo, co-CEOS of ComplianceLine, along with Ronnie Feldman, CEO and founder of Learnings & Entertainments to this week’s show. They discuss innovative solutions to some of the challenges that compliance leaders face.

Addressing Compliance Challenges

Compliance leaders often face challenges in getting management to address compliance issues. Tom asks his guests how they would counsel a client experiencing these challenges. Nick expresses that this new age demands modern approaches: you can’t use the same approaches as 10 and 15 years ago. He suggests leading with value and reaching across departments to get the desired attention from management.  

The Game of Influence

Gio comments that employees aren’t all reading the DOJ guidelines, nor are they all pondering how to change their organization’s compliance policies. Ronnie adds that the innovation needed to bridge this gap is influence - leaders need to understand how it impacts change within an organization. He recommends learning activities that are short, fun, and interesting. Nick says, “This is 100% a game of influence. We’re either trying to influence our peers, we’re trying to influence leadership to get more budget, and really our mandate is trying to influence the behavior within our organization.” He adds that there are two sides to influence: the objective and the human side. We need both to transform our teams and organizations.

Building a Speak Up Culture

Tom asks how an organization can build a ‘trust and speak up’ culture. Gio advises having a collaborative relationship with third-party vendors to be able to access information that may help to resolve employee issues. Ronnie comments that before creating any training program to tackle this or any issue, leaders should start with their objectives in mind. Think about the communication channels available and obstacles you may face, he remarks. “The goal is to influence the social environment,” he says, “and the best way to do that is to be interesting and short, and I think entertaining, because then you can put that in more places, and they're gonna like you.” Gio adds, “We as compliance leaders and ethics experts need to be the ones who lead beyond those strict requirements and say, ‘Well, this is what quality means. This is what is going to get us to engagement. This is the type of partner that's gonna help us figure out the thing that we don't know yet.’”

The Importance of Active Listening

Tom asks, “What skills does a compliance officer need beyond being able to read the law or to read a spreadsheet?” Ronnie stresses the importance of being an active listener. He uses an example from his time doing improv to illustrate his point. “The compliance department as a profession needs to be better at integrating and melding with other departments and also bringing those views into their organization,” Gio says. There needs to be more diversity within the organization in order for compliance to function more strategically. 

Why We Work Together

L&E and ComplianceLine’s partnership is so fruitful because both companies have a similar ethos, according to Nick. They’re both trying to impact the workplace in the same way, Ronnie adds. He points out that the Gallo brothers love trying new approaches to create solutions, and that it brings a synergistic energy to the partnership that allows them to work well together. 

Resources

ComplianceLine.com

Gio Gallo at LinkedIn | Twitter

Nick Gallo at LinkedIn

Learnings & Entertainments: Website | LinkedIn 

Ronnie Feldman at LinkedIn | Twitter