From Corporate to Frontline: 7 Ways Ethics Champions Drive Impact

Bringing an Ethics & Compliance (E&C) program to life in the everyday work of employees presents difficult challenges. This article describes seven ways in which Ethics Champions Programs help bridge the gap between the corporate office and the frontline.

Bringing the E&C Program from the Center to the Front Lines

Many corporate E&C teams lack local staff to support the implementation of corporate initiatives. Ethics Champions can serve as the local bridge, helping deliver E&C programs to business units. Concrete ways Champions can assist with program transfer include:

• Host, coordinate, or participate in events promoting awareness, such as an Ethics Day or Integrity Week.

• Support training activities, for example, by encouraging participation.

• Disseminate E&C information and other resources (e.g., codes, other policies, posters).

Earnie Broughton, Ethics & Compliance Consultant

Providing a First Line of Support

Ethics Champions can serve as approachable, informal local go-to contacts for colleagues with questions or concerns. Employees with a trusted and qualified local contact for first-line support are likelier to report risks early, avoiding unnoticed issues that could otherwise balloon. While Champions typically do not act as investigators or decision-makers, they can guide colleagues to the appropriate contacts for expert support.

Champions can provide first-line support by:

• Answering basic questions about the code or other policies.

• Guiding colleagues to the right experts for more complex issues.

• Explaining how employees can report concerns safely and effectively.

Joe Murphy, Editor, Compliance and Ethics: Ideas & Answers

Ensuring Localization and Cultural Fit

Ethics Champions can help adapt the E&C program to local culture by making corporate messages clear and relatable. They can review and provide feedback on policies, training, and other communication initiatives to ensure simple language, relevant examples, avoiding jargon or legalese.

Facilitating Ethical Dialog in the Workplace

Ethics Champions can help embed integrity into the daily rhythm of work. By bringing ethical considerations into routine conversations and decisions, they can influence how teams think, talk, and act. Over time, this can become a normalized and lasting part of the local workplace culture. Ethics & Compliance is often perceived as a distant, top-down affair, where employees just follow rules and avoid wrongdoing. Ethics Champions are living examples of the idea that employees in any role and at any level can, should, and desire to be ethics advocates.

Champions can promote ethical dialogue in the workplace by:

• Bringing up ethical considerations in team discussions.

• Asking how decisions might impact customers, employees, or other stakeholders.

• Facilitating open, respectful conversations about ethical topics.

Risk Sensing

Ethics Champions often know firsthand the daily ethical risks and challenges their teams face. E&C departments can utilize this local knowledge to inform and improve risk management at the corporate level. Champions can support better risk sensing by:

• Providing input as part of the organization’s risk assessment process.

• Giving feedback on the E&C department’s risk assessment.

• Facilitating conversations with local teams on relevant ethical risks.

Driving Program Improvement from the Ground Up

Ethics Champions offer frontline insights on what works and what needs improving in the E&C program to better meet local business needs. Champions can suggest improvements relating to key components of the E&C program, such as risk assessments, policies, communications, training, or reporting mechanisms. Organizations can gather their input through diverse methods, including surveys, workshops, design sprints, or idea campaigns.

Growing a Network of Everyday Ethical Leaders

We are what we repeatedly do. To actualize our ethical capabilities, we need opportunities to do ethical things. When designed well, participation in a Champions Program can be a transformative experience, by conferring valuable life skills, reinforcing an ethical role identity, building ethical confidence and motivation, and strengthening participants’ capacity to act as competent ethical agents at work. When we align our work with our desire to live an ethically active life, it can be deeply fulfilling. (This is, by the way, why many E&C professionals love their work.) As each new cohort joins, the network of Ethics Champions expands, steadily increasing the organization’s overall ethical capacity and helping a strong ethical culture take root and flourish.

These are some of the many ways in which Champions Programs boost the impact of E&C programs. But there are other reasons to feel optimistic about these programs.

Until recently, regulatory and standard-setting bodies rarely mentioned Ethics Champion programs, but that is changing. In 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice recognized their importance, stating “Prosecutors should examine whether a company has (…) offered opportunities for managers and employees to serve as a compliance ‘champion’ …”

Lastly, Champions Programs offer a good return on investment. Employees typically take on the role of Ethics Champions as an add-on to their primary day job. Champions typically do not weigh heavily on the E&C payroll, making these programs a cost-effective way to extend reach into the business and deliver unique value at a reasonable cost.

Thanks so much to everyone who responded to my call for input to this article on LinkedIn. Your feedback has been incredibly valuable!

Now, I am curious to hear: What resonates? What doesn’t? What’s missing? Please pitch in your thoughts…

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