The creation and maintenance of a robust culture of administrative compliance is one of the most fundamental and critical responsibilities of organizational leadership. Compliance is the price of admission every organization must pay to get a seat at the table, to compete for funding, to develop a respected brand identity and to build something that lasts.
It isn’t sexy. The work isn’t always fun. But a fanatical commitment to developing and maintaining compliance and caring for the people in your organization who make compliance happen can make or break your legacy in leadership.
Spiral into noncompliance
The explosion of government regulations in the past 100 years has made compliance a business in and of itself. At the Foodbank, we spend a lot of time and resources keeping up with government, contractual, third-party, food safety, employment and financial reporting regulations. We have worked hard to develop robust checklists, regular meetings and visible systems that keep key compliance items constantly on our radar screen. The administrative sophistication required to properly integrate restricted public and donated funds with restricted government and food industry product donations and diverse client eligibility requirements is intense. Experienced, committed people are at the core of that work.
Organizations that have constant change at the top are almost always destined for compliance problems. New leaders want to develop their own senior team. That critical third-tier of staff members beneath them, the ones who make compliance happen, can endure occasional leadership changes given time to recover. But revolving doors at the top can easily spiral down into the heart of the organization where the work gets done. Once the managerial ranks are infected with turnover, the spiral into noncompliance is nearly inevitable. That is a course that is very slow to correct.
Lesser of two evils
Often as leaders we are faced with the lesser of two evils, and sometimes we have to delay or totally avoid a desired personnel change when a key compliance driver is at issue. Sending your organization into noncompliance should be avoided at all costs. Always factor a staff member’s contributions toward compliance into all of their compensation and disciplinary considerations. Boards, you should do the same when considering making moves related to your CEO.
An enduring system of compliance is your ticket into the slow, challenging, but vastly rewarding process of building your people and culture. It is the rock wise leaders build their houses upon. It is the driving force of momentum that launches your mission into flight. Never take your eyes off of it. Never fail to appreciate the people in your organization who make it happen. Never stop nurturing it. And never underestimate the problems you will make for yourself if you do.
Check out Atul Gawande’s book “The Checklist Manifesto” for some awesome insights and ideas into the incredible power of checklists and simple administrative systems to strengthen your compliance initiatives.
Daniel Flowers is the president & CEO of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. He is a member and former vice-chairman of Feeding America’s National Affiliate Council and is currently chairman of the Ohio Association of Foodbank’s board of directors. Under his leadership, the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank received Feeding America’s 2012 Food Bank of the Year award, the highest recognition achievable by food banks.
