Companies can have their compliance management system certified in accordance with ISO 19600. Whether and when this is advisable must be carefully considered.
The standard can be applied in both companies and other organizations. Small and medium-sized enterprises can also benefit from the standard, as the recommendations are scalable and can be applied to varying degrees depending on the size of the company.
The Compliance Management System (CMS) of ISO 19600 is based on five pillars, which can also serve as a "roadmap" for the introduction of a CMS:
1. Compliance and risk audit
The compliance audit serves to determine the status quo of the company with regard to its compliance activities. The risk audit serves to identify compliance obligations (risks). The result is a "compliance risk map" for the company. This analysis forms the basis for all further measures for setting up the CMS.
2. Leadership
The different roles, responsibilities, and competencies within the company are considered, especially those of company management. Management must make the decision to introduce a CMS, define the goals and framework of the CMS, and provide the necessary resources. The role model function of management is crucial here: if management is committed to clean, legally compliant behavior and thus to preventing and punishing illegal practices, and if it lives up to this commitment, then an important prerequisite for a CMS to function is in place.
3. Management and control measures
The control measures that a company must introduce include regulations such as a code of conduct, process descriptions, and instructions. These must be developed based on the results of the compliance and risk audit and should be designed specifically with identified compliance risks in mind—always closely aligned with business processes. Appropriate monitoring and control measures must be integrated into the processes.
4. Communication and training
Most rule violations are based on a lack of knowledge. Knowledge about the existence of a requirement and about the consequences of one's own actions is therefore crucial if compliance is to be achieved. The standard requires ongoing training to enable employees to understand compliance requirements and act accordingly. Intensive communication and awareness-raising contribute to the creation of a sustainable corporate culture.
5. Continuous improvement
Similar to quality management, continuous improvement of the CMS is one of the central tasks. This involves random and event-driven checks of compliance requirements (e.g., through internal audits). Ongoing monitoring of the legal environment and continuous updating of the risk analysis are necessary in order to constantly adapt the system to new circumstances.
Any compliance violations that are identified must be followed up by the company. This includes investigating the incident and determining the consequences of the misconduct identified (sanction). Corrective and preventive measures serve to prevent recurrence.
Certification of a management system is not always useful or necessary. Therefore, when setting up a CMS, this aspect should be carefully examined in advance: what are the advantages of certification? Is it required (by the market, by customers)?
Only if these and similar questions can be answered with a clear "yes" should certification be considered. In addition to certification, there are numerous alternative options available to the company for effectively communicating the existence of the CMS.
Eckart Achauer, studied law and business administration, postgraduate studies leading to a Master of Business Administration (MBA). In-service training as a European Quality Manager (DGQ), mediator specializing in business mediation, and Certified Compliance Manager (TÜV).
He worked for around 10 years in the international insurance industry in various management positions at a Swiss insurance group (claims department, sales, assistance) before moving into management and business consulting in 1997.
As a consultant and managing director of various consulting firms, Mr. Achauer has specialized in organizational and process optimization as well as the development and implementation of management systems—quality management, risk and compliance management.
At Senator Executive Search Partners, Mr. Achauer is responsible for compliance management. As part of compliance audits, he analyzes their organizational "compliance fitness," raises awareness and trains management, executives, and employees, and supports companies in setting up and implementing individual compliance management systems. In doing so, he always takes into account the specific risk situation of the companies. Thanks to his many years of experience as a manager and consultant, he is very familiar with the practical challenges of business.
It is not without reason that employer review portals such as kununu and glassdoor offer separate sections where candidates can evaluate the application process or job interview. If criticism is openly communicated, companies should take it seriously and respond accordingly—both in their external communications and in their internal processes.
Call on external expertise
But what can companies do? Often, the key to success lies in cooperation between HR managers and specialist departments. When specialist departments register their staffing requirements at very short notice due to high workloads in their day-to-day operations, or only provide feedback on proposed candidates after a long delay, this is understandable, but nevertheless disastrous for the recruiting process. Recruitment should not only be recognized by all parties involved as one of the decisive factors for the success of the entire company, but this recognition must also be put into practice.
This means that the specialist departments must also be aware of their responsibility within the recruitment process and set appropriate priorities. This requires the support of company management and joint efforts to find solutions. It is often helpful to involve a neutral party in the form of a personnel consultancy. External consultants are more likely to be listened to, can resolve points of contention, and work with all parties involved to define efficient and manageable processes. This applies to the use of technical systems as well as the mandatory definition of response times and rules for communication with applicants.
On this common basis, internal processes are then no longer a problem.
After completing his studies in automotive engineering and industrial engineering, he began his professional career in the automotive industry in the areas of sales, development, and marketing, and also spent a year in Japan with one of the largest automotive suppliers.
He then moved to a world-renowned premium car manufacturer, where he was responsible for product marketing for Japan and South America as well as marketing strategy for North and South America.
In 1994, he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consulting firm in Munich, where he has been driving development and expansion for over 20 years. As managing director, his industry focus is naturally on the automotive world as well as mechanical and plant engineering.
His doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics ideally complements his areas of expertise, particularly in relation to human resources and management consulting. His dissertation deals with the identification and verification of typical personality traits of engineers and the definition of areas of development for a successful career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz" (Aptitude Diagnostics in Practical Use).
At the same time, he focuses on establishing networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Over the past 20 years in HR consulting, he has developed several brands that continue to operate successfully on the market today.
The topic of best practice profiles (BPP) has already been discussed in detail in several previous articles. A BPP serves as a basis for comparison. It allows conclusions to be drawn about the candidate's positioning in terms of individual personality traits and reveals potential areas for development and growth. It shows what makes the best in an industry tick and which characteristics are particularly necessary and conducive to success in a given profession. In short, a best practice profile is a comparison with the best.
This article discusses the steps required to create a best practice profile. Creating a best practice profile consists of five steps: First, the most successful employees in a professional group within the company must be identified. In order to identify these employees, success criteria must be defined. What criteria should be used to select the most successful employees? Which figures are decisive for success? Examples of success criteria are the sales achieved or the return on investment. Next, a best practice group is formed from the most successful employees in the company and the characteristics relevant to success and verifiable are collected. Figure 1.1 shows a table for determining the most successful employees.
Next, each selected employee completes an online aptitude assessment. This is a self-assessment that identifies and highlights the participant's strengths and weaknesses. Some sample questions can be seen in Figure 1.2.
This is followed by the evaluation of the aptitude diagnostics. The results of the aptitude diagnostics show the various characteristics of the most successful employees. By combining and evaluating all profiles of the best practice group, a best practice profile is created. This profile is also known as the ideal profile. It shows which criteria are consistently important or unimportant for the participating employees.
However, the evaluations of each individual employee are also considered and recorded in an individual profile.
In the final step, the values of the individual profile are compared with those of the best practice profile. A deviation analysis is performed. This checks the extent to which the values of both profiles match for the individual characteristics. The key criteria are also checked. Attention is paid to whether the key criteria are the same and how great the difference between the individual profile and the ideal profile is. Figure 1.3 shows an example of a partial evaluation of an aptitude assessment.
By comparing the best practice profile with several other profiles, significant changes in self-assessment relative to the values of the comparison group can be more easily identified.
In a structured interview, deviations can be discussed on the basis of the BPP. In addition, targeted questioning can clarify the causes of the discernible differences.
The next article in this series will focus on quality criteria. What criteria must a good and reputable procedure meet? What else should be taken into account?
After completing his studies in automotive engineering and industrial engineering, he began his professional career in the automotive industry in the areas of sales, development, and marketing, and also spent a year in Japan with one of the largest automotive suppliers.
He then moved to a world-renowned premium car manufacturer, where he was responsible for product marketing for Japan and South America as well as marketing strategy for North and South America.
In 1994, he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consulting firm in Munich, where he has been driving development and expansion for over 20 years. As managing director, his industry focus is naturally on the automotive world as well as mechanical and plant engineering.
His doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics ideally complements his areas of expertise, particularly in relation to human resources and management consulting. His dissertation deals with the identification and verification of typical personality traits of engineers and the definition of areas of development for a successful career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz" (Aptitude Diagnostics in Practical Use).
At the same time, he focuses on establishing networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Over the past 20 years in HR consulting, he has developed several brands that continue to operate successfully on the market today.
As part of our "mini-series" on international negotiation, inourlastarticlewe discussedtheobjectives of negotiation as well as effective preparation and argumentation. Today, we will look at other key aspects of international negotiation using a case study.
Today, Peter H. is negotiating with representatives of the Australian company Smith Ltd., a competitor in the V-belt sector. Smith Ltd. wants to improve its product quality and is negotiating with Peter H. about a know-how license. Since it is not worthwhile for Peter H.'s company to produce in Australia itself for various reasons, he is also interested in granting a manufacturing license.
Smith Ltd. is seeking an exclusive manufacturing license for Australia. They have to invest heavily in implementing the know-how and therefore want to be protected in Australia. Peter H. is interested in a secure income from license fees. He fears losing money because if Smith Ltd. is unable to implement the know-how as planned, his license income, which is linked to Smith Ltd.'s sales, will remain low. Peter H. intends to grant a non-exclusive license so that he can sell a license to another company if necessary.
Failure seems inevitable. Both parties insist on their positions and the negotiating atmosphere deteriorates. The problem boils down to whether the manufacturing license should be exclusive or non-exclusive. Even if the parties agree on the other issues, the license becomes the core issue. A position-oriented negotiation approach not only leads to disagreement on the matter, but also to a mixing of the factual and relationship levels.
How can this problem be solved? Peter H. must try to negotiate objectively and in a way that focuses on interests. First, the unresolved issue of the "license" should be declared a common problem for both parties. Furthermore, a structure should be developed that shows where interests and common ground lie. Ideally, this structure should have been developed in advance by one of the parties and could look like the following illustration:
A closer analysis of these structures reveals that the interests of both parties overlap at a certain point: Peter H. grants Smith Ltd. an exclusive license on the condition that a certain minimum annual turnover is achieved after a specified start-up period. This ensures a minimum license fee. As long as Smith Ltd. achieves this minimum turnover, which may be staggered over the years, the license may not be granted to third parties in Australia. The exclusivity is therefore linked to a minimum turnover – the license is thus virtually exclusive and Smith Ltd. remains unrivalled in its country.
As a rule, both parties make concessions to each other during the course of the discussions and move closer to each other's positions. It is also important to negotiate each individual concession. A smart negotiating partner will only make a concession if the other party is prepared to make a concession in return. The better you know your own interests and those of the other side, the greater the opportunities for making concessions.
Relevant aspects of international negotiations:
Communication level
Analyze the other side's understanding of language, i.e., how in-depth and detailed their language skills are and how much overlap there is between what you say and what the other side responds with. The more accurate your analysis, the better you can assess whether the statements of both parties are congruent.
Active listening and questioning
Interests must be explored through attentive listening and questioning. The ability to listen is a trump card in the age of internationalization! Those who let their negotiating partners finish speaking, put themselves in their shoes, ask specific questions, and refrain from lecturing have a good chance of obtaining as comprehensive a picture as possible of the other side. Listening and understanding does not necessarily mean agreeing with a specific opinion. It also gives you the opportunity to uncover contradictions based solely on the other party's presentation. Then you can beat them at their own game, i.e., with their own arguments.
Definition of key terms
In many negotiations, it is a good idea to define key business terms together in advance. This reduces misunderstandings from the outset and structures the course of the negotiation.
Interests instead of positions
Positions are often associated with negative commitments and reflect personal attitudes. It is difficult to break away from such a standpoint without at least partially losing face. It is better to explore the interests hidden behind the obvious positions and discuss them.
Interest-based negotiation has a de-escalating effect and shows how to recognize the underlying ideas of both parties and find possible points of intersection.
Once you know the interests, it is easier to respond appropriately and effectively. Those who succeed in summarizing the position of the other party and then explaining their own point of view significantly improve their chances of success.
Expanding the scope of negotiations
Once you have explored both your own interests and those of the other party, new, previously unrecognized possibilities for a solution emerge—the scope of negotiations is thus expanded.
Contract coordinator
It often helps to appoint a contract coordinator on both sides. If this approach has not been common practice for your business partner in the past, you should explain the advantages of a functional working relationship. Taking all intercultural factors into account, emphasize your partner's obligation to cooperate in order to ensure that the necessary preparatory work for the contract negotiations is carried out. Propose the next steps and work out the individual implementation steps or milestones together with your partner: Who? When? With whom? How? Also determine who is responsible for meeting the milestones. This will ensure that the euphoria after a jointly achieved negotiation result does not fizzle out, but that the next steps proceed efficiently, quickly, and purposefully with the help of a contract coordinator.
Delayed or non-existent responses, overly complicated application procedures, or excessive requirements from HR departments—errors in internal processes often make it difficult to fill vacancies quickly. The problems are well known, but are rarely actively addressed.
Given the shortage of skilled workers, which is already reaching considerable proportions in some occupational groups, one would assume that companies would pull out all the stops to fill critical positions as quickly as possible. But in many cases, the word "actually" is also the key term that describes the failure of these efforts. "We should coordinate much more closely with the specialist department," "The candidate should receive our contract offer as soon as possible," "We should build up a pool of applicants." Every experienced HR manager knows how important internal processes are for successful recruiting, but in practice, these internal processes are not handled as they should be.
Lack of feedback is the biggest criticism
According to a reader survey conducted by the job and application portal Karrierebibel.de*, applicants are particularly annoyed when they receive no response or only a very late response to their application or interview. Almost 23 percent of participants stated that they never heard back from the company after applying. 13.5 percent of those surveyed did not receive any feedback after the interview.
Other points of criticism include a lack of transparency regarding why the application was unsuccessful (18 percent) and the fact that the position in question is advertised again after the rejection (just under 10 percent). All of this shows a lack of appreciation for the applicants and ultimately damages both the image and the recruiting efforts of the company seeking to fill the position.
Threat to new hires
A recent study by recruitment agency Robert Half** also confirms that recruitment processes take too long, resulting in the loss of applicants. The reasons for this lie partly in the overly extensive processes, but also in the increased demands of applicants. More than half of the CFOs surveyed in the study (55 percent) agree that applicants have become more impatient. This is because most candidates have several options available to them through multiple applications and therefore have a choice.
"The consequence: lengthy application processes jeopardize the quality of new hires," the study states. In plain language, this means that if companies waiting to make a decision wait too long, the good candidates will have jumped ship in the meantime and, in the worst case, the search will have to start all over again.
After completing his studies in automotive engineering and industrial engineering, he began his professional career in the automotive industry in the areas of sales, development, and marketing, and also spent a year in Japan with one of the largest automotive suppliers.
He then moved to a world-renowned premium car manufacturer, where he was responsible for product marketing for Japan and South America as well as marketing strategy for North and South America.
In 1994, he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consulting firm in Munich, where he has been driving development and expansion for over 20 years. As managing director, his industry focus is naturally on the automotive world as well as mechanical and plant engineering.
His doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics ideally complements his areas of expertise, particularly in relation to human resources and management consulting. His dissertation deals with the identification and verification of typical personality traits of engineers and the definition of areas of development for a successful career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz" (Aptitude Diagnostics in Practical Use).
At the same time, he focuses on establishing networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Over the past 20 years in HR consulting, he has developed several brands that continue to operate successfully on the market today.
