Experience shows that many companies do not include their business partners in their compliance programme. An omission with high risks.
Legal provisions such as the German Commercial Code or the Stock Corporation Act stipulate that companies, but also individual executive bodies and employees, can be held liable for the unlawful conduct of business or contractual partners.
A practical example shows the basic problem: a company uses external sales partners who are remunerated on a commission basis. Their earnings thus depend on the sales they broker. If a sales partner now commits fraudulent acts in order to successfully broker business - such as bribing the potential client - the behaviour of the business partner falls back on the company, even if it has not itself acted unlawfully here. The company is threatened with financial and criminal consequences as well as a serious loss of reputation.
Business partners are often not included
Many companies are only inadequately prepared for this risk. The study "Compliance Management - the entrepreneurial challenge" by AGAMON Consulting GmbH(www.agamon-consulting.de) shows the deficits of medium-sized companies in this respect. In the majority of the companies surveyed, 100% of their compliance programmes are directed at managers and employees. Suppliers and subcontractors are included at about 75%, while business partners are only considered at about 25%. It is known that external parties are at least involved in about half of the economic offences.
An often underestimated risk
"The risks that can emanate from business partners such as intermediaries, sub-dealers and advisors should not be underestimated. Their compliance violations can lead to fines and claims for damages. Further consequences can range from exclusion from public contracts to criminal prosecution. Companies jeopardise their image and reputation if they do not choose their partners carefully.
The compliance programme of every company should therefore also include business partner compliance management in the sense of a holistic approach.
Eckart Achauer
Studied law and business administration, postgraduate studies to become a Master of Business Administration (MBA). In-service training to become a European Quality Manager (DGQ), a mediator specialising in business mediation and a Certified Compliance Manager (TÜV).
Eckart Achauer worked for about 10 years in the international insurance industry in the management of a Swiss insurance group in various functions (claims department, sales, assistance) before switching to management and business consulting in 1997.
As a consultant and managing director of various consulting companies, Mr Achauer has specialised thematically in organisational and process optimisation as well as in the development and implementation of management systems - quality management, risk and compliance management.
For the HR Consult Group, Mr Achauer is responsible for the area of compliance management. Within the framework of compliance audits, he analyses their organisational "compliance fitness", he sensitises and trains the management, executives and employees and supports the 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. Due to his many years of experience as a manager and consultant, he is very familiar with the entrepreneurial challenges from practice.
Eckart Achauer, studied law and business administration, postgraduate studies to become a Master of Business Administration (MBA). In-service training to become a European Quality Manager (DGQ), a mediator specialising in business mediation and a Certified Compliance Manager (TÜV).
He worked for around 10 years in the international insurance industry in the management of a Swiss insurance group in various functions (claims department, sales, assistance) before moving into management and business consulting in 1997.
As a consultant and managing director of various consulting companies, Mr Achauer has specialised thematically in organisational and process optimisation as well as in the development and implementation of management systems - quality management, risk and compliance management.
At Senator Executive Search Partners, Mr Achauer is responsible for the area of compliance management. Within the scope of compliance audits, he analyses their organisational "compliance fitness", he sensitises and trains the management, executives and employees and supports the 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. Due to his many years of experience as a manager and consultant, he is very familiar with the entrepreneurial challenges from practice.
Would you currently be willing to change employers if you were offered an interesting job? This is one of the key questions that HR service providers ask potential candidates, because the willingness to change jobs is a core factor in daily business. It is therefore hardly surprising that the HR experts at HR Consult Group AG asked precisely this, among other things, in a recent survey. The aim of the study, with more than 500,000 respondents, is to adapt the offers and services of personnel consultancies as precisely as possible to the wishes and needs of candidates.
The result: at 84 percent, the vast majority of survey participants say they are open to changing jobs.
New tasks as motivation to change
There are many reasons why employees are willing to change jobs. The most frequently expressed wish (66 per cent) is for a new, exciting job. Only in second place (53 per cent) comes an improvement in salary. Slightly less than half of the survey participants (48 percent) say they want to take the next step on the career ladder. If this is not possible in the current company - for whatever reason - the only option is to change.
This is followed at a considerable distance by a shorter commute, the need for more flexibility and other (private) reasons.
A change of employer is always a big step that needs to be well thought out. Nevertheless, times have changed. It is no longer common to spend several decades or even your whole life with the same employer. Changing jobs and employers always offers the potential for personal development. With every change, the candidate gets to know something new. Be it the difference in the size of the company and its structures or national and international fields of activity.
After graduating as an automotive engineer and industrial engineer, he began his 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 in Japan and South America and marketing strategy in North and South America.
In 1994 he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consultancy 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.
With his doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics, he ideally rounds off his fields of competence, especially with regard to personnel and management consultancy. The dissertation deals with the identification and proof of typical personality traits of engineers as well as the definition of development areas for a successful professional career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz".
At the same time, his focus is on building networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous further development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Within the last 20 years in personnel consulting, he has developed several brands that are still successful on the market today.
In the last part of our 3-part series, we will today look at the right outline and the advantages of a change of perspective.
The negotiation as such
A negotiation often begins with one party submitting its negotiating position in writing to the other or having sent it beforehand. This document may be a prefabricated draft contract or it may be in the form of key terms of the transaction. Such key terms would be, for example, in the case of a company purchase, the purchase price and the warranty provisions. In the case of a licence agreement, they are the type of licences, the scope of the know-how, the amount of the licence fees and the duration of the contract.
1. exploring:
Find out what the other side thinks
Explore the interests of the other side
Take the perspective of the other side often
2. communication:
Ask questions
Listen actively
Briefly summarise statements made by your negotiating partners in your own words
Use examples and use the meta-level communication tool (this is not aimed at what we talk about, but how we talk to each other).
3. the counterpart:
Consider possible personal backgrounds
Pay attention to how the person(s) is/are involved in the company
4. individuality:
Pay attention to fairness
Use humour (appropriate and in moderation)
5. the argumentation:
Compare what is comparable
Argument of reciprocity - putting oneself in the other person's shoes and vice versa ("tit for tat").
Outline
In the context of preparing for the negotiation, it has already been explained how important it is to structure the negotiation material correctly. Now, at the stage of the actual negotiation, this results in yet another advantage: As a rule, the parties argue about the content, but not about the form, because in the latter substantive issues do not seem to arise yet. Therefore, the other side is much more likely to agree to an outline proposed at the beginning than to be persuaded by anything of substance.
In this context, it is very helpful to go to the meta-level and talk about issues, not content and details. In this way, the topic gains formal leadership over the content and you have influence over when you address certain topics. It is helpful to divide the negotiation into sub-sections according to the figure below.
"Perspective taking"
There is a way to separate the two levels more easily: Put yourself in the other person's shoes and look at the negotiation from their perspective.
With "perspective taking" it is easier to recognise,
how the other side reacts to its own offers,
whether their arguments are conclusive, and
whether what she says and what she really means are consistent or contradictory.
If one uncovers contradictions that are based solely on the other party's presentation, it will be very difficult for them to defend themselves against it. You beat them with their own weapons, i.e. with their own arguments, and thereby also gain legitimacy.
In order to understand the other side's point of view correctly, you should let them finish and listen attentively. For listening and understanding does not mean agreeing with a specific opinion. Rather, one gains the opportunity to transform personal attacks into a factual discussion.
Listening attentively and letting others finish helps the other side to vent aggression in conflicts. And these dissipate extremely quickly if they are met with interested silence. The other party expects contradiction, which it can process into "ammunition" itself. If this is missing, even the sharpest attack fizzles out very quickly. The possible escalation of conflicts is thus avoided, emotions are channelled and controlled.
Please consider: In few other areas can so much be gained so quickly, but also lost, as in international negotiations. In the next issue we will present further relevant aspects of an international negotiation with the help of a case study on licensing.
This 3-part series has presented valuable suggestions for successful international negotiation and shown what is important in detail. Please always remember: In few other areas can so much be won, but also lost, as quickly as here.
Companies can have their compliance management system certified according to ISO 19600. Whether and when this makes sense must be carefully examined.
The standard can be applied in companies as well as in other organisations. Small and medium-sized companies 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 the compliance obligations (risks). The result is a "compliance risk map" for the company. This analysis is the basis for all further measures for the development of the CMS.
2. leadership
The different roles, responsibilities and competences within the company are considered, especially the company management. The management must make the decision to introduce a CMS and define the goals and framework of the CMS as well as provide the corresponding resources. The role model function of the management is crucial: if the management is committed to clean, legally compliant behaviour and thus to preventing and punishing illegal practices, and if it lives up to this commitment, then an important prerequisite for a CMS to work has been created.
3. steering and control measures
The control measures that a company must introduce include regulations such as a code of conduct, process descriptions and instructions for action. These are to be developed depending on the results of the compliance and risk audit and should be specifically designed with regard to identified compliance risks - always close to the business processes. Suitable 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 know compliance requirements and act accordingly. Intensive communication as well as awareness-raising contribute to the creation of a sustainable corporate culture.
5. continuous improvement
Similar to quality management, the continuous improvement of the implemented CMS is one of the central tasks. This involves random and ad hoc checks on the fulfilment of compliance requirements (e.g. through internal audits). Continuous monitoring of the legal environment as well as continuous updating of the risk analysis is necessary in order to constantly adapt the system to new circumstances.
Identified compliance violations must result in a reaction by the company. This includes investigating the incident and determining the consequences of the identified misconduct (sanction). Corrective and preventive measures serve to avoid recurrence.
Certification of a management system is not always sensible 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 clearly answered with "yes" should certification be considered. In addition to certification, there are numerous alternative options available to the company to effectively communicate the existence of the CMS.
Eckart Achauer, studied law and business administration, postgraduate studies to become a Master of Business Administration (MBA). In-service training to become a European Quality Manager (DGQ), a mediator specialising in business mediation and a Certified Compliance Manager (TÜV).
He worked for around 10 years in the international insurance industry in the management of a Swiss insurance group in various functions (claims department, sales, assistance) before moving into management and business consulting in 1997.
As a consultant and managing director of various consulting companies, Mr Achauer has specialised thematically in organisational and process optimisation as well as in the development and implementation of management systems - quality management, risk and compliance management.
At Senator Executive Search Partners, Mr Achauer is responsible for the area of compliance management. Within the scope of compliance audits, he analyses their organisational "compliance fitness", he sensitises and trains the management, executives and employees and supports the 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. Due to his many years of experience as a manager and consultant, he is very familiar with the entrepreneurial challenges from practice.
It is not without reason that employer rating portals such as kununu or glassdoor offer their own sections in which candidates can rate the course of the application process or the interview. If openly communicated criticism does occur, companies should definitely take it seriously and respond accordingly - both in external communication and in the application to internal processes.
Draw on external expertise
But what can companies do? Often the key to success lies in the cooperation between the HR managers and the specialist departments. If specialist departments register their staffing needs at far too short a notice due to the high workload in their daily work or only provide their feedback on proposed candidates with a long delay, this is understandable but still a disaster for the recruiting process. Recruitment should not only be recognised by all those involved as one of the decisive factors for the success of the entire company, this realisation must subsequently also be lived.
This means that the specialist departments also become aware of their responsibility within the recruitment process and set appropriate priorities. This requires the support of the management and joint work on solutions. Often the involvement of a neutral authority in the form of a personnel consultancy helps here. External consultants are more likely to be listened to, can resolve points of contention and help to define efficient and manageable processes together with all those involved. 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, the internal processes are then actually no longer a problem.
After graduating as an automotive engineer and industrial engineer, he began his 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 in Japan and South America and marketing strategy in North and South America.
In 1994 he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consultancy 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.
With his doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics, he ideally rounds off his fields of competence, especially with regard to personnel and management consultancy. The dissertation deals with the identification and proof of typical personality traits of engineers as well as the definition of development areas for a successful professional career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz".
At the same time, his focus is on building networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous further development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Within the last 20 years in personnel consulting, he has developed several brands that are still successful on the market today.
The topic of the Best Practice Profile (BPP) has already been dealt with intensively in several previous articles. A BPP serves as a comparison. It allows conclusions to be drawn about the candidate's positioning in the individual personality traits and reveals possible areas of development and potential. It shows how the best in an industry are "knitted" and which characteristics are particularly necessary and conducive to success in a job profile. In short, a best-practice profile is a comparison with the best.
In this article, we will look at the procedure necessary to create a best practice profile.The creation of a best practice profile consists of five steps: The first step is to identify the most successful employees of a professional group in the company. In order to be able to record 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 turnover achieved or the return on investment. Then a best practice group is formed from the most successful employees of the company and the success-relevant and verifiable characteristics are collected. Figure 1.1 shows a table to determine the most successful employees.
Next, each selected employee completes an aptitude diagnostic procedure online. This is a self-assessment. The strengths and weaknesses of the participant are found out and pointed out. Some sample questions are shown in Figure 1.2.
This is followed by the evaluation of the aptitude diagnostics. The result of the aptitude test shows the different characteristics of the most successful employees. By combining and evaluating all the 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 unanimously important or unimportant for the participating employees.
But also the evaluations of each individual employee are considered and recorded in an individual profile.
In the last step, the values of the individual profile are compared with the values of the best practice profile. A deviation analysis is carried out. The extent to which the values of both profiles correspond to the individual characteristics is checked. The key criteria are also checked. Attention is paid to whether the key criteria are the same and how high the difference is between the individual and the ideal profile. Figure 1.3 shows an example of a partial evaluation of an aptitude test.
By mirroring the best practice profile against several comparison profiles, significant changes in the self-assessment to the values of the comparison group can be shown more easily.
In a structured interview, deviations can be discussed on the basis of the BPP. In addition, the causes for the discernible differences can be clarified through targeted questioning.
The next article in this series deals with the criteria for goods. What criteria must a good and reputable procedure fulfil? What else should be taken into account?
After graduating as an automotive engineer and industrial engineer, he began his 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 in Japan and South America and marketing strategy in North and South America.
In 1994 he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consultancy 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.
With his doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics, he ideally rounds off his fields of competence, especially with regard to personnel and management consultancy. The dissertation deals with the identification and proof of typical personality traits of engineers as well as the definition of development areas for a successful professional career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz".
At the same time, his focus is on building networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous further development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Within the last 20 years in personnel consulting, he has developed several brands that are still successful on the market today.
