Application in the private sector.

 

Regulations against corruption typically encourage responsible conduct through a mix of incentives and sanctions designed to drive good practice. However, no state has the resources to police all corporate activity for potential violations. Even in robust enforcement environments, corporate compliance with anti-corruption legislation thus largely depends on the commitment of companies, and particularly their leadership. Company leaders are responsible for setting the right tone from the top, overseeing implementation of effective compliance programs, and ensuring that the necessary resources are made available. However, to be effective, anti-corruption policies and procedures must be communicated to employees and others acting on a company’s behalf. For this, appropriate training, guidance materials and other communication and awareness-raising activities are key, both within the company and vis-àvis suppliers and other stakeholders it works with. The OECD Good Practice Guidance on Internal Controls, Ethics, and Compliance recommends that companies take “measures designed to ensure periodic communication, and documented training for all levels of the company, on the company’s ethics and compliance program or measures regarding foreign bribery, as well as, where appropriate, for subsidiaries.” In view of growing consumer demands and more stringent legislation on responsible business conduct, this recommendation has become more relevant than ever. However, to ensure relevance and employee engagement, compliance trainings need to be interactive and tailored to specific groups of employees within an enterprise. While relevant groups vary from company to company, four groups can typically be identified:

• New employees: at the beginning of their appoint- ment, they typically receive a more general training which can include content on the company’s code of conduct, its values, and relevant legislation.

• Highly exposed roles and functions (e.g. dealing with public procurement, government relations, public affairs, sales/commercial account teams or supplier management): continuous and more specia- lized training (e.g. focusing on real cases) may be appropriate. This includes employees who move into highly exposed roles/functions and thus require targeted supplemental training.

• All employees: regular refreshers (e.g. speak up newsletters, compliance cafés), possibly through interactive trainings or discussions involving ethi- cal dilemma situations, moral reminders.

• Senior management: inclusion of specific deli- verables related to the promotion of integrity in reward systems, leadership coaching and mentorship, including on being an integrity role model, setting the right tone from the top, and fostering a strong speak-up culture.

In addition, trainings should be tailored and customized depending on the different geographies where the company operates (e.g., high risk jurisdictions), taking into account people’s cultures and habits, to make them understandable and accessible. Compliance should be embedded into the business processes, and employees at all levels should be involved. “Compliance Champions” should be appointed by operational unit leaders to raise awareness and assist the Compliance Office with the execution and implementation of the ethics and compliance program within their function or unit.

The Compliance Champion is the liaison between the Compliance Office and their operational unit and helps promoting an active speak-up culture. As an incentive, compliance and integrity performance indicators, along with the completion of relevant trainings, can be tied to an employee’s promotion, salary increase, or bonus.

When feasible, it can be beneficial for companies to extend their education and training programs to third parties with which they have a business relationship, particularly direct suppliers and subcontractors. This may also involve publishing business principles that include references against corruption and making the business partners commit to conduct business in line with them; establishing compliance programs between companies and their third parties to assist them in building internal principles, including by sharing training materials; and communication programs aimed at disseminating a company’s key compliance values and expectations on anticorruption. The due diligence expectations set out in an increasing number of international, regional, and national standards on responsible business conduct (RBC), including the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises for RBC, cover companies’ entire supply and even value chains. Recognizing the complexity of supply chains, including supplies in anti-corruption training programs, where feasible, can make an important contribution to spreading good practices. It can thus prevent reputational and legal problems from arising and it can even stabilize a company’s supply chain by reducing the risk that it has to switch suppliers. Moreover, it contributes to building stronger relationships, based on common values, with suppliers and other stakeholders. 

Private companies also frequently cooperate with public entities and governments to leverage education in their anti-corruption efforts.

 1. One example is the Compliance without Borders program implemented jointly by the OECD’s Trust in Business initiative and the Basel Institute on Governance. The approach envisages the temporary secondment of compliance experts from private companies to state-owned enterprises to exchange best practices and build quality compliance systems and a culture of integrity. It focuses on all industries, particularly on exposed sectors such as information technology, infrastructure, pharmaceutical, energy and telecommunications. 

2. Another example is the UNODC Global Integrity Education project rolled out in Kenya, Mexico and Pakistan. It creates partnerships between aca- demics and private sector practitioners, which jointly develop and implement integrity education programs in companies and universities. Courses are complemented by internships in the private sector, during which students can gather first-hand experience of compliance and integrity issues. 

3. Finally, the GAN Business Anti-Corruption Portal offers free anti-corruption compliance and risk management resources, including e-learning and due diligence tools. These can be used and adapted for university education, post-graduate training, and further education for professionals