Most Important Interpersonal Skills Required of a Compliance Officer - Assignment Example

Most Important Interpersonal Skills Required of a Compliance Officer Introduction Interpersonal skills are the skills that a person requires to be able to communicate effectively with other people. Compliance means adhering to rules and laws governing an organization or any group. The roles played by a compliance officer vary depending on firm and jurisdiction but entail ensuring that rules and laws are obeyed. However, the basic roles of compliance officers in any firm or business is to ensure that the firm complies with different rules and regulations set by the management or other forms of authority. Moreover, compliance officers are involved in advising the entire firm and especially the management on issues regarding compliance. In some jurisdiction, complains officers can perform consultative roles such as advising and supporting business transactions as well as other functions performed by the firm. The compliance officer has the responsibility of overseeing all compliance activities and has substantial authority in an organization (Heller, Murphy and Meaney 20-24). Moreover, compliance officers have direct access to senior persons in an organization such as the company president and chief executive officers. In addition, compliance officers are required to operate independently without the influence of other persons in an organization. Therefore, compliance officers have critical roles to play in enhancing successful performance of a firm. In order for compliance officers to be effective in their duties there are certain interpersonal skill they are required to possess. This paper focuses on the most important interpersonal skills required of a compliance officer, which include negotiation skills, communication skills, investigative/analytical skills, qualifications, and confidence. Having appropriate negotiation skills is important in several jobs including being a compliance officer. Compliance officers are often involved in making company policies are thus required to be able to negotiate with other department heads they may be working with. Moreover, compliance officers often negotiate with regulators such as external auditors on the measures that firms are required to take in order to satisfy the set regulatory requirements. Moreover, when disputes regarding compliance arise in a company, the compliance officers are required to settle the disputes (Heller, Murphy and Meaney 105-109; Safian 28-31). Some compliance officers are accorded great mandate and are required to negotiate with powerful stakeholders such as important political figures or producers in a firm such as financial advisors over matters such as imposition of new rules on a firm. Therefore, possessing excellent negotiation skills enables compliance officers defend a company in matter regarding compliance. Moreover, they are able to negotiate with regulators to ensure that the rules and regulations imposed on the company are suitable (Banks and Banks 12-14; Hutchinson and Mark 10-13). Appropriate communication skill is another important interpersonal skill that compliance officers should possess. The compliance officers perform duties that require them to communicate with people in different positions within an organization. The compliance officers are required to work together with the human resource management departments and other departments. For example, the compliance officer is required to report to the company management on how the employees are obeying the company’s policies. Moreover, compliance officer is supposed to communicate with other company stakeholders such as auditors and regulatory agencies such as external auditors (Hutchinson and Mark 10-13). The communication may take different forms such as verbal or through written letters and reports. Therefore, compliance officer is supposed to have effective writing and verbal or oral skills to prevent instances of misunderstanding. Another role of compliance officer is that employees are enlightened on the rules and regulations of the organization as well as the appropriate business practices. Moreover, the compliance officer should disseminate all the information regarding compliance to all members of an organization. Appropriate communication skills are crucial since they help compliance officers to avoid ambiguity especially when giving directives (Banks and Banks 9-13). This ensures that the staff members understand directives as well as laws and regulations regarding ethics that may be written or communicated by the compliance officer. This prevents cases of open individual interpretation, which can lead to misjudgment. Therefore, appropriate communication skills are crucial since they enable compliance officers to interpret laws and regulation as well as other directives to make it easy for individual staff members to comply (Safian 28-32). Another interpersonal skill that compliance officers should possess is investigative or analytical skills. Compliance officers are involved in making decisions that require them to analyze organizational policies. They are thus required to be investigative enough since they analyze policies before they are implements to determine their effectiveness and after their implementation to ensure that, employees are complying. Moreover, compliance officers are required to provide different perspectives regarding the ways in which employees can be empowered to ensure they comply with organizational policies (Holmes 4-5). Compliance officers are involved in designing company policies since the policies are required to be in line with the ethics and regulations of the company. The officers ensure that all the staff members can easily understand the written policies. Analysis is done throughout the process of policymaking. The implementation of the policies entails ensuring that employees are conversant with the contents of the policies. The compliance officer is involved in educational programs that are designed to enlighten the employees on the new policies. The compliance officers must be investigative to identify sections of the policies that may be problematic. After implementation of policies, follow up must be done to ensure that staff members follow the regulations. The follow up entail collection of data that is then synthesized into reports that are used by different departments as well as regulatory agencies. The reports are important in identifying staff members who may be non-compliant. Moreover, the reports are used to determine if there is need for change in company policies. Therefore, compliance officers have an important role in analyzing company policies and ensuring that they are in line with the regulations (Banks and Banks 14-17). Moreover, they ensure that new policies are implemented appropriately. There are certain qualifications that compliance officers are required to have. However, the academic qualifications of compliance officers are dependent on the field they work in. For example, a compliance officer working in the field of environmental science is required to have clear understanding of environmental regulations that organizations are supposed to be compliant with (Holmes 4-5). However, all compliance officers are supposed to be capable of analyzing organizational records to ensure that the operations being conducted in the organization are complying with rules and regulations. They should thus be conversant with aspects such as quality assurance, rules, and regulations of an organization, and the human resource management procedures. Moreover, they should demonstrate proper understanding of the operations of an organization to be able to investigate cases of violations. Moreover, compliant officers are supposed to be conversant with emerging issues in their field of operation. Moreover, they should be good in problem solving since they are required to develop solutions on issues regarding ethics and regulations of an organization. Although the compliance officers may be required to have technical skills, this requirement is not compulsory (Heller, Murphy and Meaney 20-25). Confidence is another important interpersonal skill that compliance officers should possess. The compliance officers are involved with tasks such as prosecuting employees in an organization who may get involved in misconducts such as money laundering and terrorism. The persons may be more senior and powerful than the compliance officers in terms of organizational ranking. Therefore, it is important that the compliance officers be independent and confident enough to stand firm and challenge any individual who may abuse the organizational integrity (Stoneman 24-26). When people within an organization violate the rules and regulations, it is the duty of the compliance officer to report the violation to the respective authorities. The reporting can be done to the organizational management or the regulatory agencies. In some cases, the individuals involved could be higher in authority than the officers are (Stoneman 28). Therefore, it is important for the compliance officers to be confident and bold enough not to be manipulated. However, the reporting should be done with confidentiality and the information should only be revealed after further investigations have been done. The tasks of the compliance officers are at times hard to accomplish. However, the compliance officers are supposed to be confident in ensuring that the organizational governance and policies are compliant with the set rules and regulations (Holmes 4-5; Safian 28-31). Conclusion A compliance officer should possess strong interpersonal skills since they deal with very sensitive issues in an organization. They are involve in ensuring that the management, employees and even the directors comply to the rules and regulations of an organization as well as those set by regulatory agencies. Moreover, compliance officers are involved in analyzing the company policies to ensure they are in line with the set rules and regulations. Moreover, the officers should possess appropriate professional as well as academic credentials. Interpersonal skills that compliance officers are required to possess include appropriate communication skills, great negotiation skills, confidence, and have investigative analytical skills. Good communication skills are essential since compliance officers are involved in in communicating the rules and regulations to the company staff. Moreover, the officers are responsible of reporting to regulatory agencies. Analytical skills are crucial for the compliance officers to be able to investigate if the company staffs are complying with the rules and regulations. Compliance officers are supposed to have good negotiation skills to be able to negotiate with the regulators when need arises. Moreover, they are supposed to be academically qualified. The above interpersonal skills ensure that compliance officers are efficient in their duties of ensuring staff members follow the set regulations for smooth operation of organizations. Works Cited Banks, Theodore and Frederick Banks. Corporate Legal Compliance Handbook. New York: Aspen Publishers Online, 2002. Print. Heller, Jan, Joseph Murphy and Mark Meaney. Guide to Professional Development in Compliance. London: Jones & Bartlett Learning , 2001. Print. Holmes, Ken. Project management principles for compliance officers, part II: Leading through influence. ABA Bank Compliance, 26(7), 2005. 4-5. Hutchinson, Alyse, and Mark Meaney. "Is it Time to Redefine the Role and Function of Your Compliance Department?” Journal of Health Care Compliance 5.5, 2003, 10-3. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 15 Jan. 2013. Safian, Shelley. Essentials of Health Care Compliance. New York: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. Stoneman, Bill. The modern compliance officer. Community Banker, 14(9), 2005, 24-26, 28, 30. Read More