Using Outcome Data to Demonstrate the Effectiveness of an E&C Program

Art Weiss, Chief Compliance & Ethics Officer, TAMKO Building Products, Inc.

The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines provide for credits toward fines and jail time for organizations that have an effective ethics and compliance program in place. But just what does ‘effective’ mean? How do you prove that your organization’s program is effective? Proving effectiveness is an issue which is generating much discussion among ethics and compliance professionals, consultants, and legal counsel. Neither the Sentencing Commission nor the U.S. Department of Justice collect data on what prosecutors deem to be ‘effective.’ 

We need to do more than just guess whether our programs would meet the effectiveness requirement if ever put to the test. What evidence can we provide to make a case that our organization “exercise(s) due diligence to prevent and detect criminal conduct; and otherwise promotes an organizational culture that encourages ethical conduct and a commitment to compliance with the law”? 

Simply handing the prosecutor a copy of our code of ethics isn’t enough. In this session, we will look at some types of data we have available to us and how we can use them to show a program’s effectiveness.